Gluten-Free Christmas Brownies

Name: Gluten Free Christmas Brownies
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 65 min
Ingredients: 8 ounce semi sweet chocolate chips (about 1 cup); 7 tablespoon olive oil; ⅔ cup light brown muscovado sugar see notes; 2 large eggs; 2 teaspoon vanilla; ¼ cup cocoa powder (good quality); 3 tablespoon cornstarch; 2 ½ tablespoon Gluten Free flour blend with Xantham Gum; ½ teaspoon kosher salt; 5 tablespoons powdered sugar; milk or juice; sprinkles; food coloring

Christmas Brownies are a great alternative to traditional Christmas cookies. With minimal mess, no rolling the dough or cutting out the shapes, and then endlessly decorating.

These brownies are similar to my classic brownies, easy to make, deliciously fudgy, and full of flavor.

christmas tree brownies with green powdered sugar glaze and sprinkles

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Ingredients

Chocolate chips - melted with oil and then added to batter create a dense, moist, and deep chocolate flavor for these Christmas brownies.
Eggs - use two large and beat at least 2 minutes until foamy (about 2-3 minutes), eggs create the cakey texture and crumbly top.
Gluten-free flour blend - preferably a blend already consisting of Xantham Gum like my premixed gluten-free flour blend.

Powdered sugar glaze - powdered sugar mixed with milk or any juice (great for flavor) until desired consistency. Start with about 4-5 tablespoons of powdered sugar and add milk in ½ teaspoons, stir well until you get the thick consistency. To make a test, drizzle some whisked mixture onto parchment paper or a piece of brownie and let set for 5-10 minutes. If it goes clear or very light and loses the thick texture, you need to add more powdered sugar.

For decoration, use white chocolate chips as an alternative! You'll need about ½ cup of white chocolate bark or chips (you'll probably have leftovers but it is easier to melt in larger quantities). You may not need to use all of it and you can freeze it in a zip lock bag later for your next use. Reheat the same way.

Muscovado sugar - Hands down my favorite sugar for brownies! You can use either dark (results in a more dense, stronger toffee-like flavor and VERY moist textured brownies) or light muscovado sugar (also dense and moist but not so strong as dark).

Muscovado is unrefined raw cane sugar, processed as little as possible which helps the sugar to retain much of its natural molasses. It has a strong smoky and toffee-like flavor, is very moist and fine.

All those characteristics make it a wonderful sugar for baking. It's worth noting that it is not the same as brown sugar you see in stores. In fact, brown sugar is refined white sugar with molasses added during the manufacturing process. You can also tell by the texture difference.

How To Make Brownie Christmas Trees

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Prepare a 9 inches square baking pan lined with parchment paper and leave a few inches of overhang on the sides so you can easily remove the brownies later.

Melt the chocolate using the double boiler method. Heat up a small saucepot with a few inches of water in it.

When it starts to simmer, place a heatproof bowl over the top with olive oil and chocolate chips.

Stir constantly until about 70-80 percent of the chocolate chips are melted.

Take the bowl off the pot and continue stirring until all the chips are melted and the texture smooth.

process of making christmas tree brownies

In a medium mixing bowl beat the eggs for 2-3 minutes until bubbly.

Pour in the melted chocolate mixture and mix on low until smooth. Add vanilla and sugar. Mix on low.

In a separate mixing bowl add all the dry ingredients (GF flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder).

Whisk until just combined. Add this to the wet ingredients bowl and gently combine with a spatula until the batter becomes thick and smooth.

Pour the brownie batter into a prepared baking dish, even out with a spatula as much as you can (the batter will be sticky!), and bake for 20-25 minutes.

When time is up, insert a toothpick in the center and if it comes out slightly moist and with crumbs you're good to go. The center should be still quite moist.

Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes in the pan, then gently remove and let cool completely on a wire rack.

For easier and even cutting, place the brownies in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Remove from the fridge and cut the batter in half.

Make a zig-zag cut on both sides creating 3 triangles on each.

Gently slide the triangles out and trim the edges where needed. Eat the leftovers!

Decorate. With powdered sugar: mix about 4-5 tablespoons of powdered sugar with a teaspoon of milk added gradually. Whisk and add more milk/powdered sugar until you reach the desired thick consistency.

Add food coloring now. Place the thick mixture into a pastry piping bag or a zip lock bag, cut out a very small tip of one corner and decorate the brownies!

Powdered sugar makes a grate glaze if you have different shapes and textures to work with and your decorations are more complex. It also gives a shiny finish that just loooks stunning and festive.

With chocolate: Melt the white chocolate the same way you did with semi-sweet chocolate chips but without oil. You can add a little oil (about 1 teaspoon) if needed for a smoother consistency. If using food coloring, add it now.

Place the chocolate in a pastry piping bag or a heatproof bag and use the smallest round tip you have (or just cut out a small piece from the corner of the heatproof bag). Drizzle over each brownie triangle and immediately add the sprinkles.

Let those Christmas Brownies set and serve immediately!

Tips

When removing the Christmas brownies from the oven they will be moist and for better cutting, these require complete cooling and preferrably refrigerating.
Vanilla extract vs paste - Can use vanilla extract but vanilla paste has a more in-depth flavor, hence why I love to use it more often and more than 1 teaspoon.
Make it fun - zest from one or two oranges will give a great flavor and smell to your brownies! Also instead of vanilla extract, rum or almond extract will give your brownies a new spin.
Muscovado sugar is great but you can also use other substitutes for brown sugar.

FAQs

Should I refrigerate brownies?

If properly sealed in an airtight container these brownies will last for a week or more. They will remain moist and fudgy just as they were on the first day of baking. In case you'll need to refrigerate them, do it as soon as they will cool down completely.

Should brownies be wobbly?

After 20 minutes remove the brownies from the oven and let them cool in the pan for 15-20 minutes, then gently pull the ready brownies out and transfer to a cooling rack until cooled completely. I know how difficult it is to resist eating fresh from the oven brownies.
But you should wait at least 30 minutes until cutting them because the brownies should be still wobbly in the middle as they will continue to cook for a little while after removing them from the oven.

For more festive recipes be sure to take a look at our Christmas recipes.

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Julia