Who can resist the dense, chocolate-y, chewy,  yumminess of a fresh-from the oven brownie. Do you like them light and cake-y or moist and fudge-y?  I’ve made probably over 30 different brownie recipes in my life and the last few years I’ve endeavored to make cleaner versions of them… experimenting with dairy-free, sugar-free, organic and lately-gluten free.

I think one of my favorite brownies was a recipe from a master pastry chef from Bon Appetit that I ripped out of the magazine over 12 years ago.  It was like a brownie pudding with a butterscotch sauce that is was swimming in and came with a side of caramel ice-cream.  Not exactly Jenny-Craig appoved with it’s dollops of ice cream, cream and butter. But I like this gluten free brownie recipe even more.

My other favorite restaurant brownie is in San Diego at one my favorite restaurants called Indigo Grill.  It is probably the most artisticially presented brownie I have ever seen.  It comes with a chocolate shaped dragon on top of the of the cooked in a deep skillet brownie…this is also swimming in some kind of toffee sauce  a gooey chocolate center, doused with some dense dark chocolate fudge and of course the requisite big dollop of vanilla ice-cream.

A word of warning: do not order this alone.  The decadence is too rich to resist so if you get this eat it with no less than 3 or 4 friends.  The last time I ate this with a group of 3 of us we were moaning and groaning with so much delight that my friend said,  “Wow….this is the closest I have ever come to a menage a trois.”

Why am I telling you about this?  Hopefully I have impressed you with my brownie judging credentials.

Where I found my gluten free brownie recipe

I also have been cooking with  some of  the  the Healing Gourmet’s, Kelley Herring’s recipes since she is the Editor of Eat to Fight Cancer, Eat to Beat Diabetes, Eat to Lower Cholesterol and Eat to Boost Fertility. At the Healing Gourmet, Kelley Herring gives some great tips, suggestions and recipes on how to cook without gluten and often times without dairy.

She’s introduced me to some funky stuff including coconut flour and using black beans in my chocolate cakes….. which I still have yet to make but it’s so weird it has to be yummy!  She actually has a few versions of brownie recipes in her gluten free dessert guide book and I made two of them so far.  One version had a bunch of butter and eggs in them and the other version was dairy-free.

I “preferred” the version with butter in it…. (maybe I should just admit that I almost ate a whole 9 ” by 13″ pan of them in less than 24 hours….. so much for my yoga training giving me impulse control and heightened awareness.)  I guess these are a “healthy” version if you only eat 1- 2 of them at a time… not sure about the nutritional benefits if you eat the whole batch with this gluten free brownie recipe.

If you want to get all the benefits and less of the pesticides and harsh chemicals then pay attention to the details on your shopping list.  Ingredients matter.

 

Gluten Free Brownie Recipe (Flourless)

Yield: 12 brownies

Start to Finish: 45 minutes

Nutrition Snapshot: 203 calories, 9.8 grams sugar, 2 grams fiber, 5.5 grams protein, 12 net carbs per

serving

Preferences: Gluten Free, Dairy Free; Excellent Source of Vitamin E, Copper; Good Source of Magnesium and Protein

 

Ingredients

• 16 Tbsp. Organic Butter

• 1/4 tsp. sea salt

• 4 Tbsp. Organic Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

• 15 drop SweetLeaf Stevia Vanilla Creme Liquid Stevia

• 2 large pastured eggs

• 1/3 cup raw honey

• 1/4 cup organic cocoa powder

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

2. Add all ingredients to a large bowl and beat with electric mixer to combine.(NOTE: If the

batter is dry add filtered water by tablespoon to thin)

3. Pour batter into 8 inch square greased cake pan.

4. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.

5. Bake on the middle rack for 22-26 minutes.

6. Serve and keep in an airtight container, refrigerated.

7. Moan quietly and softly from delight.

8. Endeavor to not eat the whole pan or your family will murder you in your sleep.

9.  Monitor carefully or hide them from other family members so they don’t eat the whole pan and you don’t murder them in their sleep.

Nutrition Information Per Serving –  (yeah…. like you’re going to have just one serving……) 203 calories, 15 g total fat, 2 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 7 g monounsaturated fats, 0 g polyunsaturated fats, 35 mg cholesterol, 81 mg sodium, 14 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 9.8 g sugars, 5.5 g protein

 

What are some of your most memorable brownie recipes?  What was in them?  What about the tastiest gluten-free or dairy free versions?  Are you a purist and only like them with no toppings or nuts or do you like them choc full of stuff?

For more decadent gluten-free and often dairy-free goodness, peruse the Healing Gourmet’s recipe book.