Wickedly Decadent Gluten-Free Brownies for Chocoholics

Celiac.com 04/01/2023 - I confess. I’m a chocoholic! My favorite dessert is anything chocolate, but when I need a good, quick chocolate “fi x”, I often turn to this recipe. I’ve been making it for about 20 years now and, although it’s gone through many evolutions, it never fails to please.

My fondness for chocolate dates back to my childhood when almost all of our desserts were chocolate. We enjoyed chocolate cakes, chocolate pies, chocolate puddings, and chocolate cookies––but one of my favorites was chocolate brownies. I’ve recreated that recipe for you here—with a few wickedly decadent embellishments. Luckily, my husband is fond of chocolate too and will look for any excuse to eat it. Upon learning that chocolate comes from the cocoa bean––which is actually a legume–– he announced that he would increase his vegetable consumption by eating more chocolate! Whatever your excuse, Americans apparently LOVE chocolate––on average, we consume about 10-12 pounds of it each year.

But before you head to the kitchen, here are a few tips to assure success:

1. Use the best quality cocoa possible. I’m particularly fond of Ghirardelli unsweetened natural cocoa. Look for it at your local health food store. I also like Scharffen Berger natural cocoa, which can be found at kitchen or gourmet food stores. If you can’t fi nd these brands, I recommend Hershey’s natural cocoa which is available at grocery stores.
2. Be sure to use natural cocoa, not Dutch-processed or European-style cocoa. I get many questions on this topic so here’s the explanation: Natural cocoa is always acidic. Dutch processed cocoa is treated to make it alkaline instead of acidic. The baking powder in this particular recipe is designed to balance the acid in the natural cocoa. If you use Dutch processed cocoa, the PH level is “unbalanced” and the recipe won’t work.

Carol Fenster’s Gluten-Free Chocolate Brownies

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Preheat oven to 350˚. Grease 8-inch square nonstick pan. Stir dry ingredients together (fl our to xanthan gum). Set aside. In large mixing bowl, beat butter, sugars, vanilla, and egg with electric mixer on medium speed until well combined. With mixer on low speed, add dry ingredients and hot water. Mix until just blended. Mixture will be somewhat thick. Stir in nuts and additional ingredients, if using (see options below). Spread batter in prepared pan with wet spatula. Bake 20 minutes. Cool brownies completely before cutting. Serves 12.

Double Chocolate Brownies: Add 1⁄2 cup gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate chips or finely chopped dark chocolate to batter. Bake as directed.

Chocolate Mint Brownies: Prepare batter as directed. Place half of the batter in greased 8 x 8-inch pan. Add a layer of your favorite gluten-free mints such as Junior Mint patties, taking care not to cut the patties. Top with the remaining layer of batter. Bake as directed.

Rocky Road Brownies: Prepare batter as directed. Stir in 1⁄2 cup gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate chips, 1⁄4 cup chopped walnuts, 1⁄2 cup dried cranberries, and 1⁄2 cup Jet-Puff® miniature marshmallows. Because of the additional ingredients, you will need to increase pan size to 11 x 7 or 13 x 9-inch pan. Bake as directed, extending baking time by 5 to 10 minutes, or until thoroughly baked. Cool completely before cutting.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Flour Blend*
• 1⁄2 cup unsweetened cocoa (not Dutch) 
• 1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon xanthan gum 
• 1⁄4 cup melted butter or margarine 
• 1⁄2 cup brown sugar, packed 
• 1⁄2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1⁄4 cup hot water (110º)
• 1⁄4 cup chopped walnuts (optional

*Flour Blend:

• 1 1⁄2 cups sorghum flour
• 1⁄2 cup corn flour
• 1 1⁄2 cups potato starch
• 1 cup tapioca.

Makes 4.5 cups. (To make corn flour, grind cornmeal in small coffee grinder until consistency of flour.)