Gluten-Free Blueberry Brownie Bites

Brownies with Blueberries.

The idea for blueberry brownies came to me in the middle of shampooing my hair. I was thinking about a chocolate bar I'd seen the day before (what, you don't think about chocolate in the shower?). It was a slim dark chocolate confection with dried blueberries. I'm a fruit and chocolate combo fan, you see. I love berries and chocolate. Orange and chocolate. Pineapple and chocolate. Actually, is there anything that doesn't taste better with some chocolate on it?

Such are my ponderous meanderings.

I'm still waiting for my Babycakes cookbook to arrive (I pre-ordered it from Amazon) along with pastry bags and icing tips. Ever since my unexpected success developing my first gluten-free and vegan Orange Creme Cupcakes I've been dreaming up cupcake flavors and imagining sweet little gems galore. Although I was less than thrilled to learn that Babycakes bakery uses bean flours (yuck), soy milk powder (um, why?) and spelt (spelt is not gluten-free) in their recipes, I'm still stoked to get the book, hoping it will at least inspire my own gluten-free vegan beauties.

From the Babycakes recipes I've seen on-line, author Erin McKenna uses a similar approach to mine in gluten-free baking- adding agave or honey, for instance, to keep the flours moist (both agave and honey are humectant). Using potato starch for lift and tenderness (those of you allergic to nightshades can substitute tapioca starch). And her tip of using hot water to mix batters is spot on (I love using hot coffee in chocolate batters and hot water in my vegan cornbread).

But the number one reason I'm infatuated with cupcakes at the moment is this- at high altitude, getting a vegan cake to rise properly without turning into one giant muffin, or coaxing a pan of vegan brownies to coalesce, is a sticky, difficult task. Dividing the batter into individual servings- aka cupcakes- solves this problem. The modest dollops of batter thrive and rise like champs.

After learning about Martha Stewart's version of Erin's brownies over at Book of Yum, I began conjuring brownies as cupcakes. Then came the blueberry idea in the shower.

And the rest, as they say, is herstory.

Blueberry Brownie Bites - A Gluten-Free Vegan Recipe

Recipe posted May 2009

I used organic frozen wild blueberries in this chocolate brownie recipe. I thawed them first and patted them dry. In summer, use fresh blueberries.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease and g-free flour or line a twelve-cup muffin tin with papers.

Whisk together the dry ingredients:

3/4 cup sorghum flour

1/4 cup potato starch (not potato flour!)

1/3 cup organic cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 cup organic cane sugar

Mix your egg replacer:

1 1/2 teaspoons Ener-G Egg Replacer whisked with 2 tablespoons warm water (the equivalent of one egg)

Add it to the dry ingredients along with:

1/2 cup organic coconut oil or Spectrum Organic Shortening

2 teaspoons bourbon vanilla

1 tablespoon raw organic agave (or honey)

1/2 cup hot water

Beat with a wooden spoon till smooth. Add in:

1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips

1 cup wild blueberries

Stir to combine.

Instructions:

Spoon the batter into the 12 cupcake cups (I used an ice scream scoop to do this- easy peasy). Use wet fingers to even out the batter, if you like.

Bake in the center of a 350 degree F oven for about 20 to 25 minutes- keep an eye on them. They should be firm to the touch.

Cool on a wire rack; remove the brownies from the pan to continue cooling when they are not too hot to handle; this keeps the bottoms from getting steamed (meaning, soggy).

Wonderful warm and gooey.

Wrap cooled brownies individually and freeze for a future gluten-free sweet. Warm briefly in the microwave before serving.

Cook time: 22 min

Yield: Makes one dozen brownies.

Enjoy sugary treats in moderation. Gluten-Free Goddess advises consuming no more than 2 tablespoons of sugar a day.