HFG chocolate brownie the gluten-free way!

Have you wanted a gluten-free brownie which is quick and easy?

Healthy Food Guide editor Niki Bezzant challenged me to convert the
HFG chocolate brownie recipe to a gluten-free version, and this is the result!

Ingredients

1 cup unsweetened apple or pear purée
1 tablespoon oil (I used rice bran)
1/3 cup gluten-free cocoa
3/4 cup gluten-free flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
1 teaspoon xanthan or guar gum
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons LSA
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped nuts

Method

Step 1 Preheat oven to 175°C. Lightly spray a 20x20cm baking dish.

Step 2 Place purée and oil in a medium-sized bowl. Sift on cocoa, flour, baking soda, baking powder and xanthan gum. Add sugar, LSA and salt. Mix until just combined (do not over-mix as this will toughen the brownies). Gently fold in chocolate chips and nuts. Transfer to prepared baking dish. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the centre feels set and fudgy when a skewer is inserted.

Step 3 Cool in pan for 10-15 minutes before turning out. Cool completely before slicing into squares. Dust with sifted gluten-free icing sugar before serving, if desired.

Notes

I used a flour mix which is 600g rice flour, 200g potato starch and 100g tapioca starch, however a gluten-free baking mix will work just as well. My people don’t much like walnuts, which is what the original recipe calls for, so I used chopped almonds. Also, I used puréed pear, because I can’t eat apples.

I really like this recipe as it’s very quick and, unlike most brownie recipes, doesn’t use eggs. It’s also dairy-free, so seems to be a very low-allergen sweet treat. I’ve added some LSA to bump up the nutritional value. I taste-tested it with a few of the family, and they couldn’t tell the difference between the gluten-free ones and the others, and the gluten-free ones were the more popular.

Do you have a great brownie recipe you could share? If so, please do it in the comments below!

Lisa

For those wanting more information on coeliac disease, check out the NZ Coeliac Society website www.coeliac.org.nz.

This blog is the opinion and experiences of its author and should not be taken as medical or dietetic advice. Healthy Food Guide has not verified the content and cannot endorse any advice given. Healthy Food Guide recommends seeking professional health advice for specific complaints or symptoms.