Gluten Free Brownies with Raspberries

Gluten Free Brownies – the Search for the Perfect Recipe

There is probably no better cake for a chocoholic than a brownie. Most of other people will probably also enjoy a piece of this dense chocolatey treat. And for that reason, I am sure that the majority of us have a favourite, tested brownie recipe.

This was exactly the case in my house. For a long time, I used to bake delicious brownies everybody loved. But then one day many years ago my daughters wanted to bake a chocolate cake. So, I found them a new simple brownie recipe.

When we tried the still-warm cake, I knew I was defeated. Their brownie was without a doubt better than the one I used to bake. It was not only beautifully moist inside, but it also had a fantastic crispy “skin” on top which added the extra texture.

Since then it was my daughters who always baked the brownies and even if they were unable to do it, I used the same recipe.

Gluten Free Brownies – How to Make Them Healthier?

Years passed by and I finally decided to check if I could make this delicious cake healthier and gluten-free, so even the people who avoid regular flour could enjoy it. The first trial wasn’t successful. I used a mixture of coconut flour, and ground almonds and the former made the cake very crumbly and dry. So, I decided to use chestnut flour instead. I have never worked with this ingredient and couldn’t wait to see the results. Luckily, this time the Gluten Free Brownies turned out the way I wanted them: dense, moist but still with the lovely crunchy top.

When it came to making it healthier, I changed two details. I added only half of the sugar required in the original recipe, and I also used some raspberries. However, there is also another health benefit of this brownie. I prepared it with dark chocolate.

You probably know that dark chocolate is good for you as it contains Magnesium. But this is not its only health benefit. Dark chocolate lowers blood pressure and levels of bad cholesterol (LDL). It improves blood flow and mood. But – according to some studies – it may also reduce the risk of some types of cancer as well as stop the growth of cancer cells. If you would like to find out more about the health benefits of eating dark chocolate (especially relating to cancer prevention and curing), please read this article. And regularly eat more dark chocolate* (from time to time you can have it in the form of a brownie)!

* The darker the chocolate, the healthier. Simply, the higher the percentage of cocoa solids, the fewer other ingredients (e.g. sugar) are added.

Gluten Free Brownies with Raspberries

Agnieszka Weiner

Dense and moist brownies with a crunchy top made from chestnut flour and ground almonds.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Servings 20 pieces

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 120 g dark chocolate * broken into pieces
• 150 g butter
• 4 eggs
• 250 g sugar (I used 150g dark muscovado and 100g plain sugar)
• 90 g chestnut flour
• 90 g ground almonds
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt
• 150 g raspberries

Instructions

 

• Melt the butter and chocolate in the microwave or over a pan of simmering water, cool down.
• Preheat an oven to 170C (fan ovens) and cover a cake tin (approx. 20 x 30cm) with a baking parchment.
• Beat the eggs and sugar with an electric mixer for 2-3 minutes.
• Add the cooled down melted chocolate and butter to the egg mixture and gently stir together.
• Sift in the chestnut flour and baking powder, add the ground almonds and salt and very gently combine everything.
• Pour the batter into the tin, put the raspberries on top and bake for 40 minutes.

Notes

* For this cake I used dark chocolate with 60% cocoa solids. But if you prefer more dense and less sweet version, you can use chocolate with a higher percentage.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!