Today we’re going to talk about one of my favorite things to bake: brownies! I’ve come a long way from making the box mix/vegetable oil/eggs brownies, and now we have the added challenge of making them gluten free. But I still like to keep things as simple as possible. Luckily, the kids are always willing to taste test when we find a new recipe to try!
I cook black beans in the crockpot, and I’m not great with making the exact amount we need, so when we have extra cooked beans, I make brownies. Is that not a normal next step? It should be…There’s a lot of not-so-nice feelings in the gluten free baking world about adding beans and sweet potatoes and such to brownies, and if you feel like vegetables should stay far away from chocolate, don’t worry! Most of these recipes don’t have those.
First off, here are some of the gluten free brownie recipes we’ve already tried.
- Black Bean Brownies from Meal Makeover Moms: pretty good brownie recipe. We’ve done both vanilla extract for a more neutral brownie and peppermint extract for a mint brownie. Best within the first day or two. After that they get really crumbly. This is our go-to brownie recipe and has been for a couple years. We’ve even topped them with frosting for a birthday treat!
- Black Bean Brownies from Don’t Waste The Crumbs: a little richer than the other bean one. I was sold at the description that mentioned the Little Debbie Fudge Brownies. Adding the chocolate chips and nuts on top makes them look fancy. Really tasty!
- Sweet Potato Brownies from Healthy Holistic Living: tasted pretty good. Very gooey, and they need to be refrigerated. Recipe said “cake/loaf” pan and I wasn’t sure what size, so I used my loaf pan that I normally use for baking breads. They were thick and didn’t quite set, so I think I would go for a square 8×8 pan instead. I added an extra Tbsp. of maple syrup to help with the sweetness factor. They’re definitely not as sweet as other recipes, but they are a yummy healthy treat.
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies from Texan Erin Baking. These call for coconut sugar, but you can replace that with brown sugar without a problem. And also, yay for oats! The batter for these was super runny and I was skeptical that they would work. And they took an extra 10 minutes to bake. But they were super soft and very tasty!
These recipes also look super yummy, but we haven’t tried them yet!
- Rich Fudgy Flourless Brownies from Life Made Simple Bites. The baking part is a little more complicated than I like (I’m a dump and mix baker) but the ingredients are simple and they look delicious.
- Flourless Fudgy Peanut Butter Brownies from Le Creme De La Crumb. These call for A LOT of chocolate, but you all know I’m a sucker for chocolate and peanut butter.
- Awesome Flourless Brownies from Happily Unprocessed. My favorite part of this recipe is the note about not scrambling your eggs. I cannot tell you how many times I have done this.
- Fudgy Flourless Brownies and Easy Flourless Gluten Free Brownies (with peanut butter!) from Gluten Free On A Shoestring. I had to include both of these recipes, because I love the way Nicole tells it like it is – almond flour or coconut flour or X flour does not equal flourless! Plus, peanut butter and chocolate.
- Flourless Double Chocolate Brownies from Running With Spoons. Because when it comes to brownies, less is not more. More is more. I almost clicked away from this one, because it called for arrowroot powder, but the notes say you can substitute cornstarch, which I regularly have in my kitchen.
- Flourless Marshmallow Crunch Brownies from Yammie’s Noshery. These are really more about the topping than the brownie, and I’d probably use a different recipe as the base. But check out all that marshmallow/peanut butter/chocolate/crispy goodness on top.
- Salted Caramel Brownies from Petite Allergy Treats. The brownie recipe linked in this post calls for all sorts of ingredients I don’t normally have, but the salted caramel topping looks like a keeper if you have dates around your house (we do sometimes for making homemade Larabars).
- Almond Butter Brownies and Gooey Chocolate Chip Brownie Bars from Chocolate Covered Katie. I love Chocolate Covered Katie. She makes so many delicious things. These both look like winners to me.
And finally, a bonus recipe from my friends Marta Webber and Sarah Lilienthal!
Garbanzo Bean Brownies
Sarah says, ” This is my favorite brownie recipe – they turn out all yummy and fudgy and wonderful.”
Ingredients:
- 1 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 15 oz. can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
- 3 egg whites, room temperature
- 1 whole egg room temperature
- 2 Tbsp. canola oil
- 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- dash of salt
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease a 7″x11″ baking dish and set aside. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips, stirring after 30-second intervals; set aside.
In a blender or food processor, combine beans, egg whites, egg, oil, and vanilla. Process until smooth, about 2 minutes. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the bean mixture until well combined. Gradually whisk in the melted chocolate until the batter is uniform. Gently fold in walnuts if using.
Pour batter into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with additional chocolate chips and/or walnuts. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs. (You can also use an 8×8 pan, but may need to bake longer).
You’ll notice that in this list I didn’t include recipes with a lot of different flours or baking mixes or ingredients you can’t pronounce. Several of these recipes call for baking chocolate or a bunch of chocolate chips – I’m on board with buying extra chocolate to make a special recipe. But otherwise, I’m all about the simple gluten free baking, with ingredients you already have in your cupboard. Next month, I’ll be releasing my new cookbook Oat Flour Muffins: Gluten Free Baking The Simple Way, which demonstrates exactly that. No 85 different flours. No weird thickeners. Just simple ingredients you already have.
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