Wednesday, February 4, 2009

gluten free brownies for a gluten free birthday girl...

Allison's birthday was midway through the month of January... and it was a big one (the Big 3-0). Since Al's discovered she's gluten intolerant she's been tasting gluten-free versions of her favourite things... and always says "it's not the same, but it'll do." I didn't want her birthday dessert to be another one of those things.

I discovered another blog - and hit the jackpot! The recipe I borrowed from is probably the BEST brownie I have EVER tasted. SERIOUSLY. chewy and gooey and perfectly sweet.

I made this brownie recipe twice - once for Allison's actual birthday dinner - following the recipe. And then again for her birthday party; I changed it up using mint chocolate, Limoncino and by melting white chocolate to drizzle over the cooled dessert...

seriously... this recipe is worth the bother of actually melting chocolate and eating all those calories. ignore any guilty feelings and indulge...

Minty Chocolate Gluten-free Brownies
ingredients:
8 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into little cubes
200 g mint chocolate (two large lindt bars)
1 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. Limoncino
1/4 c. brown rice flour
1/4 c. tapioca flour
1/2 c. white chocolate

Preheat the over to 400 F. Grease either a square pan or use mini muffin tins (I know, I'm a little obsessed with using this pan... but so easy to hand out to people when you make them into two bite brownies) - you should be able to make 4 dozen two bite brownies.

Now it's time to melt the chocolate. Place a metal/glass bowl over a simmering pot of water (make sure that the water doesn't boil and touch the bowl). Place the chocolate and butter in the bowl and continually stir while they melt (chocolate melts faster if divided into squares). Once melted, remove the bowl from the heat and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the two gluten-free flours.

In a large bowl mix the sugar and eggs together. You'll want to whisk them really well - I use my hand-held mixer and cream everything together. Once silken looking add the Limoncino. Stir it up and then add the flours. Stir well.

Time to add the melted chocolate - combine the batter with a large spatula. The mixture gets really gooey looking right off the bat.

Pour the mixture into your prepared pan and bake about 25 minutes (12 minutes for the two bite brownies)... keep an eye on these - you don't want them to burn!

Once you take them out of the oven - cool them in a bath of ice water.. yep that's right, ice water. I put about an inch of cold water in my sink - and add lots of ice cubes. the pan can sit on the ice cubes - and cool your brownies completely that way. strange - but it works.

Finally - over simmering water, melt your white chocolate. Once it's melted, remove from heat, and use a spoon drizzle the white chocolate over your brownies. The white against the dark brownies looks really pretty. Do this before you're going to serve. You could even add some raspberries and freshly chopped mint onto the brownies to decorate.

If you make these brownies classically (instead of the mint chocolate, use 1/2 c. semi sweet dark chocolate and vanilla extract rather than Limoncino) and you'll be just as happy. I swear - BEST BROWNIES EVER!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hey Lynne - where'd you get tapioca flour?!
Sheri