Gluten Free Brownies - Fudgiest Ever

How do you Keep Gluten-Free Brownies from Falling Apart?

The secret to making the best brownies without flour means they don't fall apart. Here are my tips to stop them from crumbling:

• Ensure you don't over-bake them.
• Rather than use cocoa powder, use good quality bittersweet or dark chocolate. The higher the amount of cacao, the less sugar is added. The result is the taste of the chocolate shines, making the best, fudgiest brownies ever!
• To cut them cleanly without crumbs, cool them first. They will be difficult to cut if they're hot or very warm, as they are particularly gooey.

Use Good Quality Ingredients

From our French supermarkets, I usually bake with Nestlé's Corsé dark chocolate ('chocolat noir') with a minimum of 64% cacao. Otherwise, use high quality brands such as Barry from specialist baking shops.

Likewise for nuts - use the best quality nuts that are unsalted and without any oils. You'll find them in health food sections of supermarkets or in specialist stores selling organic produce. If you're looking for the top, la crème de la crème, go for the best Italian nuts such as Sicilian pistachios or Piemonte hazelnuts.

What Flour is Best for Gluten-Free Brownies?

The best wheat flour substitutes for these gluten free brownies, are almond flour or rice flour in my opinion. They're so light, it's hard to tell they're gluten free!

I strongly suggest you use almond or rice flour for this recipe. Rice flour gives an extra smooth fudginess to the brownies and there's no need to sift.

Although they can be replaced by coconut flour, I find the result has a slightly crumbly and grainy texture.

Will Gluten Free Flour Work?

As I don't follow a strict gluten-free diet, I don't bake using specialist gluten free flour. That's why I tend to use nut flours.

Does Gluten Free Reduce Calories?

While rice flour makes these brownies gluten free, it doesn't reduce the calories compared to normal wheat flour.

For example, for 90g of rice flour, the same weight of all-purpose or cake flour with gluten has exactly the same amount of calories (306 calories).

Likewise, if we used gluten free buckwheat flour, it's also the same calorie count (298 calories). On the other hand, nut flours contain double the calories. So gluten free recipes using nut flours doesn't mean that it's lower in calories.

Conclusion: to reduce calories in gluten free brownies, use rice flour rather than almond flour in this recipe.

How to Make Gooey Gluten Free Brownies

First measure out ingredients using a kitchen scale. Believe me, it makes all the difference. Let me convince you by reading why you need digital scales.

Prepare the Bain-Marie (double boiler): boil about a cup of water in a saucepan, then turn down the heat to simmering. Place a heatproof bowl of the measured chocolate (chopped or broken into bits), cubed butter over it and stir occasionally.

When nearly completely melted, turn off the heat.

Add the melted chocolate and butter to the eggs and sugar. Gradually add and mix in the almond flour and salt (or half teaspoon of coffee powder if you prefer).

Pour the batter into the lined brownie tin and evenly spread with a spatula.

How Long Can They Keep?

They can be kept in an airtight tin for up to 5 days. Brownies taste great (if not better) next day, so it's a handy recipe that can be made the day before. Although they freeze well, as they last so long, I prefer eating them fresh.

As a result, they're perfect for school bake sales, taking them into the office for teatime, or just being organised in advance for parties.

How to Serve

Serve at room temperature to appreciate the brownies' precious chocolate flavours or slightly warmed for dessert.

Heat gently for a few seconds in the microwave and serve with chestnut ice cream or pistachio ice cream for the fudgiest, gooey gluten free brownie bliss!