I had the pleasure of the company of two good pals last night. S & S are both gluten intolerant and are the reason I started my adventure in the gluten free cooking world. I bought a very interesting cookbook last year to aid me in this endeavor. The Gluten Free Vegan Cookbook by Susan O'Brien is a very good book and has a lot of helpful information. The recipes are easy to follow and so far, the ones i have tried have all been very good. So last night for our main course I cooked the Antioxidant Risotto and served it with a large salad. It was a power house of goodness and was comforting and filling but we all managed to make room for seconds. Lol. I will definitely be making this again.
The dessert is the recipe I shall be blogging about. So far I have found gluten free baking to be dryer then non GF products. So when I found this recipe for Brownies in O'Briens cookbook, I had to try it. The results were oozey, sticky, super chocolatey, (I know this isn't a real word but in this case, it should be!) , and most awesome Brownies. So gooey were they, I almost lost my knife when cutting them! Lol. S & S enjoyed every mouthful and were happy to take the leftovers home for breakast. If you are a chocoholic this is a recipe you must try. Whether you are Gluten Intolerant or not.
Super Chocolatey Brownies (GF) Makes 16
(Recipe from The Gluten Free Vegan Kitchen by Susan O'Brien)
1/4 cup of oil
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup of applesauce (see notes after ingredients list)
1 banana, mashed
1 1/2 tsp egg replacer, whisked together with 2 tbsp warm water
1 cup of a good cocoa powder
1/2 cup of brown rice flour
1/2 cup of quinoa flour (pronounced Keen-wa)
2 tsp baking powder (make sure its gluten free)
1 tsp xanthan gum
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup of vegan chocolate chips
1/4 cup of walnuts, chopped
NB: To make your own applesauce couldn't be simpler. Peel, core and slice 2 lb of apples. Put them into a microwavable bowl and add a small amount of water. Cook on High for 3 minutes, give them a good stir and then cook for 1 minute batches until the apples have cooked down and they mush when you stir them. I make up huge batches and them freeze it in 1/2 cup batches.
Preheat the oven to 350'F/350'C/Gas Mark 4. Line an 8" Brownie baking tin with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, using an electric hand held mixer beat together the oil and the sugar. Since there is such a small amount of oil, this will not become light and fluffy, but mix it together for a minute or two, the add the applesauce, banana and egg replacer, and beat for 2 minutes. (Be sure you whisk the egg replacer very well with the warm water until it is bubbly and the powder has dissolved) Add the cocoa powder and stir to blend.
In a separate bowl, sift together the brown rice flour and the quinoa flours, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients and mix together until well blended. Add the chocolate chips and walnuts, and stir by hand to incorporate. Do not overbeat.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Spread it around evenly, then bake for 4o minutes. Because these brownies are very much like regular brownies, you don't want them to get dried out in the baking process, so when you test them, don't expect the toothpick or knife to come out completely clean. It won;t due to the melted chocolate chips. Cool on a wire rack, then cut into bars.
Happy baking, Red
