Bake Sale For Japan

My kids didn’t have school today so I went on a baking frenzy. I made gluten-free chocolate chip cookies and gluten-free brownies for the Bake Sale for Japan. I’m planning on dropping the baked goods off at Akasha Restaurant in Culver City in the morning.

I also made meringues, but not sure how they are yet. If they’re good, I’ll bring them too.  And I made banana flan because we had really ripe bananas and sweetened condensed milk. I hope our guests tomorrow like bananas.

Here’s my day of baking in pictures. I left out shots of my messy kitchen and me in pajamas. You’re welcome.

Sticky gluten-free cookie dough
Giant gluten-free chocolate chip cookies
Gluten-free brownie wrapped and ready for sale
Leftover brownies for the mom friends
Look! I’m making caramel for the flan
Doh! Something went terribly wrong
Mixing the bananas and milks for flan
Banana flan, caramel sauce to be added later

Superbowl Treat: Decadent Gluten-Free Brownies

It’s time for the Superbowl, woo, hoo. Ok, I don’t care about football. All that it means to me is that I have an excuse to eat Ruffles with french onion dip and drink beer all day.

But when you have a food allergy, Superbowl parties can be painful, literally. Pizza, burgers, and cookies are generally off the table, so if you need to do some accommodating for a gluten-free and/or dairy free guest, here is a recipe for gluten-free brownies. They are delicious, easy, and great to make if it’s your first attempt at gluten-free baking. There’s not a whole lot of flour, mostly chocolate, sugar, and butter. The recipe below includes vegan butter, but you can use regular butter if dairy isn’t a problem. Sort of obvious, but the better the chocolate, the better the brownie. Ghirardelli cocoa is gluten-free and reasonably priced.

Decadent Chocolate Brownieskid mixing brownie batter
1 stick of Earth Balance Vegan Butter
1 cup sugar
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla
2 cold large eggs
½ cup gluten-free flour*
½ teaspoon xantham gum

Preheat oven to 325. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper. In a small bowl combine flour and xantham gum. In a large bowl combine vegan butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt. Place in microwave for 1 minute or until butter is melted. (This is the lazy version. You can also do this in a pan on the stovetop). Add vanilla. Stir in eggs one a time, mixing well after each egg. Add the flour and xantham gum. Vigorously stir for about 30 seconds.

brownie batter in the oven

 

Pour brownie mix into prepared pan. Cook for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out slightly moist. Cool on rack. Enjoy!

*Basic Gluten-Free Flour Mix from the Gluten-Free Gourmet Cooks Fast and Healthy
6 cups white rice flour
2 cups potato starch
1 cup tapioca flour
Store leftover flour in an airtight container