I’ve had requests from a lot of people for some stuff that’s a bit “different”. Well, that’s not really the right word. To sum it up I’m going to do a series of bakes to fit into a “free from” range. Once a month I will do something that could be classed as “free from” i.e. Vegan, gluten free, diabetes friendly etc. To kick things off I’ve gone for a double whammy, which is Gluten Free Diabetic Friendly White Chocolate and Pecan Brownies. I told my friend Steph ages ago that I’d do her some diabetic friendly bakes so this one took priority. This is the first time I’ve tried my hand at an intentionally gluten free recipe. But damn, it’s good. The brownies are wonderfully chewy and flavourful. The white chocolate (despite being a fairly small amount in comparison to many brownie recipes) comes through well as do the pecans. This is the first time I’ve baked with rice flour. It’s also the first time I’ve baked with just plain margarine instead of butter/oil for ages.
It took me a couple of tries to get these just right and a couple of points I’m going to raise now are these. You *have* to line the bottom of the tray to make sure that you can get these out without them sticking to the bottom. Also, they will look like they are done after about 20 minutes, but make sure you bake them for the full 30 minutes!
- 75g (2¾oz) gluten-free white chocolate
- 75g (2¾oz) polyunsaturated margarine
- 175g (6oz) light soft brown sugar
- 2 eggs, beaten
- A few drops vanilla extract
- 50g (1¾oz) ground almonds
- 1 heaped tablespoon rice flour
- 100g (3½oz) pecans, toasted and roughly chopped
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC (160ºC fan assisted). Grease and line a brownie tray of 18x28cm.
- Melt the chocolate with the margarine (I used a bowl over hot water). Stirring constantly.
- Stir in the remaining ingredients one at a time. Mix well.
- Pour in to the prepared tin and place in the middle of the preheated oven.
- Bake for about 30 minutes.
- Remove and leave in the tin. Allow to cool in the tin until completely cool.
- Remove and divide up how you please.