Gluten Free Chestnut & Prune Chocolate Brownies

Gluten Free Chestnut & Prune Chocolate Brownies

AKA the VERY experimental chocolate brownie….

Submitted By Cucina Ceri, Check out her blog at http://cucinaceri.com

Ingredients (makes 16 small brownie bites)

• 35g stoned dried prunes (organic, where possible, and choose a brand without any extra vegetable oil, glazing agent or random preservative)


• ¼ cup coconut powder


• 50g walnuts


• 1 large free range egg


• ¼ cup coconut oil


• ¼ cup unsweetened 100% cocoa powder


• tsp vanilla essence


• 1 Tablespoon honey (raw), or other sweetener such as sweet freedom


• 1.5 cups of chestnut flour


• ½ cup ground almonds


• 1 tsp gluten free baking powder

Method

There are lots of bits and pieces to this recipe. My advice is to do all the preparations, then clear up before moving on to the combining part of the recipe.  I made a right tip of my kitchen trying to do everything at once…

 Preparations:

• Soak the prunes in 2 tablespoons of boiling water & set aside (for as long as possible, ideally 2hrs/overnight).   When they have softened blend to a paste.


• Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C.


• Grease (with coconut oil) and line a square baking tray – Approx 7 square inch tin perfect.


• Blend the coconut powder with a cup of water and set aside. (You could alternatively use coconut milk for this bit.)


• Chop the walnuts into small pieces.


• Separate the egg, and whisk the white till light and fluffy.

• Set up a double boiler (a mixing bowl over a saucepan of hot water).


• Melt the coconut oil, and measure ¼ cup into the double boiler, add the cocoa powder, the egg yolk, and the coconut milk mixture, stirring continuously until smooth and combined.  Do not allow the mixture to boil or overheat.


• Next add the prune paste, vanilla essence and honey (I’m not sure if the honey is absolutely necessary, but as I was making these for other people I panicked that they wouldn’t find them sweet enough.  Not everyone likes 100% cocoa as much as me…).  Remove from the heat.


• In a separate bowl combine the chestnut flour, ground almonds, and baking powder.  Add the runny chocolate mixture and stir until fully combined.  Next fold in the whisked egg white and finally throw in the chopped walnuts.


• Pour into the lined baking tray, smoothing over with a knife, and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.


• Remove, cool, then slice into squares.


• Storing the brownies in the fridge will given them a bit of ‘bite’ when you dig in.