Monday, January 9, 2012

Grain-Free Sugar-Free Brownies That Don't Suck And Are Actually Pretty Good

Please excuse the ridiculously long title.  But how else could I accurately describe these brownies?  If you remember, I've lamented before the sad truth that grain-free, sugar-free baking really cannot produce a yummy, fudgey, dense, chocolatey brownie.  Even if you can make a delicious flourless brownie, that doesn't solve the issue of needing sugar.  Stevia, date paste, banana mush, uh uh.  Not going to cut it.  I've seen people use honey, maple syrup, coconut/palm sugar, agave, you name it.  And maybe those work out, but I don't use those ingredients. But, I think I'm finally on to something.  I will keep tinkering with the recipe, but this is an AH-HAH moment as Oprah would say.  This is the start of a new day for the gluten/grain/sugar free brownie-starved people of the world!  Ok...........  So here's what I did.

Grain-Free Sugar-Free Brownies That Don't Suck And Are Actually Pretty Good!
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1/4 cup oil or melted butter, or vegan butter
3/4 cup granulated sweetener (I used a combination of erythritol and xylitol)
2 eggs
2 tbsp cocoa powder
4 tbsp coconut flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp sugar free liquid sweetener
3-6 tbsp (nut)milk
1/4 cup chopped nuts, I used walnuts
1/4 cup sugar-free choc. chips (optional)

Preheat your oven to 320 and line an 8x8 with parchment.  Over low heat, melt your unsweetened chocolate with your oil or butter.  Stir constantly so it doesn't burn.  Then, pour in your granulated sweetener.  You might be able to use palm/coconut sugar here, so try it out.  Stir well.  The chocolate is going to look grainy, so don't be alarmed.  Remove from heat and let it cool for a few minutes.  While it cools, mix your coconut flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together.  Make sure there are no lumps.  Mix your two eggs into the slightly cooled chocolate, and add your vanilla, and liquid sweetener.  Stir into dry ingredients and incorporate well.  You can see that I put 3-6 tbsp of milk in the ingredients.  This depends on a few things, how big your eggs were, how dry your coconut flour, etc.  Start with a couple tablespoons and go from there.  You want the batter to be pourable and wet, not spongy or dry.  So add your milk little by little until it's become a pourable consistency.  You could also bake this in cupcake form.  You'll notice if you taste it that it's no longer grainy (but if it bothers you, you can put your granulated sweetener in your vitamix, or cuisi first to make the grains finer) and it has absolutely no discernible coconut taste to it.  I baked mine for 30 minutes and removed it when it was still a teensy bit underdone, and then put it in the fridge for a few hours. 

If you don't have sugar-free choc. chips then don't use 'em, or go ahead and use what you have.  Walnuts in brownies I think are divine but you really don't need them either!  Some yummy frosting on these would be even better, but I can't help you with that, not today anyways.  After at least a half dozen attempts at some kind of SF/GF brownie, not only are these the only ones that are even remotely edible, they are seriously awesomely amazing!  No shit!  **Edit:  These get even better after a day or two.  They become much more fudge-like after a day or so.  So good!!!

4 comments:

  1. My husband will love you if these turn out. I am known as the "brownie queen" because of my frosting. So here's a question. I use the same type of sugar that you used, I have heard that if you put it in a blender, it will become powdered sugar? If that's the case my frosting recipe would work?
    1/4 cup cocoa
    1 cube of butter
    1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
    Boil until mixture separates
    Add 1 tsp vanilla
    Pour over a bowl that has 1 box of powdered sugar and beat until smooth.
    Stir in 1/4 cup nuts if desired.
    So, would the sugar work for powdered sugar?
    I'm not a cook, chef, creative anything...so I have not tried this.
    This recipe tastes just like fudge, and I am sure if I boiled it longer it would set up like fudge.
    Thanks:) K

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  2. Kay- I finally had to throw the rest of these out because I could not stop eating them! They are amazing! And yes, I have heard that xylitol in a high-powered blender becomes "powdered" sugar. Your recipe sounds amazing! I am quite sure it would work!!!!

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  3. Yum yum yum! I love brownies, and these sound like they'd be so good! I have to make mine in small batches. :)

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  4. Kay, a small handheld coffee grinder works really good as well. I use it to grind up/powder many things, including making very fine almond flour with it.

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