Recipes

Espresso Brownies

elliebleu

espresso-brownies

This dessert is not only delicious but gluten free, and dare I say, made with healthy ingredients. If you’ve never used brown rice flour, now’s the time to try. I often mix it with the more expensive gluten free all-purpose flour when baking. The brownies are also made with maple sugar – a wonderful alternative to refined sugar.

EXPRESSO BROWNIES

Yield: 12 brownies        Prep Time: 10 minutes       Bake Time: 25-30 min

Ingredients:
¾ cup brown rice flour
¾ cup gluten free all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of fine sea salt
1 ½ cups maple sugar
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 tsp. instant espresso dissolved in 1/2 cup hot water*
½ cup extra light tasting olive oil**
Powdered sugar (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 9” square baking pan with non-stick oil.
2. Over a large bowl, sift together the brown rice flour, GF all-purpose flour, and unsweetened cocoa powder with the baking soda and baking powder. Stir in the maple sugar and a pinch of fine sea salt.
3. In a separate medium-sized bowl, mix the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry mixture and stir until the batter is smooth.
4. Pour the batter into the baking pan, and bake at 325 for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the pan completely cool on a wire rack before dusting the brownies with powdered sugar and cutting into squares.

Enjoy!

Tips:
*For the instant espresso, I used an Italian brand called Medaglia d’Oro. It comes in a small jar with a green lid and the Italian flag on the label. I’ve found it in virtually every grocery store near me.
** Make sure you use extra light tasting olive oil, not extra virgin. There’s a difference in the flavor.

Published by elliebleu

I'm the writer, recipe developer, creative director and food photographer for elliebleu.com.

47 thoughts on “Espresso Brownies”

  7. If you haven’t tried it, Buckwheat flour is excellent as a gluten free choice for brownies. The flavors synergies so much with chocolate! I never liked the all purpose mixes because many of them add a funny taste to the batter (from any bean flour they use). Mixing buckwheat and rice flour keep the texture soft and the taste great! — On a side note, I haven’t tried making these with almond milk. That sounds delicious!!!

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  9. Ellie,
    These are making my mouth water just looking at them 🙂
    I noticed that you used brown rice flour here in order to make them gluten-free.
    I’ll admit that I’m kinda slow to using different types of flour (Other than traditional wheat).
    I had a friend who has celiac disease so she was constantly having to experiment with alternates to wheat.
    Do you have any favorite alternates? Have you found that some gluten free flours work better for certain recipes and not so much for others?
    Would love to hear your thoughts 🙂

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    1. Hi Gwin. Thanks for the question! My favorite alternate flour is one by a local brand here called Bob’s Red Mill. You can buy their products online. They make a gluten free all-purpose flower that you can use in pizza dough or baking. That being said, it’s a little spendy. The generic brand of brown rice flour from Whole Foods worked perfect with the brownies although my guess its that it wouldn’t work well with pancakes or recipes where the dough has to rise. Almond flour, though expensive, works well with some cookies. I’m still in the experimental phase with GF baking. If anyone else wants to weigh in on it – please do. 🙂

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      1. Thanks for your thoughtful response on this.
        A good friend of mine tried making pancakes with chickpea flour and I just couldn’t!
        Granted, that was several years ago so it sounds like the industry has made a few leaps in this area.
        Thanks again Ellie 🙂

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    1. Hi Elise. Thank you for the question. Be sure to use Extra Light (not Extra Virgin) Olive Oil. The Extra Light is virtually tasteless but adds a lot of moisture to baked goods and is a healthier alternative to butter. I’ve never baked with pure olive oil but I’m sure it would taste stronger in the recipe.

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  21. 😏 I’ve followed you as your page is very inspiring.  I hope you do the same, as you may find mine the same, I practice naked cooking like jamie oliver, I’m conducting the half-blood princess project.

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