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Can I Make the Flourless Chocolate Brownies Without Almonds?

Asked by NYDT. Answered on 31st October 2014

Full question

What might be a good alternative for ground almonds in the Flourless Choclate Brownies recipe? Unfortunately I am allergic to almonds and wheat. Thanks!

Flourless Chocolate Brownies With Hot Chocolate Sauce
Photo by Lis Parsons
Flourless Chocolate Brownies With Hot Chocolate Sauce
By Nigella
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Our answer

Nigella's Flourless Chocolate Brownies With Hot Chocolate Sauce (from Nigella Express and on the Nigella website) uses ground almonds (almond meal) isntead of flour. The ground almonds make the brownies gluten free and also gives them a wonderfully moist and dense texture.

We suspect that ground hazelnuts (hazelnut meal) would be a good alternative to the almonds. We would mention that we have not tried ground hazelnuts in this recipe so can't guarantee the results, but we have used ground hazelnuts instead of ground almonds in Nigella's Chocolate Olive Oil Cake (from Nigellissima and on the Nigella website) with good results. If you need to grind the hazelnuts yourself then use skinned hazelnuts and grind them in a food processor in batches, with some of the sugar from the recipe. Be careful not to over-process the nuts as they will turn oily.

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