Gluten-free beetroot, hazelnut and orange brownies

These brownies bring the wonderful combination of orange, chocolate and hazelnuts together in small individual packages. They also benefit from the earthy sweetness that the grated fresh beetroot adds… not too sweet and layered with flavour. Because they are also slightly fragile, make sure you bake them either in silicone pans or paper-lined metal muffin tins to make removing them from the pans hassle-free.

Credit: Alan Benson

• makes

  12

• prep

  25 minutes

• cook

  25 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• melted butter, to grease
• 200 g trimmed fresh beetroot (about 1 medium), peeled and finely shredded
• 185 g gluten-free good-quality dark chocolate (45-54% cocoa solids), chopped
• 125 g butter, diced
• 40 g (⅓ cup) cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 110 g (1 cup) hazelnut meal
• 210 g (1 cup, firmly packed) light muscavado sugar 
• 3 eggs, at room temperature, lightly whisked
• 2 oranges, rind finely grated
• 1 tsp natural vanilla essence or extract
• 100 g roasted and peeled whole hazelnuts, coarsely chopped

Cooling time: 1 hour

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Grease two 6-hole medium (80 ml/⅓ cup) silicone muffin pans with melted butter and place on an oven tray.

Place the beetroot, chocolate and butter in a medium saucepan. Place over low heat, stirring frequently, until butter and chocolate have melted. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside for 10 minutes to cool slightly.

Meanwhile, sift together the cocoa powder and baking powder. Combine with the hazelnut meal. Set aside

Add the sugar, eggs, orange rind and vanilla to chocolate mixture and use a balloon whisk to stir until well combined. Add the hazelnut meal mixture and half the chopped hazelnuts and stir until well combined.

Divide the mixture evenly among the greased muffin holes. Sprinkle with the remaining chopped hazelnuts. Bake for 23-25 minutes or until moist crumbs cling to a skewer inserted in the centre of a muffin. Remove from the oven, transfer the muffin pans to a wire rack and set aside to cool completely (this will take about 1 hour) before removing from the pans.

Baker’s tips

• These brownies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Photography by Alan Benson. Styling by Sarah O'Brien. Food preparation by Tina McLeish.

This recipe is part of our Bakeproof: Brownie column.

View previous Bakeproof columns and recipes here.

Anneka's mission is to connect home cooks with the magic of baking, and through this, with those they love. For hands-on baking classes and baking tips, visit her at BakeClub. Don't miss what's coming out of her oven via Facebook,Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.