grain/egg/dairy/soy/nut free brownies (really!)

Hey- who says you have to give up your career as a chocoholic? A treat to share with pretty much ANY kid!

1/2 c quinoa flour (amaranth will also work)
1/8 c + 2 tbs tapioca flour or arrowroot
1/8 c flax seed meal (optional)
1/4 c (generous) cocoa (Hershey's)
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 c beet sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 c shredded unsweetened coconut
1/4 c minced dried cranberries or cherries

Place in ziploc bag and allow a "helper" to mix. (you can let the brownies sleep there until they are needed, if you like.)

Add to 1/2 c oil (canola works well)
1/2 c fruit juice (orange, pineapple, or cranberry is ideal)
1 tbs lemon juice

Mix till all ingredients are moistened, then pour into an ungreased glass loaf pan and bake 20 minutes at 350F or until firmly set- tester will come out clean.
Makes 8 very generous brownies.

(most of which can be consumed in one sitting by an adult chocoholic [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/biggrin.gif[/img])

HINTS: quinoa has a nasty "bitter" taste unless you fully neutralize the saponin it contains with an ACID (therefore- do not skip the lemon juice or substitute milk for the acidic fruit juice). The coconut is where the recipe gets its "richness" from. Don't leave it out unless you are adding chocolate chips or something else which is decadent to compensate.

These are shockingly GOOD. No, *really*. Take it from an experienced chocoholic that this recipe tastes like something REAL... rather than an imitation of something else. Note that it is far from low sugar or low fat, too.. might explain it.
If you can stand soy lecithin (my own DD and DH cannot [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/frown.gif[/img] ), it would make awesome Naimiano bars (a NW specialty) with melted chocolate on top.

GOOD EATING!!