Best Gluten-Free Brownies!

A few years ago my brother was diagnosed with Celiac disease which means that he can't eat foods that contain gluten. It can be very hard to find baked goods that are gluten-free and don't taste like cardboard, and the ones that are tasty can be very over-priced. Last weekend was my brother's birthday so I decided to try and bake him a gluten-free dessert that would substitute as a birthday cake. I was flipping through the January issue of Chatelaine magazine and found a simple recipe for gluten-free brownies, so I thought I'd give it a try. They turned out great, the brownies were moist, chocolaty, and delicious! The neat part about this recipe is that it doesn't contain any kind of flour at all, instead it uses ground almonds which gives them a nice texture and flavour. These brownies are a great treat to make for the gluten-free people in your life and because they are are high in fibre and low in fat they are great to make when you are craving a sweet treat!

Photo by Roberto Caruso from www.chatelaine.com

Here is the recipe:

2 1/2 cups icing sugar
2 cups ground almonds
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 tsp salt
4 egg whites
2 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line the sides and bottom of an 8x8 inch pan with parchment paper, letting the paper hang over the edges of the pan.

Whisk sugar with almonds, cocoa, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in egg whites and vanilla. Batter will be thick. Scrape into prepared pan. Smooth top.

Bake in the centre of the oven until top of brownie is shiny and crispy and a cake tester inserted in the centre comes out almost clean, about 40-45 minutes. Use parchment paper to lift the brownie out, and let cool completely on a rack.