Date And Pecan Brownies Gluten And Dairy Free Food

FUDGY DATE BROWNIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
• Cover an 8-inch x 8-inch brownie square pan with parchment paper. Grease the paper slightly with coconut oil. Set aside.
• In a food processor, add the pitted dates and cover them with boiling water. Make sure the water covers all the dates. If needed, arrange the dates in a thin layer to ensure they soak properly. Close the food processor and let them soak in the water for 10-15 minutes, or until the dates are soft.
• Process the dates until it forms a date paste - for about 1 minute on medium speed. You may have to stop the food processor every 20 seconds, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula and repeat until a creamy consistent date paste forms. It is ok if there are some tiny pieces of dates left in the batter. It will taste like caramel when baked.
• Add unsweetened cocoa powder, ground almond, flaxseed meal, vanilla essence, salt, baking powder.
• Process for 20-30 seconds on medium speed. Open the food processor - you should obtain a dark, sticky chocolate brownie batter, slightly 'dry' and that is what you want.
• Add almond milk, process again for 20 seconds. Open the food processor, the batter should now be shiny and moist.
• Spread the brownie batter into the prepared 8 x 8-inch square pan.
• Bake 18-20 minutes or until the top of the brownie is set.
• When the brownies are cooked, cool them down in the pan for about 20 minutes at room temperature or near an opened window.
• Pull the parchment paper to easily unmold your brownies without breaking them. Place the brownies on a square plate, place another plate on top, and flip them over. Peel the parchment paper and let the brownies fully cool down before adding the frosting.
• Spread the date chocolate frosting over the brownies using a spatula. The brownies will be moist at first. They get super fudgy when totally cooled down. I recommend storing your brownies for an hour in the fridge so they get super dense, fudgy, and the frosting sets.
• Cut the brownie into 16 squares - I found that using a cake plastic knife makes cutting easier.

DATE AND PECAN BROWNIES (GLUTEN AND DAIRY FREE)

Steps:

• Set the oven to 350°F Break the chocolate into squares and melt in a bowl in the microwave or over a pan of simmering water. Beat in the dairy-free margarine.
• In another bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar until light and foamy. Stir in the chocolate mixture then the flour, dates and pecans.
• Pour the mixture into a 7in square shallow cake tin, lined with baking parchment and level the top. Bake for 30-35 mins until just set in the middle.
• Cool in the tin for 10 mins, then remove from the tin and place on a wire rack. Cut into 16 small squares.

GLUTEN-FREE FUDGY PECAN BROWNIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter an 8-inch square baking pan and line with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides. Whisk together cornstarch, cocoa, cinnamon, and salt. In a large microwave-safe bowl, microwave butter and chocolate in 30-second increments, stirring each time, until melted and smooth, about 2 minutes.
• Stir in sugar and vanilla. Stir in eggs, one at a time, until combined. Add cornstarch mixture and stir vigorously until mixture is smooth and begins to pull away from side of bowl, about 2 minutes. Stir in pecans.
• Pour batter into pan and smooth top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 35 minutes, rotating pan halfway through. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Using paper overhang, lift cake out of pan and cut into 16 squares.

LOW-SUGAR DATE BROWNIES

Steps:

• Place dates in a small bowl and pour in hot water. Soak for 10 to 15 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line an 8x8-inch baking dish with parchment paper, leaving enough paper to hang over the sides of the dish.
• Drain dates and transfer to a food processor. Pulse until dates are completely smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. If date paste is too thick, add hot water 1 tablespoon at a time until completely pureed.
• Add softened butter to the food processor and pulse to combine, about 30 seconds. Add eggs and vanilla extract and process until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add whole wheat flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Pulse until mixture is just combined, about 30 seconds. Gently stir in chocolate chips by hand. Pour batter into the prepared baking dish.
• Bake in the preheated oven until edges just begin to set, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove brownies from pan by gently lifting up edges of parchment paper. Allow to cool completely on a cooling rack. Cut into 16 pieces.

DATE AND PECAN SLICE (CAN BE GLUTEN-FREE)

Steps:

• Grease and line and 18x28 cm slice pan with baking paper- cover base and extend up sides of the pan.
• Preheat oven to 160°C.
• Mix all slice base ingredients in a mixing bowl.
• Press mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes, or until golden. Remove from oven and cool in the pan.
• To make the icing- sift the icing sugar into a bowl and stir in the butter and enough lemon juice to make a smooth icing.
• Lift the cooled slice from the pan.
• Spread with the lemon icing. You can decorate top with some fine zest of lemon or finely diced pecans.
• Cut into 24 slices to serve.

GLUTEN-FREE BROWNIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Butter a 30 x 20cm non-stick tin with butter and line the base with non-stick baking parchment.
• Fill a small saucepan a third full with water, bring to a simmer and put a snug-fitting heatproof bowl on top of it. Add the butter and chocolate and gently melt over a low heat, stirring occasionally. Be careful not to let it catch and burn on the bottom. Remove from the heat and leave to cool a little.
• Beat the eggs and sugar together using an electric whisk for 8-10 mins or until thick enough to leave a trail. Gently fold through the cooled melted chocolate and vanilla, followed by the flour, cocoa and salt. Finally, fold through the chocolate chunks. Pour the brownie batter into the lined tin, place in the centre of the oven and bake for 30-35 mins.
• Leave to cool a little in the tin before cutting into 12 squares.