I decided to follow my “What Kind of Wheat Flour is Best?” post with a gluten free recipe. Talk about swinging from one side of the pendulum to the other, huh? I’m either trying to be accommodating – or keeping you forever on your toes with what to expect when you check in here. ;)
Beth emailed this recipe to me, saying she found it on the Azukar Coconut Flour package that I’d posted a deal for recently. (The deal is still good, by the way!) I tweaked the recipe slightly by replacing the regular sugar with sucanat. Also, you could add chocolate chips if you’re feeling the need for a major chocolate fix, or chopped nuts if you’re feeling nutty. Personally, I can always use a chocolate fix, and nutty as I am, I don’t care for chopped nuts in my brownies.
Coconut Flour Brownies
1/3 cup melted butter or coconut oil
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup sucanat
6 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
Stir together melted butter (or oil), cocoa and sucanat. Add eggs and vanilla, mixing well. Stir in coconut flour, stirring until all ingredients are well combined. (Coconut flour likes to clump together a little bit – I find a whisk usually helps smooth out the mixture as I stir.) Fold in chocolate chips and/or nuts if you choose.
Pour into an 8×8 inch baking dish. Bake in a 350° oven for about 30 minutes.
Whether or not you need to eat a gluten free diet, I really recommend that you check into using coconut flour every once in a while. It’s a very healthy flour. Read more about why I love coconut flour.
What have your coconut flour experiences been like so far? Are you a nutty brownie sort of person, or simply just…nutty?
Did you know that my coconut flour just came in today!? ;) I got in on the deal! I’m excited to try it and I’m passing along one of the bags to a friend who’s husband is GF due to having MS. She had tolsd me recently that they had never tried coconut flour.
But wow, 6 eggs… those are some expensive (yet healthy) brownies!
Oh and I’m just nutty.
Yes, with all those eggs, I like to think that my brownies have lots of protein! :)
Plus coconut flour has a lot of protein so the brownies HAVE to be good for you!
Were they dense? Last time I made brownies with coconut flour they were so dense and I used 6 eggs. Most of it went into the trash. I hate trying different recipes since it does take a lot of eggs and my expensive coconut oil. I love coconut oil, but still skeptical on the taste of coconut flour.
These are a little dense compared to wheat flour brownies, but this has to be my favorite GF brownie from all the different ones I’ve experimented with. I have tried black bean brownies and those were SUPER dense. This coconut flour recipe actually turned out moist, which was great! I will say that after a couple of days they seemed a little more dry than we would prefer. All the more reason, apparently, to eat more of them in a shorter amount of time! :)
Or eat them in a bowl with milk, YUM!
My first experience with coconut flour was making the “raw” cookie dough bites the other day. My neighbor is GF and was under the weather, so I took her some. She loved them! I’m going to have to try these brownies for myself because I’m definitely a chocolate lover…hold the nuts, please. :)
My experiences with coconut flour haven’t been great. The first recipe that I’ve made of yours that hasn’t turned out well (and I’ve made lots!!!) were the muffins. They were really, really bad. I don’t think it was the texture that was off as much as the flavor. I MUST have done something wrong. My husband said he liked them and ate all 12 over the course of a few days though (after I told him that I used 6 eggs!). Glad they didn’t go to waste! I have (3) 32 oz bags of coconut flour, so I’ll be trying lots more recipes! The cheddar biscuits were pretty good. The flavor is a little different, but they were still very good. Please keep the recipes coming! I love trying them out. You are an inspiration.
These look really good. I have celiacs and have recently gone GF. Most of the GF desserts I have had have been pre packaged items, but I want to make home made items instead so I will try these. I hace to confess that I have never tried coconut oil or coconut flour. Does your food take on a coconut taste? Also is coconut oil healthier than say canola oil or corn oil? Thanks so much for your help!
Yes, coconut oil is hands down MUCH healthier than canola or corn. If I use coconut oil and coconut flour together in a recipe, yes, it does have a coconut flavor. If I use coconut flour with butter, the coconut flavor is very mild.
Thanks so much. This is all so new and interesting to me! I love to bake/cook so I’m looking forward to trying these, but first it looks like I have some shopping to do! I’m looking forward to trying the coconut oil and flour!
Canola nd corn are INCREDIBLY unhealthy! They’re genetically modified (cloned) and produce distatrous health effects. Coconut oil actually boosts your immune system!
Thanks! I’m still learning how to be healthy! :)
Thanks for posting this! I have Celiacs, so I’m always looking for new GF recipes and love coconut flour.
I made these gluten free brownies for a friend we had over for dinner & we really liked them! They sunk a little in the middle (high altitude??), but loved the texture and flavor!
http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2006/01/dark-chocolate-brownies.html
p.s. gluten free goddess has a great desserts section on their website as well as other recipes. A great resource when looking to accommodate friends that need to be gluten free :)
Hi, Laura –
Been a lurker of your blog FOREVER! Finally ordered the vanilla beans (1 lb) and have my vanilla “brewing” now, and placed orders that are expected in today for the Virgin Coconut Oil AND the Expeller (sp.?) coconut oil. Anyway – Isn’t the VCO solid? How would you measure 1/3 cup, for example? Melt it first? Use a solid measuring cup? Or should I be using the expeller and not the VCO? It’s coming today and I’m anxious to dig in, but confused as to what to do with it! Thanks for your reply. You have a beautiful family.
Coconut oil is liquid at and above 75°, and a solid at lower temps. When it is a solid, I scoop out an approximate amount that I need for the recipe, melt it in a pan on the stove, then measure it once it’s melted. :)
Thanks for this recipe! I don’t have any coconut flour on hand to make these right now, but do plan to pass the recipe on to a friend who has a 5 year old daughter that is not able to have gluten.
I’ll try these. My family didn’t really like the chocolate cake so much. It was dense and since I used coconut oil as well as the flour, it was too “coconutty” for their tastes. I’ll try this one with butter instead. Thanks!
When I cook with Coconut Flour, one of the tricks I use to avoid it being dense it to separate the eggs, whip the egg whites, and then fold them in right at the end. This is similar to the method you would use for a Chiffon cake. It really helps lighten up the cake/brownie/muffin.
I am totally going to try this tip. I have a TON of coconut flour and both recipes I’ve made with it have turned out soooo dense. I love brownies so I am going to try this recipe with your tip- thank you!
I tried this method with the eggs in the coconut flour muffin recipe and was quite please with the results. It’s worth the extra 2-3 minutes do separate the egg whites.
Yum – so going to try this – today hopefully!
I’m just nutty! haha
My coconut flour experiences are mostly with your coconut muffin recipe. And the other couple things I’ve tried where gross. One was a recipe from one of the sites where they sell the flour (I think) and it was super dry, although most of my family ate that coconut bread or whatever it was that I made.
***** I’m am prayerfully struggling with what to do as far as far as GF vs using whole wheat flour. I don’t have celiac but it seems that studies (that I’ve seen and heard about -I’m NO expert) have shown how flour with gluten sticks to your intestines and can cause problems over the years (cancer, etc…) (this is my really lame version of trying to explain this in my own crazy words – so yes, you can laugh at me!). Anyways, I really don’t know what to choose but I’m so tired of feeling like I’m in the middle or confused. Do you happen to know or have someone who is more of an “expert” on the subject and can do a post on health benefits of GF vs not? Also, (relating to your previous post on wheat) obviously it is still gluten but is it healthier on our bodies when we grind our own flour? Can you elaborate on that more please?
Thank you Laura!
Brooke,
Just to let you know you are not the only one struggling with this issue. fI would be interested in finding out how others have made their decisions about gluten.
Cindy
I’ve recently read the book Wheat Belly and it explains a lot why modern day wheat
is not the same as it was even 50 years ago. I have decided to go GF after reading
this book. I have insulin resistance and wheat has never been good for me.
I will still make bread for my family but for me, I do much better without it.
You should look the book up on amazon.
Flour is MUCH healthier when freshly ground and overall, I think we could all stand to balance our grains better with other foods. However, I’m not of the opinion that we all need to give it up entirely. I think some bodies really can’t handle it, gluten free or not, but some are okay with healthy grains.
I LOVE using whole wheat, and find that it’s super easy to bake with compared to other grains. BUT, I’m trying very hard to venture away from only using wheat in my baking. I know our bodies would do better with a variety. I’m playing with millet, buckwheat, barley, rice, rye and this wonderful coconut flour (which isn’t a grain at all – one of the reasons I love it!.
Thank you ladies :)
You can find information (GREAT information) about going wheat-free, and grain-free, at MarksDailyApple.com and Mercola.com
Thanks Randi, I’ll check it out
I was wondering, can you make your own coconut flour at home in a food processor, or coffee mill? I would not do it in my nutrimill, but would love to try coconut flour sometime!
I’m not sure – it’d be fun to figure it out sometime though!
From what I have read, putting desiccated coconut in the food
processor will make coconut flour. So, drying the nut meat in the
oven then blending. I have not tried it yet.
Just took these out of the oven . Yummy! I think this is the first coconut flour recipe other than some coconut flour pancakes that I’ll be making again. And I think next time I might try the suggestion to beat the egg whites. Today I just couldn’bring myself to take the time. Oh… I added some Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips. I’m the only “nutty” one around here. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for sharing a gluten free recipe with your wheat ones. We love coconut flour and have enjoyed its added ‘protein’. This recipe will be a keeper for our family :)
I have been making your coconut flour muffins (with chocolate chips, of c csourse :) & we love them. I discovered the throwing it all in the blender trick, wet ingredients first & this works great for the muffins & I think makes it so much simpler. Would this technique work with the brownies too? I’ve not done a lot of baking, but feel like this wouldn’t work if it were wheat flour because it may over mix & make it tough?? Excited to try these brownies!
I can’t say for sure since I haven’t tried it myself, but I’d say it’s worth a shot!
Thanks for the great recipe! It makes me think though of the new issue that God has convicted me of: the treatment of the people who grow my food. Cocoa beans are largely picked by women and children slaves in our world. I have started buying fair trade for the big offenders like coffee and chocolate. I am asking all of you heavenly homemakers to learn more about this issue and prayerfully consider fair trade.
Oh My Goodness….. I am speechless (and if you knew me, that is amazing)I am not a chocolate fan *gasp* yea I said it NOT a chocolate fan. But these have to be the tastiest brownies ever.Thanks yo so much for sharing all your amazing recipes and words of wisdom. I do have one question though… where do you get your coco powder that does not have alkali in it, and is possibly fair trade. I live out in the boon docks and much of the healthier things I have to have shipped to me,I have not come across any that does not have it in it. Any suggestions?
I bought Frontier Cocoa Powder @ my local health food store. It is fair trade and I *think* I remember (bought it in bulk so I don’t have the label) from the label, alkali-free. You can order it on Amazon or directly from Frontier (frontiercoop.com). Hope that helps!
I either buy it from Azure Standard or Tropical Traditions: https://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/our-whole-foods-pantry-freezers-and-refrigerator
Thank you very much for this recipe. I replaced the sucanat with palm sugar and reduced it to 3/4 cup. This was great! I’ve recently put myself (and my poor family) on a gluten fast for several weeks. :)
One more quick question for you. What is sucanat? Is this an organic sugar? Can regular white sugar be used instead? And are there health benefits to sucanat? Thanks!
Laura wrote a post about sucanat here: https://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/the-most-nutritious-sweeteners
Thanks for asking! :)
can you use honey instead of sucanat?
You sure could! :)
I have to say I haven’t cooked before with coconut flour or oil, but this recipe is inspiring me to try something new.
I made these with butter instead of coconut oil (can’t handle coc oil with coc fl together) and used palm coconut sugar. I also only had 1/4c of reg cocoa and finished with 1/4 dark cocoa. I must say, they were awesome fresh last night out of the oven and good this morning coming out of the fridge! I am happy that i actually got it right. I haven’t been able to succeed with the coconut flour prior to this! Now, i have hope!! :)
This has become my family’s favorite dessert. Absolutely delicious and our non GF friends and family love it too. I get asked for the recipe every single time I take these brownies somewhere. Thank you so much for sharing!
I’ve made these brownies before and loved them. I used the recipe tonight as a starting point for ‘blondies’. My son said he didn’t want brownies! So I left out the cocoa powder, added in 1/2 tsp of baking soda to give them a little more lift and then add in 1/2 C chocolate chips, 1/2 C shredded coconut and 1/4 C pecans. The chocolate chips all sank to the bottom, so next time I’ll let it bake for a few minutes before adding them. (I forgot the pecans to start, so they stayed nicely on top!) It turned out great and my hubby & son who are skeptical of coconut flour desserts couldn’t find a complaint in them! Will definitely be making again!
Can you substitute sucanat with Stevia?
You can, but it’s not a one-to-one substitute, and I’m not sure how it would work in this recipe.
Just made these tonight, with a few mods based on what I had available… I used 1/2 cup of butter, only 3 eggs (our chickens lay in the morning and it’s all I had left from todays eggs), probably close to 1/8 cup of vanilla, and (honestly) close to a cup of chocolate chunks. My kids have declared it the BEST of the brownies we have made. We are brownie lovers… it’s what we make instead of birthday cake and with 7 kids we get them at least nine times a year, LOL. ;) The extra vanilla and butter was an attempt to compensate for the liquid of the left out eggs, and the extra chocolate was a request by my resident chocolate lover.
Thanks so much for sharing this! I’ve not been using my coconut flour as much lately and this is the best recipe I’ve tasted it in. BTW… we like “fudgey” as opposed to “cakey” brownies and maybe that’s why we liked it with fewer eggs…
Why is no baking powder needed?
Coconut flour bakes up more than many other flours do. It just isn’t a necessary ingredient. :)
I made these a couple of days ago. Was my first time baking with coconut flour. I did separate the eggs and add the yolk first then the whipped whites. They were delicious! I added chocolate chips and nuts. So thankful they turned out. :) Now I need to try another recipe with the coconut flour.
My husband and I have been really enjoying these!I put only a quarter of a cup of mini chips in the recipe but sprinkled them on top so everyone would still know that they were in there.
It’s good to read the comments after making the brownies, right? I see a comment above the mentions how to make them more fudge-y rather than cake-like. I think I’ll give them a try if we still have cooler weather and try them in a fudge-y variant.