Hey Gardeners still looking for something to do with your hands while you’re waiting for Spring? Need a creative fix that’s easy and is legally mood altering? This Double Chocolate Brownie recipe should do it. This is no ordinary brownie. They’re seriously soft and gooey, super chocolaty, and gluten-free.
Gluten Free does not mean tasteless. You just have to know which type of flour to use. I’ve been wheat free for quite a few years and have experimented with a variety of different flours. Just like there is an assortment of wheat flours for different types of bakes, (cake flour, self-rising flour, white whole wheat, etc.), there is also an assortment to chose from in gluten free flours. I have found the gluten free flours made primarily of white rice (simple carb) have the best flavor and texture for this recipe. I think it makes a softer, gooier brownie, believe it or not and my friends and family actually prefer this gluten-free version.
Preheat oven to 350, line a 13 x 9in pan with parchment paper, or you can grease it with butter and dust it with flour.
Ingredients:
6 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate (that’s 10 squares, or one and half bars of the Baker’s unsweetened chocolate baking bars).
18 TBS, That’s two sticks plus 2 TBS, of butter
5 eggs
2 cups of sugar
1 1/2 cups of flour
2 Tbs of vanilla.
1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Optional additions – 1 1/2 c of walnuts, or as in this recipe, peppermint candy canes and 1 tsp of peppermint extract.
Put all the chocolate and the butter in a medium size bowl and melt it in the microwave, 2 minutes at time, stirring the mixture in between. Do not let the chocolate burn. Once the chocolate is completely melted, take it out of the microwave and add the sugar one cup at a time, stirring until it is completely melted. Then add the vanilla and the eggs, again stirring until it is smooth. Add the flour and keep on stirring, you guessed it, until it’s smooth. Now fold in the chocolate chips. Adding them last so they don’t melt in the chocolate mixture.
Put the candy canes in a baggie and pound then with your rolling pin. Sure work out some issues on the candy, but not so much that you turn it into flour. Then fold them into the mixture. Stir in 1 tsp of peppermint extract and the mixture is then ready for the pan.
If you want really really really gooey brownies, whether you use gluten free flour or not, take them out of the oven about 5 to 8 minutes before the recommended baking time of 30-35 minutes, less if you have an electric oven. They’ll be just set on top but gooey still on the inside. Don’t worry, they will set enough to eat as they cool, and will be the perfect texture to match their rich chocolate flavor. My beautiful cousin Megan loves them warm and semi-liquid fresh out of the pan. The boys like them warm with vanilla ice cream. Any way you eat them, you will love them.