Nut Free, Gluten Free… But Certainly NOT Yummy Free!

In our household, we have been challenged with not only gluten intolerance… but a peanut allergy and white potato intolerance as well! The potato intolerance is actually pretty easy to control. Dessert, however, can sometimes be hard to pull off for the combination of gluten intolerance and peanut allergy. Chocolate, for example, is difficult. Hershey Chocolate is safe for my son and his peanut allergy (except for the miniatures), but not safe for my gluten intolerance. Toll House chocolate chips are safe for me, but not for my son! And the list goes on.

Fortunately, I have come across two different brands of chocolate that, for the time being, are safe for both of us! One is a higher quality, one is lower.

My lower quality chocolate comes from Wegmans Market. In fact, the chips are Wegmans store brand! It comes in your typical 12oz bag and is both gluten and peanut free. One bag is usually around $1.99… so I’ll use them for various cookies and bar cookies.

If your grocery store has an organic section, check out Enjoy Life mini-chocolate chips. They are dairy, soy, gluten, casein and peanut free! This is the higher quality chocolate… and the price will reflect that. Around here, they are about $5 for a 10oz bag. I use them when I want to melt chocolate to drizzle over a dessert, as more of a finishing chocolate.

And for brownies. It would be a crime to use the lower quality chips! What are we usually trying to accomplish when making brownies? We want a big pan of fudgy, rich chocolate goodness. To use a lower quality chocolate really does make a difference. Don’t deny your inner chocoholic the satisfaction of really, really good brownies.

No worries if you can’t find them at your local grocery store… check out this link and get yourself some great chocolate! http://www.amazon.com/Enjoy-Life-Semi-Sweet-Chocolate-10-Ounce/dp/B000HDJZWO/ref=sr_1_2?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1313511776&sr=1-2

Once you get your lovely new chocolate chips, you might be tempted to just sit and stare at the wonder that is really good gluten free chocolate. Don’t. Get in the kitchen ASAP and make these brownies. They are chewy, they are rich, they are ridiculous. You’ll be in love!

Brownie tip for the day… use a plastic knife to cut your cooled brownies! No more globs of brownie stuck to your knife. Although that also means no globs of brownie to swipe off the knife and “sample”. Let’s say it this way… if you are serving brownies to guests, use a plastic knife for clean cuts. If you are cutting a brownie for your family, use a regular knife and swipe away!

Gluten Free Brownies

½ cup rice flour

½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

28oz gluten free semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided

4 Tbsp butter

4 large eggs

1 cup sugar

4 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 11x7 baking pan with non-stick spray.

In a small bowl, combine the rice flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk to combine.

In a medium microwavable bowl, melt 16oz of chocolate chips and the butter, stirring regularly until smooth. Set aside.

In a medium heatproof bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar and vanilla. Place the bowl over a simmer pot of water (do not let the water touch the bottom of the bowl, only need an inch or so of water… just be sure the bowl is a little larger than the pot so it rests on top yet leaves a gap between its bottom and the water). Continually whisk the egg mixture over the simmering water until it is just slightly warm. Remove bowl from the pan and add the chocolate mixture. Whisk together until smooth. Add the flour mixture and stir to completely combine.

Quickly fold in the remaining 12oz of chips and pour into prepared baking pan. Bake for 45 minutes. Cool completely before cutting with a plastic knife.