These brownies are ridiculous because they are the darkest, richest, most delicious brownies I have ever tasted – yet they don’t even contain any melted chocolate! Their secret lies in my favourite brand of cocoa – it’s incredibly rich and dark and much stronger than any other cocoa I’ve seen. This is now my favourite brownie recipe, and I have my mum to thank for sending it to me 🙂

For some reason all of the local supermarkets now stock various types of freeze-dried whole and powdered fruits. We decided to experiment with them – this version uses freeze-dried cherries. We’ve tried a batch with raspberries in the past and they were equally delicious.

Ingredients

110g dairy free margarine
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup caster sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
¾ cup Edmonds gluten free flour
½ cup cocoa powder
¼ tsp baking soda
½ cup freeze-dried cherries
1 handful of dark chocolate chips (optional)

Method

Heat oven to 160°C fan bake, or 180°C bake.

Line a square brownie tin with baking paper.

In a large bowl or saucepan, melt margarine, then mix in vanilla extract and sugars.

Add eggs one at a time, beating well in between.

Add cocoa, flour, and baking soda and mix well. You should have a lovely dark silky mixture now.

Stir in the cherries and chocolate chips, if using. Then pour in to the brownie tin.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until just cooked. Leave in the tin to cool completely before cutting into generous squares.

Serve for dessert with dairy free ice cream and fresh berries – if you can resist eating them all before then!

 

Adapted from Chelsea Sugar New Zealand (http://www.chelsea.co.nz/browse-recipes/gluten-free-chocolate-brownie/#)