These brownies have secrets! I baked them, passed them out to my family, my neighbors and my friends to see what they thought. I didn’t say anything, just asked for their honest opinions and this is what I got… “they are so RICH,” “beyond decadent,” “Amazing,” “Great, can I have another one?” (he is 9) and on and on. Not a bad review in the bunch. No one guessed that they were gluten free and from a King Arthur Flour mix.
Yep, two things I rarely play with are gluten-free desserts and mixes. The reason for this tasty little experiment has to do with a young boy I met in upstate NY when I was teaching classes at the Battenkill Kitchen. He suggested that I make them and I couldn’t refuse. I added some dark chocolate ganache, blackberries and possibly the best Mint Leaf Ice Cream I’ve ever had. Gluten-free or not this is one fabulous dessert!
If you want to make brownies from scratch, here’s my brownies recipe.
I’ll start with my ice cream which actually tastes like fresh mint, because that is exactly what it is made with. No hyped up extracts that resemble Trident Spearmint Gum, just natural, summery mint.
Brownies with Ganache + Mint Ice Cream
To make the Mint Ice Cream:
I used a Mortar & Pestle to muddle (mash) the mint. You want to release the oils and essence of the leaves, so they will flavor your ice cream base. *this lovely mortar and pestle was designed by my friend Suvir Saran.
Mash the mint in a couple of small batches to make sure all the leaves are broken up.
Add the mint to the cooled down ice cream base and refrigerate overnight. I prefer to add it when the base is cold so that the mint doesn’t have a cooked leaf flavor.
Once you are ready to churn the ice cream you want to strain the mint leaves out. I used Chinois Strainer
How I came to bake King Arthur Flour’s Gluten-Free Brownies…
Last month I was invited to teach classes for the non-profit organization Battenkill Kitchen, which supports local farmers and educates children about the importance of great food. It was a community event and King Arthur Flour (just a few towns over in VT) donated the flour, baking stones and pizza peels for the classes. We went to pick up all the donated goods from Mike, the GM of flour at King Arthur. As we were loading up our 50 pound bags Mike’s son arrived with a tower of boxes in his hands. He presented them to me and said “you have to try these, they are REALLY good!” By the look on his father’s face I could tell his son had come to this plan all on his own and Mike couldn’t have been prouder. I had to explain to the young lad about the airline’s cruel weight limit and that I wouldn’t be able to get that tower of boxes in my suitcase. He said he’d get his dad to ship them to me and that is exactly what he did.
He sent me their entire line of KAF Gluten-Free products to try, so far I’ve only had a chance to make the brownies. Based on that mix alone, my sons are eager for me to try them all. There are also flours and other ingredients to create the breads from our GF chapter in Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day. The recipe for our Gluten-Free Crusty Boule is a perfect match for the new line of KAF flours, give it a try!
One bowl, a couple of eggs, butter and water is all you need to get the job done. I used an 8″ non-stick cake pan to bake them in.
After they were cooled off I made the ganache. Heat the cream and salt in a medium sized sauce pan to just barely a simmer, turn off the heat and dump in all the chocolate and the butter, swirl the pan so the chocolate is all submerged in the cream, allow it to sit for about 3 minutes then gently whisk the ganache until smooth. Pour the ganache over the brownies and spread it smooth. Allow it to set up. If you refrigerate the brownies they are easier to get out of the pan in nice shape. You can eat them cold or let them warm up to room temperature.
Add a big scoop of the mint ice cream and some berries.
Ingredients
- 1 box King Arthur Gluten-Free Fudge Brownie Mix
Ganache
- 6 oz bittersweet chocolate finely chopped
- 6 oz heavy cream
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter cold
- pinch salt
Mint Ice Cream
- 1 cup mint leaves
- 1 batch Ice Cream Base
Instructions
- Prepare your brownies and your ice cream base. Chill both.
Mint Ice Cream
- Mash the mint in a couple of small batches to make sure all the leaves are broken up. I used a mortar and pestle for this.
- Add the mint to the cooled down ice cream base and refrigerate overnight. I prefer to add it when the base is cold so that the mint doesn't have a cooked leaf flavor.
- Once you are ready to churn the ice cream you want to strain the mint leaves out. I used Chinois Strainer so that the ice cream would be free of leaves, but any fine mesh sieve will do the trick. Freeze according to your Ice Cream Maker's directions.
Ganache
- Heat the cream and salt in a medium sized sauce pan to just barely a simmer, turn off the heat and dump in all the chocolate and the butter, swirl the pan so the chocolate is all submerged in the cream, allow it to sit for about 3 minutes then gently whisk the ganache until smooth. Pour the ganache over the brownies and spread it smooth. Allow it to set up. If you refrigerate the brownies they are easier to get out of the pan in nice shape. You can eat them cold or let them warm up to room temperature.
Those look amazing with the ice cream. I have eaten gluten free. Am curious to see how they taste.
Delicious! I rarely eat gluten-free, and have been both pleasantly and unpleasantly surprised when I’ve done so. These brownies definitely look worth trying!
Looks delicious! I’ve always wanted to try their products!
We make ice cream all the time, but I’ve never made mint – great idea! I’ll have to try the brownies, too – I’ve never tried that gluten-free mix, although I’ve seen it.
I have mint growing in my back porch garden… I’ll hav eto try your ice cream soon to control the mint. Those brownies look amazing 🙂
Oh my word. These look absolutely AMAZING! My mouth is literally watering right now.
These look moist and fudgy… not at all GF!
Wow he gave you one of each?!! I would be in 7th heaven! I love getting free products that I would normally buy anyway. It’s so generous of them to offer to 10 different winners so I’c rossing my fingers I’ll be one of them for a box to sample!
They sounds delicious! And your ice cream looks so refreshing.
I’ve never tried any gluten free products, but my godchildren are gluten free and these look amazing! I admit to being a brownieholic 🙂
Those brownies just look divine! And especially with the mint ice cream – yum!
WOW 🙂 what a nice opportunity! i’ve been thinking about trying some gluten free desserts, this one looks like the one! 🙂
I can not wait to try that ice cream recipe!
I would love to try these brownies, they look amazing!
Thanks for posting this! I have a friend in Watertown, NY who has to keep gluten-free – I’ll send her the link!
i adore brownies and mint chocolate chip treats! those brownies are so rich, they look like they are sucking the moisture out of the air. i can’t wait to try them!
gorgeous photos – and the mint ice cream sounds so refreshing!
This mint ice cream and brownie combo just came across my mind, and then I suddenly saw your tweet.. Nice!!
These look fantastic! I’d love to try the box of mix out!
I’m still on the hunt for a perfect brownie… maybe this is it? And the ice cream is just another reason I need to pick up an ice cream maker. It’s on my list.
OH SWEET LORD these look so good. brilliant idea pairing them with mint ice cream.
Brownies and ice cream-one of my all time favorite desserts. I want to try the GF brownies. They look incredible!
Those brownies look fantastic, Zoe, as does the ice cream! I have two little 7 year old nephews that are GF, so this discovery would be great for them. And, we all know that King Arthur makes the best products! 🙂
As a tester, I will verify that these brownies are darkly rich and delicious. I also know, however, that you could put Zoe’s ganache on toadstools and they would taste like heaven. And that mint icecream was fantastic.
These look amazing! I can’t wait to try mint ice cream w/ fresh mint from our garden. And the brownies? Gorgeous. Add ganache and they’re spectacular!