I Love Gluten Free Recipe Books

Just as the title says, I love gluten free recipe books. More importantly, like with any recipe books, I love when the recipes in the books are actually do-able, enjoyable and reasonable. By reasonable I mean that if I have to go running around to 5 different stores to buy the ingredients or the ingredients are going to cost me and arm and a leg...I'm not interested anymore and I might as well just stop at that point and go back to something I consider to be an old favorite.

I am pleased to share with you today that I recently found this fantastic gluten free cookbook called Gluten Free on a Shoestring by Nicole Hunn. As we all know, there are many wonderful and probably many not so wonderful gluten free cook books out there, but this one (for me) was a great find! Nicole Hunn outlines the cost per serving of each of the recipes within the book and while I know that her figures are based on American prices not Canadian, it's always nice to see the cost breakdown per serving and feel a little bit better about your creation vs. store bought. Don't get my wrong, store bought stuff has its place too, but as I've mentioned before I do enjoy baking and that's what I was in the mood for today.

We have already tried a few of the recipes in this book and been super happy with each of them, but today I want to share with you all a fudgy chocolatey super easy and fun recipe. C'mon who doesn't love chocolate chip brownies? And these ones are gluten free to boot.

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Brownies

Chocolate Chip Brownies

Makes 16 brownies

1 stick (8 tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature

12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips, separated into 8 ounce and 4 ounce portions

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 extra large eggs
1 cup all purpose gluten free flour
1/2 tsp xantham gum
1/4 cup Dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with two crisscrossed strips of parchment paper long enough to overhand all the sides of the pan. Butter the parchment paper as best you can. As long as the parchment paper covers the entire inside surface of the pan, the brownies will come out of the pan well. Set the pan aside.
2. In a medium-size, microwave safe bowl, combine the butter and 8 ounces of the chocolate chips. Microwave for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, 30 seconds at a time, stirring well at each 30 second interval, until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Allow the chocolate mixture to cool slightly, for about 2 minutes.
3. Once the chocolate mixture has cooled, add to it the sugar and the eggs one at a time, stirring to combine well after each addition. Next, add the flour, xantham gum, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt, reserving a few tablespoons of flour. Beat the batter well until it becomes thicker and a bit more elastic. Toss the remaining 4 ounces of chocolate chips with the reserved flour to coat the chocolate chips. Add the chocolate chips and remaining flour to the batter, stirring until the chips are evenly distributed throughout the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula or wet hands.
4. Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean., with a few moist crumbs attached.

Cool the brownies in the pan for at least 30 minutes. Lift the brownies out of the pan with the overhung parchment paper, invert onto a cutting board, peel off the parchment paper, and slice into squares with a moistened serrated knife.

I had read in another one of my favorite cookbooks (America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook) that the use of a parchment paper or aluminum foil sling is preferred for brownies as it allows the baker to easier remove the brownies without crumbling or breaking them.

Gotta love detailed explanations. As I've discussed before, I generally opt to use Bob's Red Mill gluten free all purpose flour for my gluten free baking needs.

These brownies were absolutely delicious, you've gotta give them a try!

Gluten Free Edmonton - A Celiac guide and resource for gluten free information in Edmonton, Alberta