These are melt-in-your mouth decadent tasting little brownies–gluten-free to boot! The rich coffee flavor is outrageous and the little coffee bean on top of each not only makes for a beautiful presentation but also adds a wonderful little crunchiness! Needless to say there is nothing decadent about these little brownies, nutrition-wise! I use bittersweet chocolate (60%), almond meal/flour instead of regular flour, and fat-free powdered milk as a source of natural sugar found in lactose to cut down on regular added sugar–can you believe I use only 1/2 cup sugar for 42 mini brownies? I just LOVE these on a holiday buffet table not only because they present so beautifully but because they are just one bite…and what a luscious bite it is!
(I have the French translation of this recipe with metric measures here)
- 4 oz bittersweet chocolate (60% cocoa)
- ½ cup hot coffee
- ½ cup organic expeller pressed canola oil
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup fat free powdered milk
- 3 large eggs (cage free omega 3)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ¾ cup almond meal/flour
- 42 coffee beans
- Preheat convection oven to 350
- Place the mini silicone cupcake liners inside the mini cupcake pans and set aside.
- Break chocolate into big pieces and place in hot coffee. Let it melt and stir until well blended.
- While the chocolate is melting, place oil, sugar, powdered milk, eggs and vanilla in a mixing bowl of an electric mixer and beat until creamy.
- Add the warm chocolate mixture to the mixing bowl and beat again briefly until well blended.
- Add the almond meal/flour and beat again on low speed briefly.
- The batter will be "liquid-y", that's exactly how it should be!
- Pour the batter into a container with a spout that you can pour the liquid out of ( a large glass measuring cup will do).
- Pour the batter into each cake liner until ⅔ full.
- Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes.
- Cool before unmolding each little mini cake.
- Just before ready to serve (otherwise the coffee bean can become soggy), dust with a little confectioner sugar and top each with one coffee bean.
Because the batter for this recipe is very “liquid-y” (that’s what makes them so creamy), I like to use a batter dispenser to pour the batter in reusable mini silicone cupcake liners and they unmold perfectly when baked
I just wanted to share that I used soft tofu to replace eggs. 1/4 soft tofu for each egg. I started baking this with my daughter and then realized I used up all our eggs the day before so made this sub. The recipe turned out great! The tofu added to the “fudginess” of a brownie.
Wow, that’s a great discovery Michelle, I love it! I will try that next time! 🙂
This looks delicious! As Consumer Labs has written about the cadmium content of most chocolate, I would enjoy reading about any comments you have regarding the safety of its use. Thank you. Look forward to trying your recipes!
Thank you Debi!! I will ask my husband and get back to you!
This recipe is delicious, but needs salt.
Thank you Terri!
you’ll note that I never add salt to any of my desserts and I do so intentionally. You’ll find my reasoning here http://cuisinicity.com/put-salt-in-its-place/ and here http://cuisinicity.com/simplify/.
These sound delicious! I would love to try a variation for my son who has Type 1 Diabetes. Can you recommend a substitute for the coffee so that the result is essentially the same, but without the mocha flavor? Thank you!
Jamie, I am sorry about the delay in answering you! I just saw your question just now. Hm, let me think, maybe hot almond milk? But really, I am guessing here because I just love that coffee flavor. Let me know how you make out with these!
Hi Catherine,
I do not use canola oil as I understand it to be a very unhealthy oil. I have replaced this oil with either coconut oil or rice bran oil. Would either of these replacements work in this recipe?
Thank you,
Debbie
Hi Debbie,
I imagine these alternatives would, but wouldn’t know for sure as I never use them. If you really do not want to use canola oil, I would recommend olive oil. However, permit me to say that you are mistaken about canola oil. You’ll find that I preferentially like to use canola oil in my baking because it’s a good source of monounsaturated fats, and it is the richest cooking-oil source of alpha-linolenic acid which has been linked to heart health. Here is a nice article that gives it more justice than I can in a few words here:
http://www.eatingwell.com/nutrition_health/nutrition_news_information/how_healthy_is_canola_oil_really
If genetic engineering is a concern for you, you can choose certified organic but I don’t like to impose the extra cost on people since I do not share that concern at all. My husband wrote a piece about it in Health News. So here it is from the source: http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/2014/09/22/cooking-oils-overcooked
I hope this helps!
I think I’ll try these! Only thing is, I had the same problem as Amy. But I may just try these soon yummy. Catherine, some day can you tell us exactly what a “convection” oven does that makes it different from a conventional oven? Cheers and happy holidays!
Hi Donna! I am copying and pasting an answer I gave earlier about using a regular oven!! I assume it will be just fine in a regular oven. I happen to have a convection oven so that’s how I bake them but basically you want to bake them long enough so that they are “set” but still soft to the touch. They bake pretty quickly so double check at the 10 minute mark. I would love to find out how it worked out for you so I am eagerly looking forward to your next comment! My sense, is it’s going to work just as well! Let me know!
They look absolutely wonderful! Are the silicone cups necessary? Would it be possible to lightly oil non-stick mini muffin pans and get the same result?
No Problem Kelly, I don’t see why not! You can use little paper liners as well!
Catherine, Do you have any recommendations for replacements for powdered milk for those who cannot consume dairy?
Thanks bunches!
Hi Jake, the only reason I use the powdered milk is to reduce the sugar so you can replace that same amount with regular sugar and you’ll be all set!
c’est délicieux et c’est dangereux pour …la ligne! merci encore , je congèle pour en avoir toujours de prêts!
Et oui, modération en tout, ca c’est sûr!
bonjour, devenue un peu addict à ces merveilleuse petites friandises! je les refais avec plaisir!Merci !
hello , je les ai refaits , ils sont plus petits comme vous le préconisiez, un dé li ce e e !!! et si facile à réaliser! merci! martine
Fantastique, Martine!!
I didn’t have almond meal, so used hazelnut meal instead. Go figure why I have things like besan flour, hazelnut meal and coconut flour, but no almond meal, and in retrospect I should have just zinged some raw almonds in the spice grinder. Anyhow, these did not have a great consistency with the hazelnut. I looked up the nutrition info,and it turns out that hazelnut meal has quite a bit more fat and less protein. I think it just didn’t have enough protein to hold together and give it substance. So, just thought I would share my failed attempt so no one else wastes all that beautiful bittersweet chocolate.
Thank you Jennifer, I like that you systematically looked into why hazelnut flour may not have worked, that’s part of the process! I think you are are right on with the protein and fat content composition. I have had many failed attempts with different recipes over the years with looking into different ingredients and swapping this for that (!!), but also sometimes some great discoveries, so this is all good! I look forward to you trying these with almond meal or ground almonds but thank you again for letting everyone know that hazelnut just doesn’t cut it here! I do agree I hate to waste all that beautiful chocolate!!
bonjour , c’est fait , un délice sauf que moi, j’ai pris des moules un peu plus grands que les vôtres !! ce goût de café, très agréable!…c’est vite fait et facile à réaliser , le plus dur , c’est d’attendre qu’ils refroidissent! merci et bonne journée à vous!!
Vous êtes adorable!
bonjour, je me suis laissée tenter par cette recette , je vais essayer de la réaliser! merci !
Bonjour Martine, Je pense que vous allez aimer! Mais n’oublier pas de bien fondre ce chocolat!
Good question Amy! I assume it will be just fine in a regular oven. I happen to have a convection oven so that’s how I bake them but basically you want to bake them long enough so that they are “set” but still soft to the touch. They bake pretty quickly so double check at the 10 minute mark. I would love to find out how it worked out for you so I am eagerly looking forward to your next comment! My sense, is it’s going to work just as well! Let me know!
Amy, You can also use a regular oven, I don’t exactly know how it will affect the timing but as long as you watch them and don’t over bake them, it should be absolutely fine!
what if you dont have a convection oven