The GFCF Recipe Experience: Tyler Florence's Amaretto Chocolate Brownies - They're Twitterlicious!

If there is one thing I love to do, it's take a non-GFCF recipe and make it GFCF, especially when it's a recipe from one of the noted chef's in the business. Like Tyler Florence.

Tyler's website, http://www.tylerflorence.com/, is a wonderland of recipes and information. And one of the nice things Tyler has started there is his Twitterlicious Cooking Sessions.

Every Friday at 1200 ET (900 PT) Tyler holds a cooking class on Twitter. He takes one of his recipes (as voted on by visitors to his web site) and goes through the process of preparing it step by step on Twitter, offering cooking tips and advice and answering some questions as well. The full recipe with photos is posted on Tyler's blog to help you follow along. You can go to Tyler's web site right now and vote on the dish you want to have Tyler prepare for tomorrow's session. Right now the leader is Shrimp Scampi Linguine, but there's still time to vote!

Here's how you can follow along:

• Follow Tyler on Twitter: www.twitter.com/tylerflorence
  
  
• Using your favorite Twitter Search engine (I personally like Tweetdeck), search for #twtlish. This is that hashtag Tyler and everyone participating uses. If you have a question or comment, be sure to put this hashtag in your tweet.
  
  
• You can also join Tyler's Twibe at http://twibes.com/twitterlicious and follow along there!

So why is this all relevent to this post? Well last Friday's Twitterlicious dish was Tyler's Amaretto Chocolate Brownies. Brownies - need I say more? After looking at the pictures and following along on Twitter, I knew this was one recipe I wanted to add to my GFCF recipe list.

Making these brownies GFCF is quite simple in fact. Use your favorite GFCF all-purpose flour mix, add in some xanthan gum, Use CF butter (Earthblanace Buttery Sticks are my recommendation) and CF chocolate, and you're set!

Oh, and since we are using amaretto, let me stop and talk about GFCF alcoholic beverages. We all know that you need to drink gluten free beers, and most wines are GFCF since wine comes from fermented grapes. But what about liquor, and liqueurs like amaretto? Well, from what I have read any liquor that has been distilled is generally accepted to be GF. But, as always, you should read labels and check with the manufacturer if you are not sure. A great site for GF alcohol information (and drink recipes) is Mike's Bar.

Here are some notes from Tyler, via the Twitter cooking class:

• To get the most flavor use bittersweet chocolate that has at least 70% cocoa fat. The higher the cocoa fat content, the less additives (like milk) to cut the flavor (and the greater chance the chocolate is CF!). For my version, I used organic bittersweet CF baking chocolate with 72% cocoa fat.
  
  
• When you are melting the chocolate and butter in the double boiler, make sure the water is not touching the melting bowl or it could scorch the chocolate.
  
  
• Line the baking pan with parchment paper, and cut it a little long so you have "handles" to help lift the brownie from the baking pan.
  
  
• The brownie should be soft and almost melted in the center, progressing to chewy and then crunchy along the edges.

Here is my version. All I can say is two words - chocolate heaven.

GFCF AMARETTO CHOCOLATE BROWNIES
recipe adapted from Tyler Florence

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) CF butter
8 oz GFCF bittersweet chocolate (at least 70% cocoa fat), broken into small pieces
1 1/4 cups GF all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp GF baking powder
pinch of salt
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 Tbsp amaretto liqueur

Preheat oven to 350. Grease an 8" x 8" baking pan, and line with parchment paper, leaving some to overhang on the sides.

Sift the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, and salt together, and set aside.

Melt the butter and chocolate together in a double boiler, stirring until smooth and shiny. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

Using a mixer, combine the sugar, eggs, and amaretto until well combined. Reduce the mixture to low speed and slowly add the chocolate mixture. Slowly add in the flour mixture, and mix until just combined.

Pour the mixture into the baking pan, and bake at 350 for about 45 - 50 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out reasonably clean (mine actually took about 60 - 65 minutes, but I am slightly at altitude).

Use to overlapped parchment to lift the brownie out of the pan. Cool, then cut into squares (if you can wait that long!).

I am also submitting this as my first entry for Tyler Florence Fridays, a weekly roundup of people making Tyler's dishes.