Goodbye Gluten: chocolate peanut butter brownies

Chocolate and peanut butter… what a magnificent combination. I don’t have the words to express how much I adore chocolate and peanut butter. Not wanting to wait for Halloween to satisfy my Reese’s craving, I decided to make a decadent chocolate cake with a peanut butter crumble.

Now, this cake is made from a brownie recipe, but there is relatively less amount of flour compared to other brownies recipes. The end result is a smooth rich cake that satisfies the brownie lovers but is also light and fluffy.

I use monk fruit sugar in this recipe because it is not only a healthier substitute for regular sugar, but it also gives a subtle sweetness and preserves the rich chocolate flavor everyone looks for in a brownie. 

Ingredients

• 6 tbsp of softened butter
• ¼ cup + 2 tbsp sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup melted semi-sweet chocolate
• ¼ cup gluten free flour
• 1 tbsp + ¼ tsp cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp chocolate chips

Peanut butter topping

• 2 tbsp softened butter 
• ½ cup peanut butter
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 egg

Directions

• Grease and line a 9×9 inch baking pan with oil and parchment paper
• Preheat oven to 375 ℉
• Cream together the butter sugar and salt until it is light and fluffy
• Slowly incorporate the eggs one by one and add the vanilla extract
• In a separate bowl, combine the flour and cocoa powder
• Add the dry ingredients on to the wet ingredients and mix until you have a smooth runny batter
• Fold in the chocolate chips and pour the batter into the prepared cake or brownie tin and set aside
• For the peanut topping, cream together the butter, peanut butter, and sugar.
• Whip up the egg in a separate bowl and slowly add it to the butter mixture; adding the whole egg at once may cause the mixture to curdle
• Spoon or pipe the mixture on the cake batter and bake for 18-20 minutes
• The peanut topping will slightly start to brown; check to see if it has baked by poking the cake all the way to the bottom with a skewer; If it comes out clean, your cake is ready