asthma and allergies, cooking, food, gluten-free

Gluten-Free Brownies

Written by Sarah Blake LaRose on . Leave a comment

I have been making gluten-free muffins for a while and have been searching for an acceptable flour ratio that tasted good, didn’t crumble, and had good texture. Another challenge is that I don’t react well to xanthan gum or guar gum. Needless to say, I have had to do a lot of experimenting.

My ideas for modifying the recipe came from The How Can It Be Gluten Free Cookbook. I am grateful to America’s Test Kitchen for getting me on the right path. They didn’t solve all of my problems–they recommend using xanthan gum in almost all of their recipes, so I still have to do a lot of experimenting. I am pleased with how this first test came out.

GF Brownies

Ingredients:

    2 sticks butter or margarine
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 tablespoons cocoa
  • 4 eggs, beaten
  • pinch salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup tapioca flour
  • 3/4 cup brown rice flour
  • 1/4 cup flaxseed
  • 1 cup chopped nuts

Grease a 9-inch square pan, and dust with cocoa. Preheat oven to 325.

Melt butter/margarine and combine in large mixing bowl with sugar and cocoa. Whisk together and add in eggs, salt, baking powder, and vanilla, whisking after each addition. Add flour and flaxseed 1/4 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. Finally, add nuts and mix well.

Pour batter into pan and spread evenly. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. If using a silicone pan, place pan on top of another baking sheet for best results.

Note: I substituted baking Splenda for the sugar when I made this. The brownies were fine. Baking them with sugar would make them heavier.

I was shocked at the result when I served these. Not only did they rise, but they did not crumble! Most of my GF recipes have been very flat and crumply. The texture was phenomenal, and I didn’t feel like I was missing something after eating a brownie.

About Sarah Blake LaRose

Sarah Blake LaRose teaches Biblical Hebrew and Greek at Anderson University School of Theology and Christian Ministry in Anderson, Indiana. She is one of three blind academic scholars who received the Jacob Bolotin Award from the National Federation of the Blind in 2016 in recognition of innovative work in the field of access to biblical language texts and tools for people who are blind. In addition to her work as a professor, she provides braille transcription services specializing in ancient languages. Her research interests concern the intersection of disability, poverty, and biblical studies.
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About Sarah Blake LaRose

Sarah Blake LaRose teaches Biblical Hebrew and Greek at Anderson University School of Theology and Christian Ministry in Anderson, Indiana. She is one of three blind academic scholars who received the Jacob Bolotin Award from the National Federation of the Blind in 2016 in recognition of innovative work in the field of access to biblical language texts and tools for people who are blind. In addition to her work as a professor, she provides braille transcription services specializing in ancient languages. Her research interests concern the intersection of disability, poverty, and biblical studies.

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