So, back in 2012, I thought I’d achieved brownie nirvana with my At Last Brownies recipe. I’d perfected a “normal” baking brownie in the year before, and this was my great gluten-free version. Then Denise posted her Killer Brownies recipe, adjusted for her then-allergies.
Lately, neither of these versions is working great for me. I find the flour mix in the At Last brownies no longer to my tastes, and Denise likes a more fudgy texture than I do. So for our update/re-do month, I thought I’d take on brownies again. Why not? Can you ever have too many brownie recipes?
Changes from the original recipe include omitting the coconut, simplifying the flour mix, deciding not to measure the chocolate chips precisely, oh, and making cookies out of the mix. I kept the nut flour, as I like the richness and I’m not allergic to most tree nuts, but I’ve done two versions — one with almond, one with cashew. If you can’t do nuts, check out Denise’s prior recipe.
On the cookies — this was more of a practical concern. Either my 8×8 brownie pan was gross and I got rid of when I moved, or it ended up in Oregon with a different family (our movers were… not great.) So I don’t have one. I did, however, have all the ingredients I wanted to work with, and I was too lazy to go out and buy one. So, cookies. On the upside, this gives you very portable and non-crumbly brownie-like food. On the downside, you don’t get the edges (which I love). I still love this recipe, but if you try it out in a brownie pan, please let me know how it went (and how long you baked it!).
If you can eat both almond and cashews, how do you choose? Depends on what you want! The cashew brownie cookies will be thinner and more cookie-like. The almond brownie cookies will be thicker and more cake-like. They are both incredibly tasty. Maybe try both and tell me which you prefer.
- 1 Tablespoon ground chia seeds
- 4 Tablespoons water
- 1.5 cups almond or cashew flour (ground nuts -- Trader Joe's sells both, and Bob's Red Mill sells almond flour)
- 1/2 cup sorghum flour
- 1/2 cup + tapioca starch ADD ADDITIONAL 2 TABLESPOONS IF USING CASHEW (can sub with another starch if you don't have tapioca, but this is one of the cheapest)
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/3 cup non-dairy milk (does not matter what kind -- use what you like)
- 1/4 cup oil (use a neutral-flavored oil. I'm playing with rice bran oil these days and I love it. Safflower or vegetable oil should also work fine)
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract safe-for-you
- 1/4-1 cup chocolate chips mini-chips work best, dark chocolate taste best, use whatever you have, is safe for you, and you like
- Pre-heat oven to 350°F
- Mix the chia seeds and water together and set aside to gel.
- Mix dry ingredients -- almond or cashew flour through sugar (REMEMBER TO ADD 2 TABLESPOONS OF STARCH IF USING CASHE FLOUR).
- Add the milk, oil, vanilla, and chia gel to the dry ingredients and mix until well-incorporated. Love the fact that you can't over-mix gluten free batters. Add in the chocolate chips and mix well. This recipe is pretty forgiving for how many. I usually go for a generous 1/2 cup, plus a bit for luck.
- Portion out cookies -- I use a 1 Tablespoon cookie scoop to make it as easy as possible -- onto a cookie sheet lined with a silicon sheet or parchment paper. You will get 24-25 cookies, so two half sheets.
- Bake both sheets at once using two oven racks. Bake for 10 minutes, then switch the sheets (move the middle one to the top and top one down) and also spin them around at the same time. Bake for another 10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let them cool for 3-5 minutes before putting the cookies on a rack to cool completely.
- (Goes really well with ice cream.)