Gluten-Free Charleston Chewies
Chewy brown sugar brownies you can make with pecans or walnuts.
Servings 16
Cost 5
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons unsalted or salted butter (56 grams)
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed (185 to 200 grams)
- 1 large egg, cold from the refrigerator
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup gluten-free flour blend (with xanthan gum) (65-70 grams)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt or ⅛ teaspoon if using salted butter.
- 1 cup toasted and chopped pecans** (You can use as little as ½ cup)
- Flaked Sea Salt (Maldon) (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line an 8 inch pan with foil and grease the foil lightly with butter or spray with cooking spray.
- Melt the butter. You can do it in a saucepan or in the microwave. I like to use a microwave-safe mixing bowl and do it directly in the bowl.
- Add the sugar to the warm butter and whisk until it becomes glossy and shiny.
- Let it the sugar/butter mixture cool slightly, then whisk in the egg and vanilla.
- Whisk together the gluten-free flour, baking powder and salt and stir into the brown sugar mixture. When fully blended, stir in the nuts.
- Scrape the batter into the pan. If using sea salt, sprinkle some flakes on top before baking. Bake for about 20 minutes. Let cool completely.
- The bars will come out of the oven pretty soft, but will firm up a bit as they cool and become chewy. To speed things up, you can let them cool for a bit at room temperature and then transfer them to the refrigerator to finish cooling.
Notes
To toast the pecans, spread them on a rimmed baking sheet and bake at 350 for about 8 minutes or until they become fragrant. For extra flavor, you can toss them with a teaspoon of butter and some sea salt. Let cool, then chop.
You can also "toast" the pecans by microwaving them on high for 1 minute, shuffling, then microwaving on high at 30 second intervals just until they are fragrant. Let cool, then chop.
