Brownies are easily made gluten free, whether you’re using a baking mix or your own flour blend from scratch (for a pure deep chocolate, pure scratch recipe, see Rebecca Reilly’s book Gluten Free Baking). This version uses a pre-blended gluten free baking mix (not a brownie mix), and gets its sweet from a change-up in the sugars: Instead of 1-2 cups of refined white sugar, here I let coconut sugar, raw honey and molasses do the trick, with help from cooked sweet potato. Tastes yummy, lowers the glycemic index, and throws in a few extra minerals and vitamins. Use leftover baked sweet potatoes or mash; canned pumpkin works well in place of sweet potato too.
We often use Pamela’s Gluten Free Baking Mix in my house for recipes like this – the caveat is that it contains buttermilk and is not casein or dairy free. Dairy free option: Lose the butter, and use only coconut oil, ghee, or a mix of these (ghee contains no whey or casein). You’ll also need a different gluten free baking mix like Bob’s Red Mill. Mixes like this are convenient because they pre-blend the gluten free flours that work best in baked goods, and they include gluten free baking powder, salt, and other usual dry ingredients that baked goods need.
- 3 tbsp coconut oil
- 4 tbsp butter or ghee
- 1/3 cup cococnut sugar
- 1 tbsp molasses
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla (gluten free)
- 1/2 cup canned pumpkin or sweet potato mash
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips ...use a gluten/casein free brand like Enjoy Life
- 1/2 cup cashews ...or any tolerable nuts, or, no nuts!
- 1 & 1/2 cup GF baking mix ...Pamela's Baking and Pancake Mix, or Bob's Red Mill
- 1/4-1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder ...go with good quality organic like Dagoba
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees; prepare an 8 x 8 or 9x 9 inch baking pan by greasing lightly with coconut oil or ghee. Dust with rice flour or any gluten free flour then line with baking parchment.
- Cream butter with coconut oil and sugar, blend on medium-high til smooth
- Add molasses and honey, blend on medium until smooth
- Add egg and vanilla; blend on medium til smooth
- Add baked sweet potato (or canned sweet potato or canned pumpkin) and stir in til blended
- Stir in gluten free flour mix and cocoa powder, and blend til smooth; add chocolate chips and nuts.
- Spoon into greased pan with parchment paper and gluten free flour
- Bake 15-25 min until a knife comes out clean. Test for doneness starting at 25-30 minutes.