Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Brownies

 
I know what you're thinking. You saw "gluten-free" and thought that the whole manner of this blog had gone awry. These are bound to taste terrible, right? Or they'll be sweet and chocolatey but have the vague taste of beans that most GF flours have, right? Wrong. These brownies are so freaking delicious you'll be eating them hand over fist. And I would not be able to keep my foodie badge if I wasn't interested in trying some interesting substitutions. So let's get to it!

It starts with a very interesting fundamental observation I have made. Cocoa powder is awesome. It has a great deal of fiber, but is comparatively low in carbohydrates. In some recipes, it can mimic flour. In some recipes, it can replace flour. But let me back up a bit. For awhile now, I have been making my own coconut milk. Every time I did, I ended up with about a half-cup of wet coconut fiber that just sat in my fridge until I threw it into some muffin recipe or into a smoothie. Little did I know that coconut flour is nothing more than that wet coconut fiber, dried in the oven on a low temperature.

I have a hard time trusting GF flours. It's mostly that I want to be able to make it myself. So coconut flour I had already made seemed like a sure bet. If you have ever read about coconut flour, you probably know that it absorbs a lot of liquid. I have a bit of a trick to get out of this mess: don't dry it out in the first place. If it's already soaked, it won't absorb as much. So it is with this recipe.

All right, back to our love of cocoa powder. To test out my coconut flour, I needed a recipe that called for comparatively little flour, so I wouldn't have to do a lot of additions. I find that this recipe from Alton Brown is inspired. 1.25 cups of cocoa powder, and 0.5 cup of all-purpose. SUBSTITUTION: I used the wet "coconut flour" in place of the AP. In retrospect, I could probably have just used more cocoa powder. But there you have it.

So you start out as you usually would, creaming the oil and sugar together. SUBSTITUTION: I used 8 oz of EVCO instead of butter. I'm using sugar according to the recipe, but you could make your substitutions here as necessary. I've used turbinado sugar (spun finer in my Vitamix) with fine results. If you want to use a liquid sweetener such as maple syrup or honey, you may need to tweak the dry ingredients to get the right consistency. Then add the eggs and mix for 30 seconds or so. Now is also a good time to preheat your oven to 300.

I just dumped in the coconut flour and the vanilla right after.

Then it's time to get the dry ingredients. Cocoa powder and salt, that's it. You don't need any chemical leavening for this recipe, which is pretty awesome.

Mix it together until you get a pretty thick consistency. Feel free to add more cocoa powder if necessary, but I wouldn't go too crazy.

Now to get it in the pan. I use a cupcake tin. And really, that is a genius idea. You get the lovely crusty edges all the way around the brownie, and it's easy to get out of the pan. Spray or oil the tin, and use a scoop to put the batter in. Looks fantastic, doesn't it? Just wait until it's done.

Now take a look at THAT.

Fabulous, isn't it? I love that I get a fantastically chewy brownie that has no flour and no dairy in it. If you feel like the coconut flavor is a little strong (which is not my problem, but it bothers some people), use coconut oil that doesn't have coconut flavor to it.

Wet Ingredients

1 cup sugar, sifted
1 cup brown sugar, sifted
8 ounces EVCO

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/3-1/2 cup wet "coconut flour"

Dry Ingredients

1 3/4 cups cocoa, sifted
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Cream first wet ingredients, add the remaining wet ingredients. Incorporate dry ingredients. Mix until consistency is thick. Scoop into oiled cupcake tin and bake for 30-35 minutes.