Heat your oven to 350°F and grease an 8x8 inch baking dish or 9x9 inch pan with oil or cooking spray. This ensures your brownies won't stick and gives you time to prepare your ingredients while the oven preheats.

In a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, almond flour, salt, baking soda, and espresso powder. The espresso powder won't make your brownies taste like coffee—it deepens the chocolate flavor and makes it more complex. Make sure there are no lumps in the cocoa powder by breaking them up with the back of a spoon as you whisk.

In a large bowl, whisk together the room temperature eggs, coconut sugar, vanilla extract, and avocado oil until well combined and slightly fluffy, about 1-2 minutes. Room temperature eggs incorporate more smoothly and create a better texture—if yours are cold, let them sit on the counter for 15 minutes before using.

Pour the dry ingredient mixture from Step 2 into the wet batter from Step 3 and fold together gently with a spatula until just combined. Don't overmix—a few streaks of cocoa powder are fine. Overmixing can lead to dense, tough brownies, so stop as soon as you don't see dry flour.

Fold in 1/4 cup of the chocolate chips into the batter, then pour the entire mixture into your prepared pan from Step 1. Spread it evenly with a spatula, then sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips over the top. The chocolate chips on top will slightly melt and create nice pockets of richness throughout.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached (not wet batter). The brownies will continue to cook slightly as they cool, so don't overbake or they'll become dry. The edges should look slightly set while the center is still a bit tender.

Remove the brownies from the oven and let them cool in the pan for at least 15-20 minutes before cutting into squares. This resting time helps them firm up so they cut cleanly instead of crumbling. For even cleaner cuts, I like to chill them in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before slicing.