Gluten-Free Brownies

OMG!  These are way better than I ever imagined they could be!  I have a friend who recently found out she cannot tolerate gluten and dairy.  We are going to her house tonight and I've been itching to try a GF recipe for her.  I bought a bunch of ingredients to make my own all-purpose GF flour a month ago, so I finally had the opportunity to make it for these brownies!

Let me just say that I LOVE www.kingarthurflour.com!  They really do have amazing flour and amazing recipes!  I go there time and time again for great recipes, so I found a recipe for the GF flour and these brownies with great reviews!  As I've mentioned before, I really love fudge brownies.  When I first started baking back in High School, I always opted for cake-like brownies, but my tastes have changed as I've 'aged.'  Although I have an appreciation for all brownies, I much prefer the fudge kind that are still a bit gooey!

I doubled the recipe so that I would have enough for both of our families, so the recipe makes enough for a 8x8 pan, but I used a 9x12 with double the batter.  I adjusted the brownies to make them dairy free as well as GF.  The brownies turned out very thick, moist and they had a nice crunch from the chocolate chips.

Gluten-Free Brownies (Original Recipe from KAF)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla extract
3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa or baking cocoa
3 large eggs
3/4 cup King Arthur Gluten-Free Multi-Purpose Flour or brown rice flour blend
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup chocolate chips, optional
1 cup chopped nuts, optional

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8" square pan.

In a microwave safe bowl, combine oil, applesauce, sugar and salt and heat for 1 minute on high.  Mix and transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Now, blend in the cocoa powder and vanilla extract and mix until the batter is smooth and well blended.  Add eggs one at at time until fully incorporated.

Pour the flour and baking powder into the mix and mix on low at first, then move to medium speed. Stir in the chips and/or nuts, if you're using them.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it all the way to the edges.

Bake the brownies for 35 to 38 minutes.  Check with a toothpick and make sure that a bit of crumbs comes off.  I started checking it at 35 minutes, but I had to add an extra 4 minutes and then it looked great.  These puffed up quite a bit, but stayed a bit gooey in the center.

Remove from the oven and cool for about 15 minutes before cutting. Store on the counter or they also taste yummy in the refrigerator.

Yield: 16 brownies.