These Gluten Free Triple Chocolate M&M Brownies are loaded with milk chocolate chips and slathered with a rich chocolate cream cheese frosting. Top them off with some mini M&M’s and you’ve got a real party!
So today I had the joy of teaching Joy School.
Bahahahaha! JOY?! Yeah right!!!
TEACHING + PRESCHOOL = Anything BUT joyful!
Okay, maybe I did kind of like it. And maybe I did kind of go overboard with games and books and activities. And maybe I was a bit of a control freak. And maybe secretly I was a little proud of all my cute little projects I came up with. And maybe, just MAYBE I missed my calling in life.
Hmmmmm, no. I wouldn’t go that far. Teaching for two days every six weeks is my kind of teaching. Throw this at me everyday and I may go slightly crazy, locking myself in a bathroom, hiding behind a shower curtain just to get as far away from tiny little preschool fingers as possible. Those little boogers can go from sweet to Satan in about two seconds flat.
So for part of my “science” portion of preschool today, I put together a smelling activity where the kids were able to sniff paper bags with different scents inside. You know you’re a food blogger when your kid can identify the smell of garlic and the other kids think it’s cinnamon. Cinnamon??? Really?!
Anywho, I just couldn’t resist hiding some pieces of chocolate in one of the paper sacks. I mean, how delightful is the smell of CHOCOLATE???
I’m pretty sure that anybody and everybody has a nose for chocolate. That was one scent that all the kids nailed right off the bat. That sweet odor just sets off receptors all over your brain and sends them into hyper drive. Once you smell chocolate, you can pretty much kiss any hope of focus goodbye until you satisfy your taste buds and take a bite. Trying to resist is a hopelessly lost cause, indeed.
So if chocolate is that powerful, imagine the power that one little square of Gluten Free Triple Chocolate M&M Brownies can have. My guess? This little brownie could probably rule the entire world if it wanted to.
A thick and chewy chocolate brownie.
Pockets of melted chocolate chips and M&M pieces.
A layer of rich chocolate cream cheese frosting.
AAAANNND, a sprinkle of mini M&Ms.
Get the milk ready yo!
Speaking of, we ran out of milk yesterday because I kept delaying my trip to the grocery store. It was pretty much the saddest day of my life. Those poor poor people that don’t drink milk. My condolences. There is nothing like a crisp cold glass of milk with your dessert.
Funny thing is that these brownies were initially supposed to be cookies. I was just mixing away, throwing in ingredients that I thought would work, and…OOOPS…the batter was definitely NOT cookie batter consistency. Instead of crying and throwing it away (a waste of money indeed!), I decided to give brownies a try.
Call of a lifetime!
Man, these brownies are insane. I’m talking ooey, gooey, thick, fudgy, chewy. Lick your lips and smack ’em twice, cuz these brownies sure taste NICE!
The key to these brownies is to not overbake them. They won’t quite seem done after the 35 minutes of baking, but after letting them cool completely, they will set into the perfect brownie bar bliss. At which point you slather them with chocolate cream cheese frosting and sprinkle them with extra mini M&Ms just to be cute. As if there wasn’t enough chocolate already.
Maybe I should whip up another batch of these and serve them at the end of preschool. Can you imagine? “Here’s your kids back moms! We had a lovely time. I don’t know why they’re so crazy now. Muahahaha!”
What memories do you associate with the smell of chocolate?
- For Brownies:
- 1 stick butter, room temperature
- 4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 large eggs
- 1¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ cups brown rice flour
- ⅔ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- ½ cup potato starch
- ¼ cup sweet sorghum flour
- ⅔ cup chocolate chips
- ⅔ cup mini M&M's, plus more for topping
- For Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 4 tablespoons butter, room temperature
- 4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
- 4 cups powdered sugar, divided
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- 3 tablespoons milk
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract*
- dash of salt
- Begin making brownies by greasing an 8X8 glass baking dish and preheating the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, cream together butter, cream cheese, and sugar until light and fluffy and sugar is dissolved. Add eggs one at a time and beat for 30 seconds after each addition. Add almond extract and mix until combined.
- In a separate smaller mixing bowl, sift together, salt, xanthan gum, baking soda, brown rice flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, potato starch, and sorghum flour. Pour dry ingredients into wet and beat until smooth.
- Fold in chocolate chips and M&M's. Pour batter into greased baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.** Remove from oven and cool on cooling rack for at least 45 minutes to an hour to allow brownies to set.
- While brownies are cooling, begin making frosting. Beat together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add 2 cups of powdered sugar and almond extract and mixing until smooth. Add cocoa powder and beat until incorporated. Add milk and a dash of salt and beat until smooth. Add 2 more cups of powdered sugar (one cup at a time) and beat until light and fluffy.
- Once brownies are completely cooled, frost and top with additional mini M&M's.
**Brownies may not seem done, but they will set after cooling.
M&Ms are gluten free? Since when? I last had them about 11 years ago and I definitely reacted to them. Have they changed their recipe?
Definitely gluten free! Oh no, I feel bad that you’ve missed out on M&Ms for this long. Maybe they are more careful about cross contamination now???
I had a look into it and sadly because I’m in Australia I’m in the one place where M&Ms aren’t gluten free. For some reason they sometimes use wheat starch here, so unfair! If only I’d known this a month ago – my friend just got back from the USA! But there are some stores that stock American candy, so maybe I’ll be able to track down some gluten free M&Ms.