Fudgy Brownie Bites (gluten-free, dairy-free, whole grain options)
These quick + easy fudgy brownie bites have a ganache and freeze-dried raspberry topping and can be made gluten-free, dairy-free or 100% whole grain – or even with all-purpose flour. Thanks to Bob’s Red Mill for making today’s post possible!
The base for these brownie bites is adapted from my best gluten-free brownies. If you don’t need these brownie bites to be gluten-free, they work just as well with whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour. The only difference is that you’ll need to use a tad less butter or coconut oil if using teff flour for the gluten-free version (which is noted in the recipe).
To decorate them, I used ganache and some crushed freeze-dried raspberries. I much prefer using those for my Valentine’s Day treats over food coloring. And I just love how bright and pretty they are. My single regret is not adding a fresh raspberry to the top of each brownie bite in addition to the freeze-dried ones. The only way you can really mess these up is if you overbake them, which isn’t all that hard to do. I always bake these fudgy brownie bites for 11 minutes, but once I left them in there for 13 minutes while I was finishing something up. They were pretty cakey, which is a quality I definitely don’t like in my brownies!
I remember coming across a few teff recipes before I started my food blog and thinking something along the lines of, “Who the heck even knows what that is, much less has it at home to bake these cookies with?” So naive I was back then. ;)
While it’s not as versatile as totally neutral tasting flours like all-purpose flour or ivory whole wheat, it’s an awesome little grain – and literally the world’s smallest! It’s so tiny that it’s almost impossible to grind in a home grain mill. Luckily, Bob’s Red Mill has us covered with their whole grain teff flour.
By the way, did you see this picture of what I brought back from the US with me? 80 pounds of Bob’s Red Mill flour. 50 in a suitcase and 30 in my carry-on. I always do this when visiting the US and after going through security and the X-ray machine, my carry-on is pulled aside for a check 100% of the time because of how densely my bag is packed (at least that’s what the TSA tells me).
I liked how the last lady told me that I needed to find myself an officer gentleman friend (her words) who can buy me flour from an army base in Germany because it seemed like such a hassle. And it is. But it’s so worth it because I currently have 80 pounds of Bob’s Red Mill flour sitting in my pantry! :D
But back to teff. It’s a great source of fiber, protein, iron, and it has more calcium than any other grain – one serving has about the same amount as 1/2 cup of cooked spinach. It’s also high in a newly discovered resistant starch, which is a type of fiber that isn’t digested by the body. This type of starch is said to help with blood sugar management, colon health, weight control, and to help alleviate some digestive conditions.
Teff has what some describe as a faint chocolate or hazelnut taste. To be honest, I think the chocolate comparison is a bit of a stretch, but I’m on board with nutty! It’s not something I’d use in a lightly flavored dessert like lemon cookies or vanilla cupcakes, but in chocolate goodies like these gluten-free brownie bites? It’s perfect.
Fudgy Brownie Bites (gluten-free, dairy-free, whole grain options)
Ingredients
For the brownies:
- 1 cup flour see notes
- 3/4 cup (86 grams) Dutch-process cocoa sifted if lumpy
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup + 1-2 tablespoons (182 grams) unsalted butter or refined coconut oil, melted – if using teff, use just 1 extra tablespoon. If using whole wheat or AP flour, use 2 extra tablespoons
- 1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated sugar or raw sugar or coconut sugar (if using coconut sugar, I recommend weighing it out or very tightly packing the cups)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs 50 grams each out of shell, room temperature
For the ganache:
- 3/4 cup (128 grams) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream or full-fat canned coconut milk
- raspberries freeze-dried, for decoration
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175 °C) and line 2 mini muffin pans with 32 liners.
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt.1 cup flour, 3/4 cup (86 grams) Dutch-process cocoa, 1/4 teaspoon salt
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the melted fat, sugar, vanilla extract and eggs.3/4 cup + 1-2 tablespoons (182 grams) unsalted butter, 1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, 3 large eggs
- Fold the dry ingredients into the wet and stir just until combined. Do not over mix!
- Fill the mini muffin liners about 4/5 full and bake for 11 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the side (and not the center) doesn't come out with raw batter on it. It may have some moist crumbs on it – just not totally raw batter.
- Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once the brownies have completely cooled, prepare the ganache.
- Place the chocolate chips in a small bowl. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, warm the cream just until steamy and on the verge of simmering. Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate chips. Stir until all the chocolate chips are melted. Let cool for about 15 minutes or until thickened a bit before pouring over the brownies. Top with crushed freeze-dried raspberries.3/4 cup (128 grams) semi-sweet chocolate chips, 3 tablespoons heavy cream, raspberries
- Cover and store at room temperature for 2 days or refrigerate for up to 4 days. If you used coconut milk in the ganache, I recommend refrigerating them from day 1 to be on the safe side. For fudgier brownies, refrigerate.
Notes
- For the flour, you can use 1 cup (158 grams) teff flour for a gluten-free version or 1 cup (125 grams) whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour.
- For dairy-free: use coconut oil, dairy-free chocolate chips and coconut milk.
- I prefer to use refined coconut oil because it doesn’t have any coconut taste. If you don’t mind a little coconut flavor in these brownie bites, you can use unrefined coconut oil.
- The nutrition information provided is calculated as a courtesy and is only an estimate. I am not a licensed nutritionist or dietitian. For the most accurate nutritional data, consult a professional or use your preferred calculator. The nutritional value shown is for the recipe using teff (as I can only show the info for 1 recipe).
these look amazing ! is there a sugar free substitute?
i have stevia , but its not the same sweetness gram per gram.
Thanks! I haven’t tried a sugar-free version yet. I just bought my first low-carb sweetener but I’m finding baking with it difficult as I don’t like the aftertaste. Sorry I couldn’t be more of a help!
Can you use an all purpose GF four instead of teff flour?
I haven’t tried it but I think it’d work since regular whole wheat and all-purpose flour work in this recipe.
I tried the recipe with GF and Ener-g Egg Replacer. It didn’t bind very well and was quite greasy.
I wouldn’t recommend any egg subs in this recipe. Three eggs is a lot to replace! I normally don’t replace more than 2 per recipe. Sorry that they didn’t work out for you!
Do you know the nutritional info on these delicious looking brownies?
I don’t but you can copy and paste the recipe here for that info, if you like. :)
Oh my word! These are so good! They just came out of the oven (not frosted yet) and they are so gooey. Some of them just a little on the underdone side and they are like a mini molten lava cake.
I’ll tell you, I made these earlier in the week because we have a valentine party tomorrow and I wanted to test out the recipe. So I halved it and I never know what to do when I halve a recipe and it calls for 3 eggs. I should have used 1 but I used 2 and I was pretty skeptical. They were not fudgy and they fell apart and they were SO unbelievably rich. But I made the recipe again today and here were my changes. First time I used coconut sugar, this time brown sugar. I cut back on the cocoa because I am using the dark and they were REALLY chocolaty. So I used 1/2 cup cocoa powder. I went with the coconut oil to make them dairy free. And added a bit more salt to cut the richness some. Also I forgot to get canned coconut milk at the store so I may make a frosting out of non-hydrogenated shortening and powdered sugar and I love the freeze-dried raspberry idea so I have some of those to decorate the brownie bites. I think this will now be my go to recipe for gf/df brownies. AWESOME! Thank you for the recipe.
Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!!!
Yay! I’m thrilled that they came out well for you, especially with your changes. :) I almost always halve or fourth recipes when testing them, which means I use a lot of 1/4 or 1/2 eggs. The content of a large egg is 50 grams. So I whisk it together and use 25 grams for a half egg. I’ve never had any issue with it! The other half goes to my husband for breakfast the next morning. I hope the kids will enjoy the brownie bites tomorrow. Thanks a bunch for your great feedback. It made my day! :)
I love that you garnish these with freeze dried raspberries — what a great idea! And wow on all the flour you took back with you!
Haha. I did what I have to do. ;)
Hi Erin, I don’t own mini muffin tins so I’m wondering if you think the recipe would work with normal sized muffin tins? Obviously they’d need to be baked longer but thought I’d get your insight before I experimented with my son’s Valentine’s day party treats. :-) Thanks!
That’d definitely work! I have no idea how long they’d need to be baked for, though. I suggest doing a test brownie and cutting into it if necessary to make sure they’re cooked enough. It’s easy to overbake these so be careful! I hope your son and his classmates will enjoy them. :)
These look incredibly rich and fudgy…and that ganache on top…heart stopping!
Thanks a bunch, Renee! :)
All about fudgy and those freeze dried raspberries!
Same here! :)