These gluten free brownies are just the right amount of sweet, gooey and chocolatey. The chopped pecans add a wonderful crunch, and the addition of salt and coffee into the brownie batter makes their flavour pop. Easy and quick to make, this just might be your new favourite brownie recipe.
Raise your hand if you love brownies. Oh, you too?
Perfectly understandable, really – what’s not to love about gooey heaps of chocolate goodness? (Barring, of course, you’re one of that strange breed of humans that *gasp* don’t like chocolate.)
These gluten free brownies with pecans are everything a brownie should be, and more.
Gooey.
Very chocolatey.
Dense.
Sweet, but not too sweet.
Super chocolatey.
With a nice crunch from the pecans.
Insanely chocolatey.
… Okay, I think you get the picture. If you don’t, here’s a (non-metaphorical) picture:
There are a few tricks in this gluten free brownie recipe that make the chocolate flavour pop. For one, there’s the salt. There are way way way too many brownie recipes out there that – shockhorror – forget the salt. One does not omit the salt in a brownie recipe. The equation is pretty simple, folks: chocolate + salt = OHMYGOSHSOGOOD. When you add even just a pinch of salt to your brownie batter, magic happens and the chocolate flavour becomes about a thousand times more pronounced.
The second trick is to add a bit of coffee. I’ve used crushed instant coffee granules, but you could use a splash of expresso, or coffee in any other form you have on hand. Similarly to salt, coffee takes the brownies to a whole new level by giving them an additional depth of flavour. The end result is simply mind-blowing.
The method of preparing the batter for these gluten free brownies is also not your typical one. I have to admit, I initially tried it only because it sounded absolutely awesome. Chocolate and butter are melted together (The smell! The glossiness! The taste!) and left to cool. The eggs and caster sugar, however, are whipped until pale and fluffy and creamy and so amazing. Truly, the making of that fluffiness is a sight to behold, and left me bouncing ‘round the kitchen like a 5-year-old on a sugar high.
Whipping anything into fluffy submission might seem strange when the end result should be dense, gooey brownies, but it works and this step is totally worth it. It prevents the brownies from turning into fudge – after all, while nice and yummy, too dense brownies just aren’t as delicious.
Gluten free flour, cocoa powder (for the extra chocolate oomph), salt and crushed coffee granules are sifted together. Another magic moment occurs when you fold the melted chocolate and butter into the egg-sugar fluffiness. Carefully, of course, so as not to lose any of the wonderful air trapped inside. Finally, the sifted flour mixture and chopped pecans are folded in, the batter is transferred into a baking tray, more chopped pecans are sprinkled on top, and into the oven it goes.
The baking time depends on how gooey you want your gluten free brownies to be. 20 minutes gives you super duper gooeyness, while 25 minutes gives kinda-gooey but a bit cake-y brownies. I’ve left them in the oven for 23 minutes and as you can see, the results are pretty spectacular. (You can also use the toothpick test. Nagi from Recipe Tin Eats has written this wonderful post about how to use the toothpick test when making brownies.)
So there you have it – gluten free brownies with pecans. I know I normally end by re-iterating how “this recipe is sooo amazing” blah blah blah. But, seriously… it’s brownies. You’ll love them.
GLUTEN FREE BROWNIES WITH PECANS
Ingredients
- 180 g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids)
- 150 g unsalted butter
- 3 large eggs
- 150 g caster sugar
- 85 g plain gluten free flour blend (I've used a simple store-bought blend of rice, potato and maize flour with no added xanthan gum)
- 40 g cocoa powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp coffee granules, crushed into a fine powder
- 70 g pecans, roughly chopped, divided
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 355 ºF (180 ºC) and line a baking tray with greaseproof/baking paper. (I've used a 20 x 20 cm – about 8 x 8 inch – square baking tray.)
- Melt chocolate and butter together in a bowl above simmering water. Set aside to cool.
- Using either a hand mixer with whisk beaters or a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, whisk the eggs and caster sugar until pale and fluffy. The mixture should increase in volume two to three times. It might take a few minutes.
- Sift together gluten free flour, cocoa powder, salt and crushed coffee granules.
- Fold the cooled chocolate mixture into the whipped egg and sugar mixture until fully incorporated. Be careful not to over-mix – you want to keep as much of the trapped air in the mixture as possible.
- Add the flour mix and 3/4 of the chopped pecans, and carefully fold it into the wet ingredients until you get a uniform batter with no clumps of flour. Be careful not to over-mix.
- Transfer the batter into the baking tray and sprinkle the remaining 1/4 of the chopped pecans on top.
- Bake in the pre-heated oven at 355 ºF (180 ºC) for 20 to 25 minutes. (Note 1)
- Allow to cool and cut into pieces. Serve warm or cooled completely, with a dusting of icing sugar, ice cream or whatever else strikes your fancy. Enjoy!
- The brownies keep well in a closed container for 3 to 4 days. (And that's being naive. A few hours at most.)
Notes
Looking for more chocolate yumminess? I’ve got you covered!
Chocolate & Mint Raw Vegan Cheesecake Bites
5-Minute Chocolate Gluten Free Mug Cake
Well these look just FANTASTIC. I love gluten free brownies because they are a little more dense usually and I love a nice dense, fudgy brownie! YUM!
Aww, thank you! Well, these sure are just the right amount of fudgy and chocolatey and simply YUM 🙂 Glad you like them!