I love this brownie recipe

15 years ago

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/ghirardelli-fudgy-gluten-free-brownies/Detail.aspx

I actually didn't quite follow the directions-- I used white rice flour and mixed nuts. But I'm blown away by the idea of not using any leavening! I love wet, dense, sticky brownies, and these were my idea of perfect. I don't usually like nuts in brownies, but ground up into flour is a whole different thing. My guess is that they'd be just as good with regular flour instead of the rice flour, but I haven't tried it yet.

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Comments (4)

grainlady_ks
15 years ago
Thanks for a "thumbs-up" gluten-free recipe...

Brownies are a great place to use gluten-free flour/s. Even recipes that contain flour don't have enough flour to hold the structure by their very design, and brownies are not dependent on gluten like other cakes and breads.

Because of the high proportion of fat from eggs, melted chocolate, butter, and sugar, it puffs in the oven and collapses in that lovely pool of of fudge. The sugar raises the temperature which helps set the egg proteins. Those proteins coagulate and link with the other ingredients. The eggs also contribute leavening, so they don't require a chemical leavener. One egg in a recipe usually is used as a binder, while 2 or more eggs, depending on the ration of ingredients, contributes leavening. Brownies are one food that are difficult to make without eggs, or by using egg substitutes like tofu, flaxmeal, etc.

If you haven't already made one, you might also like Flourless Cakes, which are also made with ground nuts instead of flour. You'll never believe how cake-like it is.

I use almond flour, which I purchase in 5-pound bags from Honeyville Grain. One of my favorite cookbooks is "The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook" by Elana Amsterdam. I also use coconut flour, another great low-carb, gluten-free flour.

The link below for Gluten-free Date Pecan Muffins are from the "Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook". I often serve these muffins for breakfast on Saturday morning.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Gluten-free Date Pecn Muffins
jessicavanderhoff
Original Author
15 years ago
Interesting! How do eggs cause leavening? I've never tried a flourless cake with nuts. Have any good recipes for a chocolate one? I think I have a bag of coconut in the fridge. I wonder if I could toast it and grind it up. I bet that would make good brownies!
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grainlady_ks
15 years ago
Eggs were used for leavening long before the advent of chemical leavening agents (baking powder, soda, and even earlier - hartshorn or pearlash).

"One of the most common uses of eggs is as a leavening agent. A leavening agent helps to make a cooked product rise. When eggs are beaten they hold air. When heat is added the structure will coagulate and traps the air. This is what gives angel food cakes, meringues and soufflÃ¯Â¿Â½s their light and fluffy texture."

FYI - Coconut flour is a completely different thing from coconut, so grinding coconut will not give you the same results. See the link below.

You will find many recipes for "Flourless Cake" when you do a Google search. I use one called "Flourless Chocolate Hazelnut Cake" from Epicurious - http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Flourless-Chocolate-Hazelnut-Cake-241088

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Coconut Flour + recipes
jessicavanderhoff
Original Author
15 years ago
You are right. I dried out the coconut in the oven before grinding it up, but it was still a little chewy in the brownies. Weirdly, they were better cold than warm. I had a bag of coconut flour, but I must have used it or tossed it.

That chocolate hazelnut cake looks divine!

I love this brownie recipe

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I love this brownie recipe

Comments (4)

grainlady_ks

jessicavanderhoffOriginal Author

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jessicavanderhoff
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