Brownies- Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Sugar-free

We have a friend visiting that is dairy free and chocolate free. So I decided to try these brownies before she arrived. I turned to Elishia's Kitchen again for this recipe!

Ingredients:

dry:
1 1/2 cups Bob’s Red Mill gluten free all purpose flour mix*
1 Cup carob powder
1 Tablespoons baking powder
1 Tablespoons ground flax seeds (or sold as flax seed meal)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum*
1/2 teaspoon salt

liquid:
3/4 Cup almond milk
6 Pitted dates, medjool preferred
2/3 Cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 Cup apple sauce
9 Drops stevia*
1/4 Cup maple syrup (agave would work too)
2 Tablespoon vanilla flavor, or use vanilla extract - just 1 Tbsp*

2 Eggs
1 Cup pecans, chopped

silky carob topping (optional) recipe below

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 
2. Lightly grease a muffin tin for a cupcake version or a 7x13” pan. You may choose a smaller pan if you want them thicker, just increase cooking time. 
3. In a large mixing bowl combine all of the dry ingredients together and mix well. Carob tends to clump up a bit - I like there to be some little bits (pea sized or smaller) of it in the finished product - so break up any large pieces with a whisk, otherwise just leave it alone. Set aside. 
4. Place the dates and almond milk in a blender and blend until the dates are pulverized. Add the rest of the liquid ingredients, except the eggs, and blend until combined. 
5. In a separate bowl whip the eggs together until there are air bubbles on top, and set aside. 
6. Add the blender contents and the eggs to the dry ingredients and mix well using a whisk until thoroughly combined. Gently stir in the pecans. 
7. Scrape all of the dough from the bowl into your baking pan and place in the oven. 
8. The muffin shape will take about 25 minutes to cook, and 35 minutes for the regular brownie pan. Rotate them in the oven half way through, and begin checking them 5 minutes before the stated done time. Poke with a toothpick, and remove them from the oven when the toothpick is still a bit damp on the end, but not raw. If you cook it longer, its fine, it will just be more like a cake and less like a brownie. If you like it more raw, its up to you! 
9. Allow them to cool somewhat before eating.  
10. Store in a tightly sealed container for up to three days or wrap tightly and freeze for up to one month. 

Silky Carob topping: 1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp carob powder, 1/4 cup coconut oil, 1/4 cup agave, 1 Tablespoon vanilla flavor. Simmer, stirring til it bubbles. Remove from heat and let sit a few minutes. Spread on warm brownies with a spatula or pastry brush. This sauce would also be great on some almond or coconut ice cream (recipe coming soon!). enjoy!

optional:

1. Substitute 2 Tbsp of the flour with mesquite flour for a more chocolatey taste. 
2. If a bit of dairy isn’t an issue for you then you may add 1/2 cup of unsweetened carob chips along with the wet ingredients. 

Ingredient notes:

Bob’s Red Mill Gluten free all purpose flour mix: This mix is genius and if you are planning to do any gluten free baking or cooking I recommend that you pick up a bag.

Xanthan gum: This is the glue of gluten free baking. Without it your recipe will fall apart. It is a thickener and emulsifier. You may notice that a bag of it costs about $8 but each recipe only calls for a teaspoon or less and it has an infinite shelf life, so i’d get some and keep it around.

Stevia: Most people agree that the flavor of stevia is kind of gross. The only one I’ve found that’s not is the Vanilla Creme from Sweet Leaf. This is my go-to sweetener now and the way I use it is by combining it with other sweeteners to dramatically boost the level of sweetness without any taste. My husband in particular HATES the flavor of stevia! So I developed this combining method and even he cannot detect the stevia.  (don't tell him!)

Vanilla Flavor: I use the Vanilla Flavor from Frontier and it is a superior alcohol free product. It also has a great flavor that I love.

 **Jill's notes- We made them in a pan instead of a muffin tin. They were a bit crumbly. We didn't make the frosting. I thought they did a nice job for satisfying a chocolate craving without the chocolate. I gave one to a fitness trainer- she loved them.
Picture is from Elishia's Kitchen.