Chocolate Chip Maple Brownies

Another food that I find especially comforting in the winter is chocolate. Actually, I think of chocolate more as a food group rather than a single food. And recently I have had a craving for chocolate in the form of brownies. For almost a year now I have been in pursuit of an excellent egg-free brownie. A couple of months ago I stumbled upon a blog posting for egg-free brownies with maple syrup. The recipe looked promising, so I tried it. Eureka! After so many failed attempts at egg-free brownies, finally one that worked! Below is my version of the recipe, modified to make it also free of wheat, corn, and soy.

Chocolate Chip Maple Brownies
makes 16 brownies in an 8"x8" pan

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup rice milk
• 1 Tbsp. and 1 tsp. ground flax seed meal. I use Bob's Red Mill brand.
• 1 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder. I use either Ghirardelli's or Trader Joe's brand.
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup. Use grade A maple syrup, unless you want a stronger maple flavor, in which case grade B syrup is fine as well.
  
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract. Use Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract or another vanilla extract that does not have corn syrup and is preferably alcohol-free, since the alcohol could be derived from corn. Recently I have been using Rodelle Vanilla Flavor alcohol free all natural extract, which I found at Stop and Shop.
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips. I used Ghirardelli semi-sweet mini chocolate chips, although you could also use the regular size. Some other dairy-free brands are Trader Joe's and Enjoy Life semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8"x8" Pyrex pan with aluminum foil, using enough so that the foil extends over the edge on two of the sides. (This will make it easier to remove the brownies when they are done.) Lightly grease the bottom and sides of the foil with canola oil. Heat the rice milk in the microwave until it is warm. Stir in the flax seed meal and set aside.

In a medium bowl sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, cream of tartar, and sea salt using a sieve or flour sifter. Then stir the ingredients with a spoon to make sure that they are thoroughly combined.

In a small bowl combine the brown sugar and rice milk with flax seed meal. Heat the maple syrup until it is warm, and add it to the bowl. Then pour in the canola oil and vanilla extract. Stir all of the wet ingredients together.

Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir just until all traces of dry ingredients are gone. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread smooth with a spatula. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top of the batter; then place the pan in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Place the pan on a wire rack to cool. Let the brownies cool in the pan for 30 minutes. Then grab hold of the foil to remove the brownies and the foil lining from the pan. Place the foil, with the brownies still in it, on the cooling rack and let the brownies continue to cool for another hour and 30 minutes. Then transfer the brownies and foil to a cutting board. Cut the brownies using a table knife. (A sharper knife tends to tear the brownies.)

I know from personal experience that it's very difficult to wait the full 2 hours before cutting the brownies, but they will crumble less and look much better if you do. If you don't care how the brownies look when they're cut, go ahead and dig in after just 30 minutes.