Like my flourless chocolate cake, I make these Flourless Chocolate Brownies even when I’m not after a gluten free dessert because they’re that good! Using almond meal instead of flour adds lovely undertones of nuttiness as well as guaranteeing they’ll be fudgy and moist.
One bowl, quick, easy and impossible to stuff up!
Flourless Chocolate Brownies
I don’t think of these as gluten-free brownies. Rather, I tell people they are flourless chocolate brownies made with almond meal instead of flour, so they happen to be gluten-free.
And unlike regular brownies made with flour, these flourless brownies are virtually impossible to overcook to the point that you lose that desirable fudginess that we all know and love about brownies.
Win, win!
However, please note. If you ask me to choose between these flourless brownies and classic brownies, I’ll plead the fifth. There’s enough space in this world for both!! (A phrase I often use for competing food-love-interests).
What goes in gluten-free brownies
Here’s what you need to make these gluten-free brownies:
Almond meal / ground almonds (same thing) – this is finely blitzed raw, whole almonds in powder form, used in place of flour to add a beautifully nutty flavour to baked goods (like in this very popular Orange Cake and Flourless Chocolate Cake). It makes them ultra moist and also gluten-free.
Find it in the baking section, dried fruit and nut section or health food section of grocery stores.
Making your own: Blitz whole, raw unsalted almonds until powdered.
Almond flour is slightly different but can be used. Brownie texture will probably be a bit more cake-like (almond flour is made with blanched peeled almonds, no skin, and is finer) and a less pronounced almond flavour.
Rice flour – This is ground rice, widely available these days at everyday grocery stores. It takes the place of flour in this recipe to give the brownies a bit of much needed structure compared to using just almond meal.
Note however that some brands (like McKenzie’s in Australia) are not fully ground into a fine powder and sometimes have a tiny bit of a grit in them. Not a big deal in this recipe, but I prefer using Asian brands as they never seem to have this problem (Asian aisle, Harris Farms in Australia, Asian stores).
Chocolate – Use cooking chocolate chips from the baking section of the supermarket, not eating chocolate. Though actually, Lindt chocolate bars work great, not all eating chocolate does so that’s why I generally don’t recommend it!
Butter – No need to soften it as it is melted with the chocolate.
Large eggs – Use eggs sold in cartons labelled “large eggs” which are 55 – 60g / 2 oz each. This is an industry standard. If you don’t have eggs this size, crack eggs in a bowl, whisk then measure out 90 ml / 100 grams.
Sugar – I like to use brown sugar as it adds a bit of caramely flavour to the brownies. But white sugar works just fine here.
Vanilla – Extract is better quality and flavour than imitation vanilla.
Salt – Generally good practice in baking to include a touch of salt as it brings out the flavour of other ingredients. It doesn’t make these brownies salty!
How to make flourless chocolate brownies
Nice and easy – one bowl and just a wooden spoon!
Melt the butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl. I do this in the microwave – 3 x 30 second bursts on high, stirring in between, until melted and smooth.
Mix well until smooth, then let it cool for 5 minutes just to be sure we don’t accidentally cook the eggs!
Vanilla, sugar, eggs – Stir in the vanilla and sugar, then mix the eggs in until incorporated and the batter is smooth.
Add dry ingredients – Mix in the almond meal and rice flour.
Bake – Pour into the prepared pan, smooth the surface then bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean but still a bit wet. You want it to be moist because that means the brownie is still fudgy! Note however that flourless brownies are far more forgiving than brownies made with flour as the absence of flour makes it hard to overcook them to the point of drying out.
Cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes before using the paper overhang to lift the brownie out of the pan. Then fully cool on a rack before cutting to serve.
Cutting / serving hot v cooled – Fudgy brownies are difficult to cut when warm as they are too gooey. It is best to fully cool to room temperature before slicing. Better yet, for best results, refrigerate so it firms up, slice when cold so you get neat squares. Then allow to fully come to room temperature before serving. This way, you get perfect neat slices but the same gooey eating experience!
Also, close up proof that even though these are flourless brownies, you’ll get the signature crackly brownie surface that we all know and love:
And proof of fudgy insides:
YUM.
I see these fudgy beauties in your future. Very near future, in fact. Like – this weekend.
Then after you’ve made them, come back and tell me how much you loved them!!! 😇 – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Flourless Chocolate Brownies (gluten free)
Ingredients
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips or melts / semi-sweet chocolate (Note 1)
- 85 g / 6 tbsp unsalted butter , cut into 1 cm / 1/2" cubes
- 1/4 tsp cooking/kosher salt
- 3/4 cup brown sugar (sub white)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs (55-60g / 2 oz each)
- 2/3 cup almond meal / ground almonds (or almond flour, Note 2)
- 1/3 cup rice flour (Note 3)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C / 325°F (160°C fan-forced) with a rack in the lower third of the oven.
- Preparation: Grease and line a 20cm / 8" square pan with baking paper (parchment paper) with excess overhang so it's easy to lift out the brownie when cooked.
- Melt butter and chocolate: Place chocolate, butter and salt in a heatproof bowl. Microwave in 3 x 30 second bursts on high, mixing in between, until melted and smooth. You could also do this over simmering water on the stove.
- Cool 5 minutes: Mix well to combine the chocolate and butter then leave to cool for 5 minutes.
- Add vanilla, sugar and eggs: Stir in the vanilla and sugar. Crack the eggs straight into the bowl, and stir until combined.
- Add dry: Add almond meal and rice flour, and mix very well until fully combined.
- Bake: Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Bake for 25 minutes or until the brownies are slightly puffed all over and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out moist but clean. You want it to be moist!
- Cool and serve: Cool brownies for at least 30 minutes in the pan. Remove the brownie by holding the edges of the baking paper, fully cool on a rack. Then cut into squares (3 x 3 for gigantic ones, 4 x 4 for sensible ones). See Note 4 for more cutting tips.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Recipe originally published May 2014. Updated with much needed new photos and a video, plus the all important Life of Dozer section! No change to recipe – perfect as is. 😇
Life of Dozer
Massage balls to work knots out of my back regularly go missing around here….
So easy, and fudgey! Love them
These were just delicious, I think we preferred them to non gluten free brownies!! Could you make them with just rice flour? Or would that not work. Thanks Nagi love your recipes!
Hi Nagi – am just making this delicious looking brownies recipe for my gluten free family and noticed at 2 different steps it says to add salt. I presume the second time is the correct one ?
Thanks as always, Joy
Thanks for picking that up Joy – the second one is correct! N x
I want to cook your gluten free brownies i only have almond and flax meal baking flower can i use that
First of all I had the chuckle at the lack of usual length in this post… 😉 They turned out just as described!! So yummy warm with a scoop of ice cream.
Hi, would cornstarch work in place of rice flour?
Just realised rice flour is easier to find than I thought 🙂
Hi AE – yes you can get it in major supermarkets in Australia 🙂 N x
I made them, and I liked them as much as the gluten free person (if not more).
But I also wanted to report that, because I was baking well in advance for a party, after taking them out of the pan and completely cooling, I double wrapped the whole brownie slab in cling wrap and froze it. I defrosted it in the fridge, and cut them the day before, and they were amazing!
Hi Nagi! How many grams in 2/3 cup almond flour and 1/3 cup rice flour? Thanks…
Hi Joanne, 55g of rice flour and 65g of almond meal. N x
Made this on the weekend and it was so yum!! Used brown sugar as mentioned in the comments as the recipe doesn’t specify.
Thankyou Nagi for sharing your amazing recipes, they feature regularly in our household 😊
What can you replace dark chip chocolate with?
So… based on earlier comment, we should use brown sugar?
Also, is oatmeal flour ok to sub the rice flour?
Hi Nagi, do you think you could sub the sugar for sweetener? I’m type 1 diabetic but have friends who are gluten intolerant, so want to find a dessert for all! Thanks so much 😊
Hi Kat, I haven’t tried to be honest – I would love to know! N x
Hi Nagi,
Can I sub brown sugar for the white sugar?
I love all your recipes and they always come out so perfect!
Hi Sarah, you really need the brown sugar here to keep the brownies moist 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi,
The recipe doesn’t specify that it’s brown sugar, so I thought it called for white. I ended up using a combo and it came out great but I’m glad to know I can use all brown sugar in the future. Thanks!
Hi! Can I use regular flour in this recipe? What should be the measurement? Thanks.
I’m a huge fan of all your style of cooking 💜
Hi Nikita, not for this recipe sorry – try this one: https://www.recipetineats.com/easy-chocolate-brownies/
These recipes are so amazing and easy to follow ……since i started to use this my cakes and dishes have made a huge change on my style of cooking…..thanks #love it
I absolutely love hearing this!!!
Super simple and a perfect outcome. My oven is crazy hot as well as being fan forced, so 20 minutes at 150 gave exactly the right amount of crust and ooze. Yum!
That’s greta Beck!! N x
Hi Nagi
You mention adding salt twice. When do we add the salt?
Love your site xx
Thanks for picking that up! Add it in step 5. N x
Hi Nagi do these freeze well?
Hi Ari, they sure do!
Thank you so much for this one Nagi, I finally made something “Gluten” free that my mother in law actually loved enough to want seconds. It’s really delicious and I think better than ones with gluten!
Hi Nagi,
How much is 3/4 cup sugar in grams
Hi Mayanka – 220g
I adore the GF chocolate brownies. However, I used raw sugar as it’s all I had in the pantry. While most of the brownies were cooked the centre unfortunately wasn’t. Is that because of the raw sugar or not enough cooking time?
Hi Krystyna, I doubt it was because of the sugar, more likely to be the cook time – N x
Hi Nagi! Where I can find the nutritional information for this recipe?