Flourless Triple Sec Brownies for Passover
I love brownies. I love them dense and rich and chocolatey. These definitely fit the bill, even without traditional flour! I also love that they're not overly fudgey, or too cakey, either. Using Pesach-approved almond meal instead of wheat flour makes them springy, yet extra moist. The texture is excellent, especially considering they are wheat and gluten-free. For an extra kick, they take a hint of orange from Cointreau, which also happens to be Kosher for Passover (you could also use another Triple Sec or orange liqueur as long as its Kosher for Passover during the holiday, but anything orange any other time.) I would consider making these year round.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper. You can grease and flour the pan if you prefer not to use parchment paper, but this will result in a slightly tougher, chewier brownie.
6 oz. semisweet chocolate 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 cup butter or margarine
Put butter, chocolate, and cocoa in a double boiler (or a heatproof medium bowl set over a pan of simmering water); stir until butter and chocolate are melted. While that is cooling, prepare the rest of the batter.
3 eggs 2 tbsp Cointreau 3/4 cup granulated sugar
Beat the eggs well. Since we're using a gluten-free flour here, we'll need the eggs to do all the work of holding these brownies together. The more you whip them, the better the consistency of your brownies. Mix in the sugar and Cointreau. By hand, or using an electric mixer, add the following:
1/4 tsp salt 1/2 tsp baking powder 3/4 cup almond meal
Your chocolate mixture should now be cool enough to add in without cooking the eggs on contact. Mix it all together and pour into your pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
After removing from the oven, allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. If you have used parchment paper, you can pull the brownies from the pan at this point, and allow them to cool completely before serving. If you have not used parchment paper, you can leave the brownies in the pan until they are cool. If you are absolutely, positively unable to wait until the brownies are cool, I can totally dig that. Go ahead and eat them right away. But remember that almond flour is not wheat flour: these brownies will be a little spongey until they've cooled. They'll still be delicious, though.