Flourless Gluten Free Brownies

I don’t know about you, but to me warm weather means brownies. I think they should be packed in every picnic lunch—whether on the beach, or just on the front lawn (or at the local pool!). These flourless gluten free brownies might just be the easiest brownies you ever make ( mostly 1 bowl (another small bowl just for whisking together a few dry ingredients but I think that doesn’t count)), and seriously some of the best. Fudgy and tender, and without a speck of any sort of flour. It drives me kind of bonkers when they call something flourless but it has, like, almond flour in it. Almond flour is flour. It’s right there in the name! These are truly flourless. And a marvel of baking chemistry at that.

I’m currently considering whether I should look into the fact that what is and is not properly defined as “flourless” seems to mean a whole lot to me.

I tested these brownies with both smooth no-stir peanut butter and smooth no-stir almond butter and honestly? The chocolate flavor is so deep that I can barely tell the difference between the almond and peanut butter versions. If you can’t have any nuts and want to test these with something like Sunbutter, please do and let us know how it goes! But know this: once you make these and see how ridiculously quick and easy they are, you might just be ruined for any other brownie recipes. Except that Imma gonna be posting more brownie recipes this summer. ‘Cause it’s summer, and that’s what you do. Think of the picnics!

Prep time: 5 minutes       Cook time: 30 minutes       Yield: 16 brownies

Ingredients

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

8 tablespoons (112 g) unsalted butter, chopped

1 cup (256 g) smooth no-stir almond or peanut butter

3 eggs (180 g, out of shell) plus 1 egg yolk at room temperature, beaten

1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar

1/2 cup (109 g) packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup (40 g) unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-processed)

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions

• Preheat your oven to 325°F. Grease and line an 8-inch square baking pan, leaving a 1-inch overhang of parchment paper all around the pan. Set the pan aside.

• In a large, heat-safe bowl, place the chopped chocolate and butter, and either melt in the microwave in 30-second bursts or over a double boiler, stirring occasionally, until melted and smooth. Add the nut butter, and mix to combine. The mixture will begin to thicken. Add the eggs, egg yolk, granulated sugar and brown sugar, mixing to combine well after each addition. In a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients and then the vanilla to the large bowl of wet ingredients, and mix to combine. The batter will be thick. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, and spread into an even layer with a wet spatula.

• Place in the center of the preheated oven and bake until just set and mostly firm to the touch (a toothpick may still come out a bit wet), about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, and place the pan on a wire rack. Allow the brownies to cool completely in the pan before using the overhung parchment to lift them out of the pan onto a cutting board. With a large knife, slice into 16 squares.