Generally speaking, I’m not a fan of many gluten-free desserts or snacks. Gluten-free food isn’t any healthier than a food that contains wheat. It’s just that some people are allergic to gluten–it’s as simple as that.
That being said, this brownie/cake combo is full of great flavor, thanks to ground hazelnuts.
When buying hazelnuts, remember that you want raw nuts. Try to get the best quality you can find. No surprise: Amazon is a great source for that.
9 oz. ground hazelnuts
5 1/2 oz. (2/3 cup) sugar
4 oz. (1 stick) unsalted butter
4 eggs
1 oz. cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking powder
A double-batch bakes a bundt pan perfectly. Make extra: it freezes well!
Pre-heat the oven to 350.
Pour the hazelnuts into a food processor and grind them as fine as you can. It won’t be powdery, like flour, but like tiny particles. Dump them into a separate bowl.
Back in the food processor bowl, add the sugar and butter and pulse until combined. Crack the eggs in a separate bowl, and add them slowly to the sugar and butter, pulsing to mix in between each addition.
Pour the ground hazelnuts into the mixture a little at a time, pulsing after each addition. Add the cocoa powder and baking powder, straining them through a sieve to keep out lumps, and pulse again. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and give it all one last mix.
Pour the batter into a buttered pan and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. The brownies will rise as they bake, so make sure your pan is deep enough to accommodate the dough rising as it cooks. Otherwise, you’ll get a brownie overflow!
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