Who Needs Gluten When You Have Chocolate

Fudgy Mint Brownies

As many of you already know, I am keeping myself occupied through this latest unwelcome visit from the hopelessly disoriented Polar Vortex by baking like a crazy person! And given that I have no idea when I might make it up the hill and out of the holler again, I determined that chocolate should be included in this marathon.

In addition, I have been doing a lot of research into gluten free baking for my upcoming Gluten Free Fridays here on the Brown Crock Baker. I have to admit I am a gluten glutton. Gluten is not something I've had to consider or given much thought to in my baking world, except for trying to make sure I develop as much of it as possible when baking many varieties of bread. But I do know there are many of you out there that either out of necessity or choice are avoiding gluten in your diets and I want to make sure some of my time is devoted to coming up with delicious options for you as well. So, why not start with brownies! Everybody loves a good brownie.

I am a fudge type brownie devotee. I love the super moist, dense, intense chocolate variety. I realize not everyone is on that same page. And I occasionally try to dial back some of the chocolate intensity when I know that Darlin' Mark and the rest of "those people" who wander around here under appreciating the shear beauty and healing powers of chocolate might nibble on one or two. And then sometimes I don't, knowing that will likely leave more for me. And I have found a kindred soul in my great nephew, Mason, who truly appreciates fine chocolate. He's from my side of the family. Smart boy.

One of my all time favorite super chocolaty brownie recipes is Martha Stewart's Fudgy Chocolate Brownies. I guarantee if she made these when she was in the Federal Pen, nobody gave her any crap. They probably didn't anyway. Martha's kinda scary. I love it for several reasons. First, and most important, the brownies have deep, intense chocolate flavor. They are also thick and chewy. And lastly, the recipe only makes an 8x8 pan sized batch which reduces the amount of calories I consume in them to five figures.

It only made sense to turn to Martha for my first try at gluten free brownies. And she didn't disappoint. Quite honestly, I can't think of a reason to make the flour variety after tasting these. Her recipe was for Fudgy Pecan Brownies but I recently picked up some Andes Creme de Menthe baking chips and decided to go the minty route. And again it only makes an 8x8 pan sized batch, making it diet friendly.

These are every bit as moist, fudgy and full of chocolate flavor as her flour based recipe. I think, if making the mint recipe again, I would either reduce the cinnamon to 1/4 teaspoon or omit altogether. I think I may omit the cinnamon in my next batch and substitute espresso powder in it's place. The cinnamon would be an important part of the flavor profile if making nut brownies in place of the mint.

No pictures of the process tonight. This weather has made me crankier than normal and I just didn't want to take pictures. And besides that, every surface in my kitchen is covered in baking paraphernalia right now and I didn't feel like moving it. See picture below if you don't believe me.

Gluten Free Fudgy Mint Brownies  (adapted from Martha Stewart Fudgy Pecan Brownies)

Ingredients  (Makes 8 x 8 sized pan)

6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter (plus extra for pan)
12 Ounces Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1/3 Cup Corn Starch
1/4 Cup Cocoa Powder
1/4 Tsp Cinnamon 
1/2 Tsp Salt
3 Large Eggs
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
2/3 Cup Andes Creme de Menthe Baking Pieces

Process

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter bottom and sides of 8 x 8 baking pan. Line bottom and up 2 sides of pan with parchment paper, leaving about 2 inches of overhang to make a sling to lift the brownies out of the pan after baking.

In small mixing bowl whisk corn starch, cocoa powder, cinnamon and salt.

In medium mixing bowl, place 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut in pieces, and chocolate chips. Sit bowl over saucepan of simmering water to melt butter and chocolate. Gently stir occasionally until melted and smooth.  (Martha says you can melt these in the microwave, but I never have any luck with that. I always end up cooking the dickens out of the chocolate. Martha is probably rolling her eyes right now. Whatever....Martha.)

Remove bowl from pan once chocolate and butter are melted. 

Add sugar and vanilla to chocolate mixture and stir until mixed. Add eggs 1 at a time, completely incorporating after each egg. Add cornstarch/cocoa mixture and stir vigorously for 2 minutes. (If you have a big strong man type person around the house, he would come in handy about now. Mine is wandering around Memphis right now, so I just toughed it out.) 

Fold in mint baking pieces until mixed. 

Spread batter in prepared pan and bake on middle rack of oven for 25-30 minutes. (Martha says 35 minutes, but I was afraid they'd get dry. I also get tired of Martha being so bossy and sometimes rebel.) I baked mine for 30 minutes and they came out lovely. 

Cool in pan on rack for 15 minutes, then remove from pan using parchment paper and let cool completely on rack. Once cooled, place brownies on parchment on cutting board and cut. Remove from parchment and store in air tight container. 

And there you have delicious, fudgy, minty gluten free brownies to enjoy on a cold miserable night. Do they think by calling it something cheery sounding like "wintry mix" we'll forget it's nasty little frozen ice balls falling from the sky and covering every surface making it completely impossible to leave your house without breaking your neck?!!! Sorry. Maybe I need another brownie.

Bake Away, People!