Double chocolate brownies (incidentally gluten free)

[rydra_wong]

Cross-posting from my journal:

4 large eggs
120 g lightly salted butter (plus a little bit more to grease the pan)
1/2 cup really good unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 tsp salt
1/3 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup chestnut flour
1 cup palm sugar, loosely packed (if you don't have any on hand, regular brown sugar should do fine, but palm sugar is tasty)

optional: 100g white chocolate, broken up into small chunks

Start pre-heating the oven.
Sift the flour through a sieve to remove any lumps.
Melt the butter in a bain marie, and mix in the cocoa powder. Set aside.
Mix the eggs, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Try not to overbeat them; you don't want the eggs to get frothy.
Slowly add the flour, stirring continuously.
Slowly add the cocoa/butter mix, ditto.
Add the white chocolate chunks, if using.
Pour the batter into a greased baking pan (the one I used was roughly 7 x 9 inches).
Bake at 175 degrees C (350 F).
After 25-30 minutes stick a chopstick/knife/skewer in it; if it comes out clean, it's done, if not, 5 more minutes, then repeat (until such time as the implement comes out clean, or you give up and decide to call it done anyway).

Cut the brownies into squares (this recipe makes about six large brownies). You will want to eat one right away, but they get better (denser and more fudgey) after some time in the fridge.

Thanks to ciderpress for being the test subject for this batch.

Comments

[cypher]

Wow, these sound absolutely decadent! Does the chestnut flour wind up contributing to the flavor at all?

[rydra_wong]

There isn't any nutty taste, as far as I can tell -- and I don't like nuts in brownies, so it's something I'm fairly conscious of. But I suspect the chestnut flour contributes to the richness and density; apparently there's a long tradition of using it in cakes and puddings.

I bought a bag of chestnut flour to play with, which is why it's in this. *g* And I figure it's nice to have gluten-free options for people who are sensitive to it.

[cypher]

I might have to buy a bag of experimental chestnut flour myself to give this a try. :3

[ravenbait]

They sound delicious. I've seen ground almonds used for the same reason. Unfortunately my other half is allergic to nuts, otherwise I'd definitely be giving these a try.

[rydra_wong]

Hrm. Assuming it needs to be gluten-free, rice flour might be worth a try.

[jesse_the_k]

Another item I see in a lot of my GF commercial baked goods is sorghum flour, although I've never laid hands on it myself.

[killing_rose]

Assuming it needs to be gluten free, have you tried the black bean brownie recipe? (Which actively rock; the household had no idea what was in them.)

Alternatively, I know that Glutenfreegoddess has a kickass brownie recipe. (Am exhausted and spoonless and can't type; googling it should get it in a minute, but...spoon error. I'm sorry.)

[rydra_wong]

This should be it, I think -- I came across it while I was researching and trying out ideas:

http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2006/01/dark-chocolate-brownies.html

It mixes rice flour and almond flour, so it isn't nut-free. But it definitely indicates that rice flour is usable in brownies. So that'd probably be the first thing I'd try for a nut-free substitution.

[killing_rose]

...I have no idea how I forgot that that had almonds in it. ~facepalm~

[rydra_wong]

Spoon shortage will do that.