Give your favorite fudgey gluten free brownies a holiday make-over with a hint of peppermint, and a festive candy cane sprinkle!
The countdown is ON!
…and boy is my crew READY! Just 5 more days of school to get through, and we cannot wait to get some baking done this weekend!
A fun favorite with a holiday twist!
Everyone loves a good brownie, and I couldn’t think of anything better than adding a hint of peppermint to the batter and a fun Christmas sprinkle of candy cane to the top! These fun peppermint brownies look fancy and special, but are just as easy as any pan of brownies to make!
Peppermint Brownie Method
A pan of brownies is just about as easy as it gets. You’ll blend some melted coconut oil or butter into the wet ingredients, and then add the flours and cocoa powder. The batter is nice a shiny just like any other brownie batter. You’ll fold some chocolate chips into the fudgey stickiness and then spread it into your pan. Then the fun part! Grab the kids and let them pound on some candy canes to crush them up, and then they can sprinkle that and more chocolate chips onto the top of the brownie batter!
Where do I find a better ingredient choice candy cane?
Well since my kiddos were little, I’ll definitely say the market is a much friendlier for finding naturally dyed candy canes! It is so worth skipping the Red 40 dyes that can cause hyper-activity and moodiness in many kids (and adults too!). You can find naturally dyed candy canes at just about every health food store. We don’t have big box health food stores closer than a 45 minute drive away, and even our little itty bitty health food store carries them! If you can’t find them where you live, you can Prime these naturally dyed candy canes! They ship super fast!
Flour swaps
I haven’t played around with this brownie recipe too much (we ended up with 4 pans of brownies as it was to get this recipe down! Ha!), but I do want to mention that if you are nut free, you can swap the almond flour for more Namaste GF Flour. They both work well. I also think that you could swap 2 flax “eggs” for the eggs if you are an egg free house hold as those seem to work well for brownies in my experience.
Freezer friendly!
OH yes! Because I ended up with 4 pans of brownies to get this recipe right, I did in fact freeze a bunch of these, and because I needed to make sure they tasted good out of the freezer, momma enjoyed one with a cup of coffee one afternoon, and they were SO good! Just perfect out of the freezer. So make them ahead of time if you need and freeze them up!
Gluten Free Peppermint Brownies
Ingredients
- ½ cup coconut sugar or organic cane sugar
- ¼ pure maple syrup
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup coconut oil melted (melted unsalted butter would work if you tolerate dairy)
- 1 tsp peppermint extract
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ cup Namaste GF Flour Blend
- ¼ cup blanched almond flour
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ¾ cup chocolate chips for the batter plus 2-3 more tbsp for the top (amount for the top per preference)
- 2-3 naturally dyed candy canes crushed (amount per preference)
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees and grease an 8 inch square cake pan with coconut oil or palm shortening (or butter if you tolerate dairy).
- Blend the coconut sugar, maple syrup, and eggs for 1 minute, and then blend the melted coconut oil in while the blenders are still going. I just hold the hand blender with one hand and pour with the other – you could use a stand mixer if you have one.
- Add the peppermint extract, cocoa powder, Namaste flour, almond flour, baking soda, and salt, and blend on low until just combined. Fold in ½ cup of chocolate chips. The batter is sticky and shiny.
- Spread the brownie batter into the greased pan, and then sprinkle the 2-3 tablespoons of chocolate chips and the crushed candy canes on top. Tap the pan on the counter so the chocolate chips and candy canes on the top set into the batter (you could gently press your hand on the top too).
- Bake the brownies in a 325 degree oven for 28 minutes, until a toothpick to the center comes out clean.
Notes
- If you are nut free, swap the almond flour for more Namaste.
- If you are egg free, I think flax eggs will work nicely in this recipe. The brownies may not puff up as much but they will bind well and might even be chewier.
Oooooh! I need these in my life! Haha. Can’t wait to try them!
I was at my natural foods co-op yesterday and they had naturally dyed candy canes on sale for half off! They didn’t expire until June of 2021 so now is a great time to stock up for next year!
Great idea!
Hi Renee,
Thank you for the recipe! It sounds delicious. Does the almond flour serve a purpose in baking or can it be subbed out for an equal amount of gf flour? We have nut allergies in the family and I’ve noticed several of your recipes use a mixture of both.
Thank you!
Kaci
Hi Kaci! You could definitely use all GF blend flour – just use a smaller amount to start with since they absorb differently. The almond flour does lend a certain texture and softness, but the GF flour will be fine if you swap for maybe half of the almond flour.