Gluten-Free Fudgy Brownies
By Stephanie PixleyPublished on June 28, 2016
Time
1¼ hours, plus 30 minutes resting and 20 minutes cooling
Yield
Makes 16 brownies
Ingredients
Before You Begin
Not all brands of chocolate are processed in a gluten-free facility, so read labels carefully. The xanthan gum can be omitted, but the brownies will be more crumbly, will not rise as well, and will sink somewhat in the middle. Do not shortchange the 30-minute rest for the batter; if you do, the brownies will be gritty.
Instructions
- Make foil sling for 8-inch square baking pan by folding 2 long sheets of aluminum foil so each is 8 inches wide. Lay sheets of foil in pan perpendicular to each other, with extra foil hanging over edges of pan. Push foil into corners and up sides of pan, smoothing foil flush to pan; spray with vegetable oil spray.
- Whisk flour blend, salt, and xanthan gum together in bowl; set aside. Microwave chocolate, butter, and cocoa in bowl at 50 percent power, stirring often, until melted and smooth, 1 to 3 minutes. Let mixture cool slightly.
- Whisk sugar, eggs, and vanilla together in large bowl. Whisk in cooled chocolate mixture. Stir in flour mixture using rubber spatula and mix until well combined. Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top with spatula. Cover pan with plastic wrap and let batter rest for 30 minutes.
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Remove plastic and bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out with few moist crumbs attached, 45 to 55 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking.
- Let brownies cool completely in pan on wire rack, about 2 hours. Using foil overhang, lift brownies out of pan. Cut into squares and serve. (Brownies are best eaten on day they are baked, but they can be cooled and placed immediately in airtight container and stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.)
Time
1¼ hours, plus 30 minutes resting and 20 minutes coolingYield
Makes 16 browniesIngredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
Fudgy brownies contain less flour than cakey ones, so it made sense to start with our favorite recipe for fudgy brownies and use our flour blend instead. With cocoa powder, unsweetened chocolate, and bittersweet chocolate, this recipe delivers intense chocolate flavor. But when made with our flour blend, the brownies were a bit dry and dense (even for a fudgy brownie), and there was a subtle graininess. Cutting back on the amount of flour helped give the brownies the right moist, fudgy texture, and resting the batter for 30 minutes before baking gave the starches in our flour blend time to hydrate and soften. But reducing the amount of flour also had an unwanted side effect: The chocolate flavor fell out of balance. Now our brownies had a bitter edge. Both unsweetened chocolate and cocoa powder were candidates for elimination since they are on the more bitter end of the chocolate spectrum. Brownies made without cocoa lacked structure—so it had to stay. Dropping the unsweetened chocolate was a big step in the right direction, and switching the bittersweet out for semisweet chocolate eliminated the bitter flavor altogether.
Before You Begin
Not all brands of chocolate are processed in a gluten-free facility, so read labels carefully. The xanthan gum can be omitted, but the brownies will be more crumbly, will not rise as well, and will sink somewhat in the middle. Do not shortchange the 30-minute rest for the batter; if you do, the brownies will be gritty.
Instructions
- Make foil sling for 8-inch square baking pan by folding 2 long sheets of aluminum foil so each is 8 inches wide. Lay sheets of foil in pan perpendicular to each other, with extra foil hanging over edges of pan. Push foil into corners and up sides of pan, smoothing foil flush to pan; spray with vegetable oil spray.
- Whisk flour blend, salt, and xanthan gum together in bowl; set aside. Microwave chocolate, butter, and cocoa in bowl at 50 percent power, stirring often, until melted and smooth, 1 to 3 minutes. Let mixture cool slightly.
- Whisk sugar, eggs, and vanilla together in large bowl. Whisk in cooled chocolate mixture. Stir in flour mixture using rubber spatula and mix until well combined. Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top with spatula. Cover pan with plastic wrap and let batter rest for 30 minutes.
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Remove plastic and bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out with few moist crumbs attached, 45 to 55 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking.
- Let brownies cool completely in pan on wire rack, about 2 hours. Using foil overhang, lift brownies out of pan. Cut into squares and serve. (Brownies are best eaten on day they are baked, but they can be cooled and placed immediately in airtight container and stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.)
Gift This Recipe
Enjoyed this dish? Let others know by sharing it as a gift recipe.
Appears In
Keep Exploring
0 Comments