Flourless Chocolate Brownies
Dense, fudgy brownies with ground almonds instead of flour: deeper chocolate, naturally gluten-free, dangerously easy.
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 25 min
- total
- 40 min
- serves
- 12
- level
- easy
Removing the flour from a brownie does not make it worse; it makes it more of a brownie. Ground almonds carry the chocolate without diluting it, which is why this version, one Nigella Lawson helped popularize, converts people.
The only skill required is stopping the oven in time. A flourless brownie slightly underbaked is fudge; overbaked it is cake, and cake was not the assignment.
This dish is one of our top 10 recipes that made Nigella Lawson famous.
method
Heat the oven to 170°C (340°F) and line a roughly 24 x 20 cm brownie tin.
Melt the butter and chocolate together over low heat and let cool a few minutes.
Whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla until pale and slightly thickened.
Whisk the chocolate into the eggs, then fold in the ground almonds, salt and walnuts.
Pour into the tin and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the top is set and papery but the middle still has a slight wobble.
Cool completely in the tin before cutting; they firm up as they cool.
chef's tips
- Take them out while the middle still wobbles slightly. Carryover heat finishes the job.
- A night in the fridge makes them denser and fudgier; many people prefer them cold.
- The shiny crackled top comes from whisking the eggs and sugar properly; do not rush that step.