Gluten Free Fudge No-Butter Brownies

This month's Avid Baker's Challenge is a wonderful pan of fudgy brownies!  YUMMY!!!  Even hubby is looking forward to this easy challenge!

Although the idea of no butter or oil in the recipe sounded odd, I gave it a try.  Here is the recipe:

Fudgy No-Butter Brownies (gluten-free, dairy-free)

Makes 16 brownies

2 cups (300 g) icing/confectioner’s sugar

2/3 cup (56 g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder

200 g (about 2 cups) ground almonds/almond meal

½ tsp salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 large egg white

2 tbsp water

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

5 oz (about 2/3 cup) best quality dark chocolate chips or chopped bittersweet chocolate, plus extra for topping

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom and sides of an 8×8-inch pan with parchment paper, letting it hang over the edges of pan.

Sift icing sugar and cocoa into a large mixing bowl. Add almond meal and salt and stir to combine. Add whole eggs, egg white, water and vanilla extract and stir until smooth. The batter will be thick. Stir through bittersweet chocolate.

Scrape batter into your prepared pan, smooth the top and scatter extra chocolate over top. Bake until a shiny crust forms and a skewer inserted into the center comes out with a few moist sticky bits, about 25-30 minutes.

Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool slightly. For neat slices, let cool completely before slicing.

                                                

 OK, time to get baking...

Step 1:

Before preheating the oven, make sure the oven doesn't smell like the Brussels sprouts we roasted last night!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 8" square pan with parchment paper. I put handles on the sides to make removing and cutting the brownies easier

I was really happy for this recipe challenge. I've had this bag of almond meal in the freezer for awhile

The recipe said that the batter would be thick. No kidding!  I didn't think that there was enough liquid for the recipe. I was just about to add some more water. Then I remembered that the recipe said that the icing sugar would dissolve and keep the brownies moist

Here's a tip .  Use a wet spatula to smooth the thick batter. Less batter will cling to it  

Fresh from the oven, and the house smells wonderful! My husband just showed up and said "Ah, the smell of chocolate in the morning..."  

Look at all that melty chocolate goodness!!!

Hubby gave it a happy 10!!!

If you would like to see more about this recipe, it's at Gluten Free Fudge No-Butter Brownies

If you would like to know more about the monthly Avid Baker's Challenge, Click here for Avid Baker's Challenge
Thanks for stopping by.  These were great, and we kept nibbling at them for a few weeks.  YUM