Gluten Free Brownies

Everyone needs a quick and easy gluten free brownie recipe in their life! This recipe is deep, dark, and rich. It does not skimp on flavor or texture. Make it with any gluten free flour blend you like! Originally posted June 6, 2012.

So I am almost ready to start laughing at the joke our friends keep telling, the joke where Eric and I had to “stay on vacation” longer than planned. We were in Puerto Vallarta for a weekend getaway while my saint of a mother watched the kids, and all the sudden…we were stuck there!

Our plane was supposed to leave Sunday. We had already packed up when we saw the smoke billowing, and heard the news that our flight was canceled. Not delayed—canceled. The airport was shut down. The roads in and out of the city were barricaded. What in the Mexico is happening, PV??

We were safe the whole time, lucky for us. And miraculously able the get a flight out on Tuesday. It was really weird seeing all the burned out buses and looted stores on the way into town. We love Puerto Vallarta and are so sad for them. I think they will recover quickly though!

Now we are home sweet home, drowning in laundry and confused by the lack of mocktails available at this crappy restaurant known as my kitchen. (The waitstaff is terrible, I’m going to write a letter)

Why you need this brownie recipe in your life

Now, about these dark chocolate brownies. To say that they have changed my life is a ridiculous understatement. I already have a favorite brownie recipe, but I can’t get over this gluten free recipe. The trick is the real dark chocolate! It brings the best flavor.

This is not a gluten free blog, and I don’t specialize in gluten free baking. (Head over to my friend Sarah’s blog, Snixy Kitchen. She is the QUEEEEN.)

BUT. I am a human living in 2026, and that means I can name at least 10 people in my life off the top of my head who eat gluten free. And sometimes, I want to bake for those people. It’s nice to have a good trick up your sleeve for when you want to impress your gluten free guests!

Brownies are the best gluten free dessert

In my opinion, brownies are the BEST gluten free dessert option. Gluten is the thing in breads and cakes that help them to RISE. Without the gluten, the rising is an issue, because there is no structure for the yeast or baking soda to work with.

Brownies, however, are not cake. They are meant to be chewy and fudgy, and don’t need to rise much at all. That means if you swap in a gluten free flour, they are going to behave almost the same as if you had used regular flour. They will still be chewy and fudgy.

Usually when I eat gluten-free desserts, I expect to give up either some amount of flavor or texture, but you aren’t giving up anything with this recipe. They are real-deal fudgey, rich, decadent brownies. How awesome is that? Have your gluten-free, non-cakey brownie and eat it too.

Hero ingredients

• you need GOOD quality dark chocolate, like 60-70%. Most often, you’ll find this in a bar rather than chips but you can use Ghirardelli 60% dark chocolate chips if you like.
• rice flour instead of wheat is what makes these brownies gluten free, but it also adds a dense fudginess that will surprise you! I have also made these brownies with many a gluten free flour blend! Try out your favorite.
• baking soda This recipe does have a tiiiny smidgen of baking soda, just 1/4 teaspoon. Regular flour is a rising agent, but most gluten free flours don’t have any lift at all. So a leeetle baking soda helps with that. We are not using so much that they end up being cakey.

How to store leftovers

The easiest (and my usual) solution is to tightly wrap a piece of plastic wrap over the top of the glass 8×8 pan they were baked in. You can also cut pieces and transfer them to an airtight container. The brownies will be good left out on the counter for a good 4-5 days, if you can manage to make them last that long.

Can you freeze them?

Sure! They will freeze excellently as a whole pan or as individual pieces. To do a whole pan, make sure the pan has cooled completely, then wrap tightly in two layers of plastic wrap and one layer of foil. For individual pieces, add the cooled squares to a lined baking sheet and flash freeze for about 30 minutes. Transfer them to a freezer ziplock bag.

In the freezer the brownies should last a good 2-3 months. To use the whole pan, remove from the freezer and let sit on the counter for 2-4 hours until soft enough to cut. For individual pieces, simply remove one from the bag to a plate, and warm in the microwave on 50% power for a minute or two until it’s as warm as you want it to be.

I posted this recipe in 2012

Here’s what was going on back then:

“I’m sitting in a nice room with lots of books and snacks, waiting to see if I still have skin cancer (melanoma.) Eric and I are watching a huge pride of lions take down an elephant on Planet Earth. (If you have never seen Planet Earth, you are missing out. Lions. Taking down an elephant. It’s awesome.)

An elderly lady with a giant bandage on her nose is waiting with us, along with her daughter. It’s kind of hilarious watching two of the sweetest, most innocent-looking ladies in the world sit on the edge of their seats in fascination to see an elephant get torn to shreds (meanwhile not missing a stitch in their crocheting).

Look, they’re even chewing the nose! The daughter starts to laugh and says Mom, you kind of look like an elephant. They both burst into gales of laughter. The mom asks me if I’m laughing at her. (I wasn’t, I swear) She says What, you don’t like my nose job?

Which is of course ridiculous because her “nose job” is actually cancer-removal. It’s kind of nice having two pudgy ladies giggling like crazy while I wait on pins and needles to hear whether or not my own cancer-removal was successful. (It’s later now. They were able to remove all the melanoma, so I’m cancer-free. It’s a pretty awesome feeling. Besides the wooziness from the drugs I mean.)”