thecookieblogger.com

i have a number of friends who have been dealing with gluten-free lifestyles, and i’ve found myself apologizing more than once for the heavy gluten influence in most of my baked goods. this weekend, i met a lovely new friend who happens to have both a gluten-free and vegetarian palate, and i wanted to send her home with some baked goods to thank her for her help. alas, my usual repertoire of baked goods just wouldn’t do. so, i scoured the internet to find something that would meet her needs and be tasty – and i think i hit the mark with this variation of gluten-free and vegan brownies. they didn’t have the grit or dryness that past attempts at gluten-free desserts had, and the chocolate didn’t taste chalky. still not perfect, but better than earlier tries, so i’ll call this a ‘win’! i played around with this recipe a bit, but the original must be credited to oh she glows a recipe site that often has some really great ideas with twists to conventional recipes.

gluten-free & vegan brownies

ingredients
1.5 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water, whisked
3/4 cup + 2 tbsp brown rice flour
1.5 cups almond flour (i use bob’s red mill – it has the best consistency of almond flours)
2 tbsp arrowroot powder
3.4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp butter
1 cup baker’s sugar
1/2 cup + 1/4 cup non-dairy chocolate, divided
1/4 cup (full fat) almond milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

instructions
1. preheat oven to 350F. grease a 9 inch square pan.
2. in a small bowl, whisk together the ground flax and water and set aside.
3. in a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flours, arrowroot, cocoa, salt, baking soda).
4. in a large microwave safe bowl, add chocolate and butter and melt in microwave for about 20-30 seconds until melted. Stir well and add in flax egg, sugar, vanilla, and milk. Whisk.
5. pour wet mixture over dry mixture and stir well. this mixture will be very dry, but that is the way it should be.
6. fold in the walnuts and remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips.
7. using a silicon spatula, scrape batter into prepared pan. Spread with hands or a pastry roller until smooth and even.
8. bake for 35 minutes at 350F and allow brownies to cool in pan for about 1.5 hours. let brownies cool in their baking pan and on a wire rack for at least 90 minutes.
9. separate edge of brownie from pan with a butter knife and place on a cooling rack. cool completely before attempting to cut them.
10. store in an air-tight container for no more than 2 days.