I first came upon the recipe on the website Buzzfeed, known for many excellent lists. The list in particular is entitled "33 Amazing Gluten Free Desserts," with the original recipe located at lucky #7 on the list. The link to the Buzzfeed article is http://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelysanders/amazing-gluten-free-desserts-for-valentines-day (it's ostensibly for Valentines' Day, but who needs that as an excuse to make fantastic delicacies?). The brownie recipe itself comes from the blog "Barefeet in the Kitchen," written by Mary Younkin. All credits for this recipe go to her (and apparently to for the original, original recipe. The link to the blog post is http://barefeetinthekitchen.blogspot.com/2013/02/dark-chocolate-brownies-gluten-free-casein-free-recipe.html. Try not to drool as you mix up and bake these goodies (the whole abode will smell divine by the end of it all).
Ingredients (makes 12-16 if you use a square pan or about 20 if you use a 9" x 13" pan like I did):
"1 cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips [I used semi-sweet]
1/2 cup coconut oil [substitute 1/2 cup of your favorite vegetable oil instead, such as grapeseed oil or canola oil. You can also use just plain applesauce. I used a combination of regular vegetable oil, grapeseed oil, and applesauce because I didn't have a full 1/2 cup of any of them.]
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 cup almond meal, store-bought or homemade [I went with store-bought, which you should know is dreadfully expensive but worth it.]
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
Topping: 2-3 tablespoons chocolate chips, 1/2 cup pecans, chopped [optional; I just mixed the extra chocolate chips--about 1/2 cup--right in and left out the nuts because I was cooking for a lot of people and didn't want to put anyone off.]
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees [Fahrenheit]. Line a square baking pan with parchment paper. 8", 9" or 10" pans will all work fine. . . .
Melt the chocolate and the. . .oil in a glass bowl in the microwave. This should take a couple minutes at medium power. Stop and stir it after a minute and then every 30 seconds until the chocolate has almost completely melted. Stir until it is smooth.
Combine the brown sugar, almond meal,. . .salt and baking soda in a mixing bowl. Stir to combine and then add the eggs and vanilla. Beat with mixer until combined. Pour in the melted chocolate and beat again until the batter thickens and becomes smooth and shiny. The batter will be very runny initially, but it will thicken after a few minutes.
Pour the mixture into the parchment lined pan. Smooth across the pan and top with nuts and extra chocolate chips if desired. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 30-35 minutes [I'd say 30 minutes is pretty good, but you can bake them longer if you like a drier brownie]. The top will crack when the brownies are done [or you can stick a toothpick into the middle of the brownies. When it comes out clean, they're done!]. Let the brownies cool completely in the pan [about an hour] and then chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour before slicing [I chilled mine for about five hours]. (You can serve them without chilling them first, but they will be very soft, warm and gooey. Not necessarily a bad thing!)
When you are ready to slice them, lift by the edges of the parchment paper and remove the brownies to a cutting board. The brownies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for several days, if they last that long. Enjoy!"
Note: A good tip I learned from "Barefeet in the Kitchen" is to cut the brownies with a pizza cutter, which gives you nice, clean edges. What a great idea!
First of all, I had several people tell me that these are the best brownies they've ever eaten. I suppose it's the dense, fudge-y quality complemented by the nutty flavor of the almond meal. It's not too overpowering and makes these brownies slightly better for you because of the lean protein and relatively low carbohydrates (they'd be really good for you if you used dark chocolate chips and all applesauce instead of part oil).
Next time, I think I will try just plain applesauce or purely one oil instead of a mix. I think I'm just a purest and prefer to go all one way or another.
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| The chocolate chips are a surprise hidden beautifully beneath the deep brown crust of these rich brownies. Photo enhanced with Instagram filtering. |
Anyway, I really enjoyed making these, and it seems fitting that my last blog post for the foreseeable future should be dessert-based. So, I guess we're ending on a sweet note, which is just fine by me. Thanks for reading, and happy eating without me for awhile!
