Nut free Gluten free Vegan Brownies

Nut free Gluten free Vegan Brownies with glace icing

The very first gluten free recipe I tried making was brownies. Figured that it will be the most forgiving one. So it has proven to be. But since that first one, my recipe has undergone several revisions. I tried replacing xanthan gum with guar gum and found that it gave the brownies a slightly weird gel-like feel in the mouth. Too strange. I read up further on guar gum and found that it works best in cold foods, presumably ice-creams and such. It thickens without heat and a little goes a long way. Well, here's the recipe for gluten-free brownies. It contains xanthan gum, as I used a gluten free self raising flour mix to which xanthan gum had been added already. Feel free to use any flour mix of your liking in its place and add 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum to the recipe. I have used all rice flour and it turns out just fine. As I said, it is a very forgiving recipe.

Nut free & Gluten free Vegan Brownies

The Dry
1 1/4 cup gluten free self raising flour
1/2 cup pure unsweetened cocoa
2 teaspoons gluten free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1/4 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
3/4 cup light brown sugar (increase the sugar by a 1/4 cup if you like as these aren't very sweet)

The Wet
1/4 cup sunflower oil
1/4 cup rice milk
1/2 teaspoon instant coffee powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon ground flax seed mixed with 3 tablespoon hot water (aka flax egg)
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana
1 tablespoon rice milk - extra

The Glaze
1 cup pure icing sugar
1 - 2 teaspoons cool water

Method: Preheat oven to 170 degrees celcius. Mix wet ingredients with the dry using a spoon or your hands. It will be crumbly, almost like a cookie dough. If it's very dry, add 1 tablespoon of water or rice milk. Press into an 8"x7" rectangular pan and bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Check with a toothpick after 10 minutes. When ready, remove pan to a wire rack to cool. When cool, mix the glace icing and drizzle over brownie. Chill for at least 2 hours before cutting into squares. For glace icing, slowly mix water, teaspoonful at a time into icing sugar, till a thick sugar paste is formed. Use a fork and dribble over brownie.

Easy Gluten-free Vegan Rice Pancakes

Decorating gluten-free brownies

I had the greatest pleasure in having Dr Melanie Phuah (nutritionist and GP), her 2 lovely, lovely, lovely kids(did I mention that they were lovely?) and their wonderful housekeeper, Mary over at the So Intricake! studio for a gluten-free, egg-free and dairy-free pow-wow. One of Dr Phuah's daughters suffers from a host of allergies including yeast, egg and dairy. So we made fudgy gluten-free vegan brownies together. The children enthusiastically, did the sifting and mixing and after the brownie was baked, they decorated the warm brownie with glace icing. While waiting for the brownies to be done, I made rice pancakes for everyone and served them with pure maple syrup and a vegan spread. Big hit! Served a vegan gluten-free cornbread as well, to balance out all the sweet flavors. Here's the recipe for the Gluten-free Vegan Rice Pancakes. Hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

Kids approve of rice pancakes!

Gluten-free Vegan Rice Pancakes


1 1/2 cups rice flour (brown or white)
1/2 cup soft cooked rice
1 tablespoon fine sugar
1 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
1 1/2 cups rice milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoon applesauce
1 teaspoon sunflower oil

Method: Blend everything together in a food processor till smooth. Make each pancake using a 1/4 cup measure. Lightly oil a frying pan, keep it on medium heat and pour batter to form a circle (hopefully!). When bubbles start rising to the top, carefully flip pancake over and cook other side for about a minute. Slide onto plate, add favorite topping and tuck in!

Note: You may want to thin it down a wee bit with rice milk and try making crepes. Let me know if you do!