Last weekend I was in Whistler celebrating my fiancé’s 30th birthday. The ironic part is that I’ve never skied or snowboarded – I think that’s a major fail as a Vancouverite. Sorry. However, I still love visiting and exploring Whistler and Squamish.
As a non-skier/snowboarder, Whistler in the winter is a little more difficult than the summer. In the summer you can visit the lakes, hike, bike, canoe and kayak, walk around the surrounding areas and bathe in the sun. In the winter, you’re more limited. Although we did snowshoe.
Saturday afternoon we walked around the village and explored the food side of Whistler instead. Along with some new places such as a Gourmet Aussie Meat Pie restaurant called Peaked Pies, we visited the well known and famously sweet bakery PureBread. If you haven’t had a chance to try their baked goods, you’re missing out. They have two locations in Whistler (one temporary due to a fire) and you can find their baked goods at the Nat Bailey Stadium Market in Vancouver if you’re in the neighbourhood on Saturdays.
It was hard to choose just one treat, so I chose four. We nibbled on the coconut cream loaf, chocolate raspberry mocha loaf, drunken apple blondie, and the flourless almond brownie over the course of the weekend. If you follow me on Instagram you’ll have seen the picture of the PureBread brownie, and here’s my homemade version below.
The Flourless Almond Brownie was delicious. Dense and fudgey, maybe a little too sweet but great texture. It was a pretty huge square even shared between two people. It probably could have been eaten in two sittings. When I returned home, I knew I would be craving it again. So I had to try and remake it.
These brownies are everything a brownie should be – without the flour. They are dense and fudgey, chocolately without being too sweet and have a crackled top crust. I used less sugar and butter than my regular recipes. A half a square is more than enough. This will certainly be a go-to brownie recipe safe for gluten and wheat-free friends.
One bowl is all you need to make these Flourless Almond Brownies.
Flourless Almond Brownies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 sticks butter (3/4 cup)
- 2.5 oz (70 g) dark bittersweet chocolate (70% or higher)
- dash of vanilla extract
- scant 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2-3 Tbs. unsweetened dark cocoa
- 1 ½ cups almond meal (not almond flour)
Equipment Needed
- 8×8 inch square baking dish lined with parchment paper
- Whisk
- Spatula
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In medium-sized microwaveable bowl add butter and chocolate. Heat on 1-minute intervals until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is melted completely and smooth.
- Add vanilla, sugar and cocoa whisking until smooth.
- Add the eggs one at a time, whisking until completely smooth once again.
- Stir in the almond meal. Switch to spatula and fold batter together.
- Pour into prepared baking dish and spread evenly with spatula.
- Turn oven down to 325 degrees and bake for 25 minutes.
Allow to cool completely on counter before serving. You can store leftovers in the fridge or on counter in tupperware.
