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Fudgy Grain Free Brownies {Paleo + Nut Free}

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These decadent Fudgy Grain Free Brownies are out-of-this-world, crazy good. They’re chewy with a nice crusty bite on top, made without refined sugar, naturally gluten free, Paleo-friendly and freeze beautifully too! You would never know these irresistible brownies are grain free. 

These decadent Fudgy Grain Free Brownies are out-of-this-world, crazy good. They're chewy with a nice crusty bite on top, made without refined sugar, naturally gluten free, Paleo-friendly and freeze beautifully too! You would never know these irresistible brownies are grain free. | Recipes to Nourish

Fudgy brownies are the best!

Anyone who loves brownies has a favorite version. Brownies can be plain and sweet, packed with nuts, swirled with cream cheese, peanut butter or mint chocolate, loaded with extra chocolate chips or chunks, and on and on. There are so many different varieties.

Flavor is important of course, but for most brownie-lovers, it’s all about the brownie texture. 

These decadent Fudgy Grain Free Brownies are out-of-this-world, crazy good. They're chewy with a nice crusty bite on top, made without refined sugar, naturally gluten free, Paleo-friendly and freeze beautifully too! You would never know these irresistible brownies are grain free. | Recipes to Nourish

True brownie fans will have an absolute favorite when it comes to texture. Whether it’s cakey, fudgy, chewy or fudgy plus chewy, most people are fans of only one type.

This rings true for me. I LOVE brownies, and I’m extremely picky about the texture.

These decadent Fudgy Grain Free Brownies are out-of-this-world, crazy good. They're chewy with a nice crusty bite on top, made without refined sugar, naturally gluten free, Paleo-friendly and freeze beautifully too! You would never know these irresistible brownies are grain free. | Recipes to Nourish

I do not care for cakey brownies, and that’s putting it lightly. My kids are the same way. Hands down, we are all about fudgy brownies! Fudgy brownies are moist, chewy, gooey, rich, super chocolatey and similar in consistency to fudge, truffles or flourless tortes. 

I’ve been gluten free for over 8 years now and I have to say, it’s really hard to find a gluten free brownie that’s just right. And when it comes to grain free, I’d say it’s even harder to find.

I’m not saying that you won’t find a great fudgy gluten free recipe. There are some great ones out there, but they’re usually packed with refined sugar. Refined sugar is a big NO for me since my body does not tolerate it. I can only have natural, unrefined sweeteners like honey, maple syrup and maple sugar.

When it comes to grain free, I’ve found that almost every recipe I’ve tried is way too cakey or is full of almond flour or coconut flour. I can’t have coconut flour, so those types of brownies are out for me and that leaves almond flour and nut butter or seed butter-based brownies.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t love nut or seed butter-based brownies, the texture just isn’t right, in my humble opinion. I’ve tried to love them, but I just don’t. I’m sure almond flour is great for some, but again, it’s a texture thing for me and I don’t care for it in brownies. I don’t feel that almond flour contributes to a fudgy-enough consistency.

Plus it’s best to use soaked nuts for better nutrition and digestion. It’s almost impossible to find soaked and sprouted almond flour and or nut/seed butters.

These decadent Fudgy Grain Free Brownies are out-of-this-world, crazy good. They're chewy with a nice crusty bite on top, made without refined sugar, naturally gluten free, Paleo-friendly and freeze beautifully too! You would never know these irresistible brownies are grain free. | Recipes to Nourish

Cassava flour makes the BEST fudgy grain free brownies!

In all honestly, it’s all of the components in this recipe that make these brownies so good. But cassava flour is THE flour to use!

I use my favorite gluten free and grain free flour, cassava flour, for these fudgy grain free brownies. It’s very similar to regular white flour with the bonus of being a resistant starch when eaten cool. Resistant starch basically means prebiotics that feed probiotics plus support digestion and the gut.

And in case you’re wondering, cassava flour is not the same as tapioca flour or starch. Cassava is 100% Yuca, a root vegetable. Cassava flour is a whole food; the entire root, minus the peel.

These decadent Fudgy Grain Free Brownies are out-of-this-world, crazy good. They're chewy with a nice crusty bite on top, made without refined sugar, naturally gluten free, Paleo-friendly and freeze beautifully too! You would never know these irresistible brownies are grain free. | Recipes to Nourish

Like I mentioned before, I’m pretty much a brownie snob. That makes me laugh because I don’t feel that way about most food, but I am pretty firm with my feelings about brownies.

That being said, I have spent years trying to come up with the perfect brownies and have had too many failures to count. I have tried so many gluten free and grain free brownie recipes that just didn’t do it for me.

And finally, I figured it out! I made these brownies 13 times before I got it just right. That’s a lot of brownies! I had some pretty excited family members in the process who were more than happy to eat the “not-there-yet” batches of brownies.

These decadent Fudgy Grain Free Brownies are out-of-this-world, crazy good. They're chewy with a nice crusty bite on top, made without refined sugar, naturally gluten free, Paleo-friendly and freeze beautifully too! You would never know these irresistible brownies are grain free. | Recipes to Nourish

Beautiful, glorious, heavenly, delectable brownies.

Oh how I love you! Seriously, I LOVE these brownies!

This is a cocoa powder based brownie recipe. You won’t need to melt any chocolate or chocolate chips for this recipe (which is so common in other recipes). You also won’t find any refined sugar, just natural maple sugar. Yes, there is a good dose of maple sugar in them, but brownies are not meant to be an every day thing. They’re a special treat, meant to be savored and enjoyed.

These brownies are super easy to make. You can make them in the blender or mix with a handheld mixer. The hardest part about these brownies is waiting for them to cool before cutting them. To be quite honest, sometimes my kids and I grab a spoonful of super soft, almost fudge-like, hot brownies before they’re cooled off.

We also love to eat them the next day. The brownies get even chewier on day two. And bonus, they freeze beautifully! I love to make a batch and store them in the freezer. It’s nice to have a fun treat on hand when needed or to toss in some homemade ice cream. They’re great right out of the freezer too! They taste almost like a fudge-caramel when frozen.

These fudgy grain free brownies are made with 7 real food ingredients that your body can recognize. Make up a batch and store some in the freezer to have on hand for an extra special treat!

These decadent Fudgy Grain Free Brownies are out-of-this-world, crazy good. They're chewy with a nice crusty bite on top, made without refined sugar, naturally gluten free, Paleo-friendly and freeze beautifully too! You would never know these irresistible brownies are grain free. | Recipes to Nourish

Fudgy Grain Free Brownies

Fudgy Grain Free Brownies {Paleo + Nut Free}

Fudgy Grain Free Brownies {Paleo + Nut Free}

Yield: 9 large brownies
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
These decadent Fudgy Grain Free Brownies are out-of-this-world, crazy good. They're chewy with a nice crusty bite on top, made without refined sugar, naturally gluten free, Paleo-friendly and freeze beautifully too! You would never know these irresistible brownies are grain free.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8x8 square pan and set aside. 
  2. Two Methods: Blender or Mixing. For a Blender: Add all ingredients to a high powered blender in the order of the ingredients. Mix on low speed just until combined, about 7-10 seconds, scraping down the sides if needed. With a Mixing Bowl & Mixer: Add melted butter or ghee, maple sugar, vanilla and cocoa powder to a large mixing bowl. With a handheld mixer, mix on low speed just until combined, about 3 seconds. Add the eggs and mix on low speed just until combined, about 3 seconds. Add the cassava flour and sea salt and mix on low speed just until combined, about 15 seconds, scraping down the sides as needed. 
  3. Pour brownie batter into greased baking dish and bake in preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs and the top is uniform and not liquid in the middle. [See Notes for baking time info. Make sure to check your brownies at the 20-minute mark to see if more baking time is needed.]
  4. Place baking pan on a cooling rack and allow the brownies to cool for at least 1 hour before slicing. If you really can't wait to eat them, let them rest at least 15 minutes - they will still be delicious, just know they will fall apart much easier and will be better eaten with a fork or spoon (which my family usually does) or crumbled over homemade ice cream. 

Notes

  • Baking time can vary with brownies, especially when it comes to the baking pan. Glass baking pans tend to take longer to fully cook. Metal pans tend to cook much quicker. I bake with a glass baking pan; with my gas oven, these are perfectly baked at 25 minutes. Make sure to check yours at the 20-minute mark to gauge how much time is needed for yours to finish cooking. 
  • Storage: These brownies keep well at room temperature for 1 day or in the refrigerator for 2 days in an airtight container. They also store well in the freezer in an airtight container.
  • If you prefer your brownies a bit less gooey, add 1 extra tablespoon of cocoa powder to the recipe. 
  • I have made these with 1 cup maple sugar and 1/4 honey or maple syrup. They are super delicious this way too, but they are a lot softer and a bit more gooey, however, they still set up fine after cooling for several hours. 

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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 9 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 231 Total Fat: 15g Saturated Fat: 9g Trans Fat: 1g Unsaturated Fat: 5g Cholesterol: 79mg Sodium: 238mg Carbohydrates: 22g Fiber: 0g Sugar: 17g Protein: 2g
This nutritional information was auto-generated based on serving size, number of servings, and typical information for the ingredients listed. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in a given recipe, please calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients and amounts used, using your preferred nutrition calculator. Under no circumstances shall the this website and the author be responsible for any loss or damage resulting for your reliance on the given nutritional information. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate, complete, and useful.
© Emily
Cuisine: American / Category: Dessert
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  4. WoW. Thank you for your years of devotion and ‘hard work’ (lol) I have some cassava flour and in fact, all the ingredients so may just need to whip up a batch! I am not a baker, but this looks like a possible do-able project!!
    Can you advise re the butter — 10 tbsp. Is that 1/4 lb or 1/2 lb or ? When I think about butter, I am wanting to know how much to slice off my ‘grass fed butter’ block. Sorry if this is obvious.. I don’t want too little or too much — so hoping you can answer this one for me. Thanks Emily!

    Reply

  6. I am also a picky brownie baker, and I totally lean towards the fudgy side. Otherwise, it might as well be chocolate cake! And those fudgy corner pieces!!! So scrumptious – can’t wait to test out with some cassava. I don’t use it quite enough 😉 And this is a great excuse!

    Reply

    • Hi Kelsey, I wish I knew. It’s possible an all purpose gf flour would work but I haven’t tried that yet. I hope you get to make some 🙂 I’ve had good feedback about them from a few readers.

      Reply

  10. I’m a fan of all brownies but fudgy ones are by far the best! Cassava flour sounds like a winner for sure! I was gluten free for about 2 years and experienced all those problems with the other flours. Wish I had known about cassava flour then!

    Reply

    • Hi Christine, I haven’t used coconut oil with these, but it’s possible it could work. I haven’t baked with coconut oil in a long time because I found out it’s a sensitivity for me. I do remember that it tends to make baked goods a bit more “oily”, so I’m not sure how that would do with these. If you give it a try, let me know 🙂

      Reply

    • Hi Hazel, I haven’t tested these brownies with a different flour. Most grain free brownies are almond flour or coconut flour based, and I can’t have either of those. You could try using an all-purpose gluten free flour blend, but I can’t guarantee the results as I haven’t tried making these with a different flour.

      Reply

  20. I’m also fairy picky about my brownies, I love that you said ‘you’re firm in your feelings’ about your brownies, I figure there’s no point in eating one unless it fits into all my fudgy requirements! These look phenomenal, and I’ve never tried brownies with cassava flour before so I can’t wait!

    Reply

    • Hi Diana, I haven’t tested this recipe with any other flour. You could try a gluten free all purpose flour, but I cannot guarantee the same results. My body doesn’t do well with other grain free flours like almond or coconut flour, so that’s why this recipe uses cassava flour.

      Reply

    • I’m sorry to hear that Jody, such a bummer. This isn’t a recipe that can be doubled easily, you really need that specific brownie pan and specific measurements. I also don’t recommend coconut sugar for this recipe – I did try that in recipe testing and it does not produce the same result. For this recipe maple sugar really is best, there is a note about how you can sub some maple syrup in there, but not coconut sugar because sets a little bit different and will make them drier. I’ve made these lots of times, often once a month for my family and they’re never dry or dense – they shouldn’t be at all, they’re only fudgy and really soft when made with maple sugar.

      Reply

  27. Hi, thanks for sharing this recipe. I thought the texture was fantastic! I was wondering if there might be a misprint in the amount of maple syrup used in the recipe. I used a 1/3 of a cup and found them still a little to sweet.

    Reply

    • Hi Amber, no, there’s no misprint in the recipe – it doesn’t call for maple syrup though, it calls for maple sugar. They are sweet like brownies and meant to be an occasional treat. I tested lots of variations with maple sugar amounts and found that the recipe that is listed makes the best authentic fudgy brownie texture. I’m glad you enjoyed the ones you made with less sweetener. 🙂

      Reply

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