Microwave Baked Gluten-Dairy-Egg Free Brownies

Intro: Microwave Baked Gluten-Dairy-Egg Free Brownies

This chocolate brownie recipe is perfect for those who have multiple allergies but still want something delicious to cater to their sweet tooth. This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, egg free, soy free, nut free, yet flexible for substitutions. My version is microwave baked (which is only take 6 minutes!) but you can also bake it in a conventional oven for about 30-40 minutes.

STEP 1: Ingredients

Normal baking substitutions

Flour
There are a lot of variations out there on substituting wheat flour for gluten free baking, but I only use easy-to-find ingredients.
I use gluten-free mix from rice flour, tapioca starch and potato starch (not potato flour), plus xanthan/guar gum (it's an important part of gluten free baking, to mimic the chewiness of normal baked goods).

The ratio for these flours are :
Rice flour : tapioca starch : potato starch = 4 : 1 : 1
(So for 1 cup you will need 2/3 cup rice flour, 1/6 cup tapioca starch, and 1/6 cup potato starch)
For 1 cup of this gluten free flour mix, add 1 tsp of xanthan/guar gum.

Dairy
Brownie recipe usually includes melted butter. To substitute the butter, you can use margarine. Most margarines are soy-based, while I need soy-free substitution, so I used vegetable oil instead.

Egg
You can substitute egg with a number of things, but I chose fruit puree. For this recipe I used commercial applesauce, but in other occasions I have used avocado, banana, pumpkin, avocado-banana mix, avocado-banana-strawberry mix, banana-papaya mix, even grated carrot! You can be creative with egg substitution.
Substitute 1 large egg with 1/4 cup of this fruit puree.

OK, here is the list of ingredients :

100 ml vegetable oil
1 oz baking chocolate (or 1/4 cup cocoa powder)
1 cup sugar (I used dark brown sugar)
1/2 cup fruit puree (equals 2 large eggs)
1 cup of gluten free flour mix
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder (this will make your brownie cakey. If you prefer dense and fudgy brownie, omit this)

STEP 2: Prepare and Bake

Place baking chocolate and oil in a microwave-safe container (I used plastic container, but if you're concerned about plastic, go ahead and use glass container), and cook on high for 90 seconds. Chocolate will not appear melted until stirred. Stir in (in this order) : sugar, applesauce (or other egg-substitute of choice), gluten-free flour mix. At this point you can be creative and add anything you like. I sometimes add raisin, sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds for nutty taste, or instant coffee and cinnamon powder.

After all the ingredients are evenly mixed, place the container in the microwave, uncovered. Cook on high for 6 minutes. Cool. Cut into 16 squares.

STEP 3: Variations

Here are just some examples of other brownies I have made using this recipe, with different egg substitutions. For me, the best egg substitute for this recipe is avocado puree.

Egg substitute in photos :
1. Strawberry-avocado-banana puree, with sunflower seeds
2. Avocado-banana
3. Grated carrot
4. Pumpkin
5. Avocado
6. Avocado, with sunflower seeds
7. Papaya-banana, with raisins

Comments

[lmacmill17]

I made it! They don't look like brownies but the texture and taste are spot on. You nailed the flour mixture, I couldn't have figured that part out. I used 1/2 cup orange jelly, 1 oz. 100% cacao and 1/2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, I like it very chocolaty. The oil was the problem. ...too much. Receipe says 1/2 cup so I went w/coconut oil. It had to be drained off! Otherwise it worked. I'll be using this as a go to for brownies in the future. Thank you so very much for sharing!!! Linda ✌

[gina.stewart.108]

This Is the best, most delicious and fast brownie I've had in foreve!

[pacwoods]

I react badly to xanthan gum, so I have experimented with flax. Flax meal is relatively inexpensive. Soaking the flax meal in water and microwaving the mixture makes a great goo for baking. You have to watch it though. When the flax gets gooey, it starts to expand and can overflow the container if you don't monitor it.

I'm actually starting to enjoy exploring non-Wheat baking. Thanks for the great brownie recipe.

[drdylan]

Hi, we are new to the no egg, no dairy and no gluten family. Our six year old grandsons' doctor gave his parents the bad news a week ago. We will greatly appreciate any tips we get that can help us help our little guy. In particular what sort of inventory would you suggest that we stock our cabinets with?

Thanks,
drdylan.

[gfbarb]

I don't know what happened but you could use this is a discus in the Olympics. I substituted with apple sauce and cocoa powder. I am assuming that it is baked on a normal microwave. I had made oven brownies for family lunch and decided to us the Gluten recipe for myself. I will try again to make incase I did something I was not supposed to do, but I thought that I had followed the instructions perfectly. The center was as hard as a brick if not harder.

[ELF]

I've been looking all over for an answer to this, but I haven't found any, so now I'll ask here.

Why use Xanthan gum? Tapioca seams to get the same binding, sticky-icky abilities when dissolved and heated.

And do you have any experience with using flax slime?

[dendidong]

Hmm..I don't really know about the science of baking, but I found this on a glutenfree forum :
Food Science and Flour Mixing: Everything you need to know

1) You want four main types of flour in your mix--

Bodifiers-- Teff, Sorghum, Rice, bean flours, brown rice, quinoa,millet, amaranth, and cornmeal are a few options. These provide bulkand protein as well as the vitamins (if any, t'eff is a great sourceof vitamins).

Modifiers-- Tapioca starch, cornstarch, potato starch, arrowrootpowder. These provide lightness and smoothness to the mix.

Moisterizers-- potato starch (this is a duel status item and should be counted in the ratio as a modifier, but if you use too much it will over moisterize the mix), potato flour. These counterbalance thedrying tendencies of modifiers.

Extenders-- guar gum, xanthan gum, pectin, (to a degree)fruit acids,and, to a degree, flaxseed. These substitute for gluten and add extrabody and stretch to the flour mix, as well as extend the shelf life of your baked goods.

A good ratio to make is 2 cup bodifier:1 cup modifier: 1/4 cupmoisterizer: 3 tsp. extender

[ELF]

Ooooooh, interesting!

Thanks for the info :)

Some people have been complaining about the smell/taste/texture of xanthan on different blogs, and either used guar, or flax instead.
I guess the problem is the "Potency" of flax seed as a gelling agent,
but maybe I'll try psyllium husk.

You see, the problem is that guar gum can only be bought as a health supplement, putting the price in the sky, and xanthan is a 2-week special order item. The price for that isn't bad, really, but it's a loooooong wait :S And if it performs less than mediocre...

I'm not a GF person myself, I just like to bake, especially for my class. Problem is just that we have both GF, dairy-intolerants, sugar intolerants (I donno if it's diabetes or what it is..), and vegans in the class, so baking is quite the challenge :D

A challenge I've taken up once, baking a brownie/mochi hybrid, that everyone LOVED :D
It was glutionous rice flour and tapioca. Stuck together easily, but didn't need more than 48 hours "shelf life".

[dendidong]

Really? The guar gum I used wasn't really expensive, I think, and I consider myself thrifty :D. And it was on the baking isle.

About sugar intolerants, I heard about it too. A friend of mine is allergic to sugar alcohols due to her hypothyroidism.

[ELF]

Well that's the diff... Here in Denmark, GF people still can't find such goods in the supermarket :( Just think about it... Xanthan gum being a 14 day delivery item, it's THAT RARE :S

I don't know why this is, but it really sucks, and that's why I really wanna find a replacement. 110g of xanthan gum for $9 is cheap here, but if I'm only baking a total of 4-5 cakes, I'll only use a tiny bit of all that :(

Well this guy goes through the sugar replacements with no problem at all, and they're often bulked with sugar alcohols, so dunno...

[dendidong]

I see...I guess I'm lucky to be in a place where it's easy to find these gums :D

In that case, I read some tips from a glutenfree baking book which didn't use xanthan/guar gum : make sure the cakes/cookies are cool before serving to prevent crumbling.

[ELF]

Ah, ok, thanks for the tip :)

Do the recipes use any other type of binder? Glutinous flours or fibers? Eggs?

[amis_gh]

looks great... I have to try your recipe! :)

[dendidong]

Tasty too :). Try it!

[pyromonkey]

Since I became GF its been hard to find treats I can eat. I was extatic when my mom discovered Betty Crocker GF brownies!! Those are good, but kinda high in fat and calories. I cant wait to give your recipe a try!! :)

[dendidong]

Do try it and tell me what you think!

[starshipminivan]

Hooray for GF, dairy-free, egg-free brownies! I like the simple, one dish method and the fact that it cooks up fast in the microwave.

I usually use flax meal as an egg replacement but I love the idea of using pureed fruits and veggies!

[dendidong]

Try it! You'll love it!

[abbyholverson]

These look sooo yummy. I miss brownies! When you do the egg substitutions, does it really effect the flavor? I wouldn't necessarily need to ditch the egg, but if it tastes extra yummy with different things I'll certainly try it! :)

[dendidong]

Not really. Chocolate flavor is still so strong, half a cup of fruit puree doesn't change the flavor, even with grated carrot..