Brownies

I’ve been making these brownies a long time. I cut my gluten-free teeth on them 9 years ago; they were my first true gluten-free baking success. (I mean, really, what’s life without gluten-free brownies?)

There are a number of reasons why this recipe didn’t make it onto my blog years ago, but the main one is I find brownies boring. They’re brownies! Delicious, quick, and simple? Yes. But exotic, adventurous, and challenging? No.

I know. I like to make things difficult. I like adventures. I may not have the finances to travel in foreign lands and taste their cultural delicacies, but I will always have a passport to my kitchen.

My brownies have one truly adventurous quality: they map out a new flavor with every batch. You can use any type of jam in these—or none at all if you’re a chocolate purist. I used my homemade blueberry maple jam in the latest batch. Cherry, blackberry, and strawberry have all enjoyed their turn. Lemon curd. Cream cheese. Orange frosting. Peanut butter. All delicious. Fresh raspberries are gold, when well-dried first. (Too much liquid from fresh fruit will mess with the batter’s ability to bake properly.) Dried blueberries create little bursting pockets of flavor. Your possibilities are endless.

Next I plan to try fresh basil: maybe a basil-infused ganache or sweet almond pesto. Mmm.

Brownies

Makes 1 9x9-inch pan

¼ cup (30g) brown rice, sorghum, or amaranth flour

¼ cup (40g) sweet rice flour

2 Tbls (15g) tapioca starch

½ cup (45g) Dutch process baking cocoa

1 cup (185g) vanilla or plain white sugar

3oz chopped Theo chocolate bar or about ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

½ cup canola oil

1 Tbls molasses

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 Tbls seedless raspberry jam (or other fruit jam)

½ tsp warm water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a glass pan (8x8 or 9x9 inch).

In a medium bowl, sift together flours, starch, baking cocoa, and sugar. Blend until all the baking cocoa is incorporated and the mixture appears uniform. You may need to break up a few baking cocoa lumps. Add the chopped chocolate and set aside.

In a separate bowl or 2-cup measuring cup, combine oil, molasses, eggs, and vanilla extract. Beat until well-mixed and set aside.

In a small dish, mix together raspberry jam with the warm water until the jam is slightly runny. Set aside.

Combine the egg mixture with the dry ingredients, stirring until all dry pockets are gone and batter is very gooey. Add 2-3 teaspoons of raspberry sauce to the batter and mix in well.

Pour batter into greased glass pan. Spread with the back of your spoon until even.

Take remaining raspberry sauce and dribble onto the top of the batter, making 3-4 rows evenly spaced across the surface. Run a butter knife down the center of each raspberry row, poking it down into the batter. Then use the knife to draw lines across the raspberry rows at least four or five times, making a wave-like pattern.

Bake 35-40 minutes, or until brownies just begin to pull away from the edge of the pan and look solid. Allow to cool at least 15 minutes before cutting. Cut the whole pan into squares before chilling or the chocolate chunks sometimes make that difficult later.