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.
I LOVE brownies, and these look yummy.
Hi! I am new to your bread books and blog. I have a lot of gluten free friends and I am always looking for new things to try on them. I’d love to have ten boxes of brownie mix and have a brownie party!
Chance
They look fabulous!!
I am not usually one to use a mix, but these look pretty amazing!
These look amazing. I am meeting so many people these days that are GF and these look like a wonderful treat to have when they visit.
I would absolutely love to try these and give them out to all my GF friends and their GF Children!
wow, those look so good! i would love to try these. i try not to eat too much gluten/wheat because i am the type of person that develops allergies to everything :/
Those brownies look fab. I must try!
I’ve been dying to try their GF products. Thanks for the giveaway Mike!
Those look absolutely delicious! Thanks for the give-away.
wow this looks soooo delicious, got to bake this next week!
I would love to try the baking mix myself. The brownies look so yummy!
I’ve got to try this in my new KitchenAid Ice Maker attachment. I also love brownies from a mix.
i’d love to try the gluten-free brownie mix! please send one my way! 🙂
These look tremendous!
mmmm…brownies!! The more chocolate, the better. And, with your suggestions, I would also be adding a “serving” of fruit and dairy 😉
As paula deen says: Does mint also count as a vegetable?
I have a friend whose son is allergic to wheat but loves to bake. This will be perfect.
These look delicious. My co-worker is always looking for gluten free anything. I’ll have to pass this on.
My husband is gluten free and I have been hedging on buying any of these mixes. I am certainly putting my name here.
Thanks for doing this.
I love that there are yummy desserts for the gluten-free.
These brownies look just scrumptious.
These look amazing and I can’t wait to try. MMM choc and mint!
Awesome! I am going to look for their GF line for a GF friend.
Two of my favorites all on one plate – chocolate and mint. I think I’m salivating a bit…
Just found your website, am excited to try some of these delicious recipes!