This recipe comes from a laminated bookmark I received as part of a promotional package from Chatelaine magazine. While I was not so struck by this unsolicited mail that I wished to subscribe to the magazine, I kept the bookmark because the brownie recipe on it was gluten free with an interesting twist. Actually this is a lie. As soon as I’d typed in the ingredient list into this entry, I threw it out. And was annoyed that it was unrecyclable.
Below is the original recipe for one pan of brownies. I tripled this because I was baking for work, so ignore my photos involving massive amounts of baking materials.
First, separate 4 eggs, and bring the whites to room temperature.
Preheat your oven to 350°F and line an 8″ square pan with parchment paper, letting the paper hang over the sides of the pan (you’re going to use these as handles later, see?).
In a large bowl, whisk together 2 1/2 cups icing sugar with 2 cups ground almonds (I used almond meal), 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, and a pinch of salt.
Add to that your egg whites and 2 teaspoons vanilla and mix well.
Pour that thick loveliness into the prepared pan. And by thick I mean that this stuff will suck you into oblivion if you’re not careful.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the top is shiny and crusty and a cake tester inserted into the centre comes out mostly clean.
Use the parchment handles to carefully lift the brownie out of the pan (you don’t want it to suddenly sag and break in half, for instance) and set the brownies on a rack to cool completely.
What this recipe doesn’t tell you (because I guess the bookmark was too small) is that these things are next to impossible to cut cleanly. I thought mine weren’t cooked enough and ended up putting them back in the oven for another fifteen minutes and they were still ridiculous, sticking to the knife and crumbling everywhere. Warm, cold, didn’t matter. Crumbles all over the place.
But they tasted like brownies. So that’s that.