About These Small Batch Almond Flour Brownies
These small batch almond flour brownies are thick, chewy, and 100% gluten free thanks to almond flour! But don’t let the gluten free label scare you.
Even without regular flour, these almond flour brownies taste exactly like your favorite brownie recipe. They have the perfect chewy texture, lots of chocolate flavor, and just a subtle hint of nuttiness from the almond flour.
The best part? This recipe makes only a small batch of almond flour brownies! The recipe instructs you to bake the brownies in a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Doing so results in 8 petite brownies, or 2 to 3 bakery-style large ones.
For more delicious homemade brownie recipes on Hummingbird High, check out my Brownies, Blondies, and Bar Recipe Collection! Popular recipes include these Chewy and Fudgy Purple Ube Brownies and my version of Claire Saffitz Brownies.
Why You Should Make Gluten Free Brownies With Almond Flour
The recipe uses no specialty ingredients beyond almond flour.
Most gluten free recipes rely on specialty flours and more “obscure” baking ingredients like xanthan gum to compensate for their lack of gluten.
While I’m no stranger to shopping for these types of ingredients (you’re talking to the girl who has recipes that use citric acid, powdered blackcurrant, tonka beans, and more in her baking), I take issue with the fact that, well, after you buy it, you’re left with a massive bag to use up. And that’s a problem if you’re an infrequent gluten free baker like me!
As a result, one of my goals was to develop a gluten free brownie recipe with no specialty ingredients. Like these almond flour brownies!
If you’re a regular baker, I guarantee that you’ll have almost everything you need for these brownies in your pantry without an extra trip to the grocery store.
What You Need
Ingredient Sources, Recommendations, and Substitutions
- Almond Flour. My favorite almond flour is from Bob’s Red Mill (they sell both almond flour and almond meal—both work in this recipe!). I also like King Arthur Baking Company’s almond flour. You can also use homemade almond flour.
- Cocoa Powder. You can use either Dutch-processed OR natural unsweetened cocoa powder in this recipe. Dutch-processed cocoa powder will make the chocolate taste milder (but still cocoa-y) and give the frosting a dark brown, Oreo-ish color. Natural unsweetened cocoa powder will make the chocolate taste tarter and fruitier, and give the frosting a lighter reddish-brown color.
- Kosher Salt. Kosher salt is the best salt for baking recipes. But if you don’t have any, you can replace the kosher salt in the recipe with half its amount in table salt.
- Unsalted Butter. You can substitute the unsalted butter with salted butter without any noticeable difference in taste.
- Brown Sugar. I prefer the flavor of dark brown sugar (which has more molasses and tastes more like caramel), but either light or dark brown sugar works in this recipe!
- Chocolate Chips. Check out my post on The Best Chocolate For Chocolate Chip Cookies, which has a lot of recommendations for my favorite chocolate to use in baking recipes!
Using A Loaf Pan To Make Small Batch Brownies
Why do you use a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan to make these almond flour brownies?
Great question! Most brownie recipes are baked in a 9 x 13-inch pan. This 9 x 13-inch pan is also known as a quarter sheet pan. To halve the recipe, you’ll need to use a baking pan with that has a surface area a half that size. You can typically get away with using a 8- or 9-inch square pan. But what if that’s still not small enough? What’s half of an 8-inch square pan?
Well, these specialty pans actually DO exist—they’re known as ⅛ sheet pans, or “eighth sheet pans”. But it’s rare that the average person will have one in their cupboard, so I worked to find another pan. I learned that a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan basically has the same surface area as an eighth sheet pan. Pretty cool, right?
Note that this small batch almond flour brownie recipe won’t fill up the pan like it would if you were making a loaf cake. However, it will make enough batter to completely cover the bottom of a pan.
My Best Recipe Tips
Ingredient Tip
- In the recipe below, I instruct you to sift the almond flour and cocoa powder if necessary. How do you know if it’s necessary? If the ingredients have lumps bigger than the size of a pea. But note that almond flour clumps naturally on its own, so it’s normal to have small lumps in the flour at all times. Don’t stress yourself out too much if your almond flour refuses to stay lump free!
Baking Tip
- It’s better to pull the brownies out of the oven early than leave them in too long—if you over bake the brownies, they’ll be tough. They might appear underbaked, but I promise that when they’ve cooled, they will be perfect.
Serving Tip
- I mentioned throughout the post that this small batch brownie recipe makes 8 petite brownies, or 2 large bakery-style brownies. To make 8 petite brownies, unmold the brownies from the pan and slice them lengthwise. Hold the two long slices together, and slice them into quarters crosswise. This will create 8 petite brownie squares. For 2 large bakery-style brownies, simply slice the unmolded brownie block into two halves crosswise.
Video Tutorial for Recipe
Use the video player below to watch my Instagram Story tutorial on how to make these small batch almond flour brownies! Clicking the left and right hand sides of the frame allow you to move through the different recipe steps.
Get the Recipe: Small Batch Almond Flour Brownies Recipe
Ingredients
For the Small Batch Almond Flour Brownies
- ¾ cup (2.65 ounces or 75 grams) almond flour, sifted if necessary
- 6 Tablespoons (1.15 ounces or 33 grams) Dutch-processed OR natural unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted if necessary
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup (4 ounces or 113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 7 Tablespoons tightly packed (3.25 ounces or 92 grams) light OR dark brown sugar
- 7 Tablespoons (3 ounces or 85 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- chocolate chips, for garnish
Equipment
- a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan
Instructions
For the Small Batch Almond Flour Brownies
- Prep the oven and pan. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly spray a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on the pan's two long sides. Spray the parchment, too.
- Make the dry mix. In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.
- Make the wet mix. In a large bowl, mix together the melted butter, sugars, egg, egg yolk, and vanilla until just combined.
- Make the batter. Sprinkle the dry mix over the wet mix and stir until just combined.
- Assemble the brownies. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and use an offset spatula to smooth the top. Sprinkle the batter with chocolate chips.
- Bake the brownies. Bake for 33 to 35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few crumbs attached. Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.
- Serve and store. Run a butter knife or offset spatula along the edges of the pan and use the overhanging parchment as handles to lift the brownies out of the pan and onto a cutting board. Follow the instructions in the baker's notes to slice into 8 petite brownie squares, or 2 large bakery-style brownies. Garnish with flaky salt and serve. The brownies can be stored in an airtight container or zip-top bag at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Notes
Can you freeze almond flour brownies?
Yes! You can freeze the baked almond flour brownies. To freeze the brownies, individually wrap any leftover bars in two layers of plastic wrap, then a layer of aluminum foil. The aluminum foil will prevent the bars from absorbing any other flavors or odors in the freezer. Freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to serve, transfer to the refrigerator to thaw overnight. You can eat the brownies straight from the fridge, or rewarmed in the microwave.get new recipes via email:
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Weeknight Baking:
Recipes to Fit your Schedule
Over the past several years of running Hummingbird High, I kept a crucial aspect of my life hidden from my readers: I had a full-time, extremely demanding job in the tech world. In my debut cookbook, Weeknight Baking, I finally reveal the secrets to baking delicious desserts on a tight schedule.
Did you make this recipe?
Please leave a comment and rating for the recipe using the form below!
Your ratings make it easier to find the recipe online, and I’m always looking for ways to improve Hummingbird High.
if we use natural cocoa powder, do we have to substitute the baking powder for baking soda?
No, baking powder also works with natural cocoa powder. It doesn’t work if you have baking soda as the only leavener and then swap the natural cocoa powder with Dutched cocoa powder.
Made these twice, they’re gorgeous
Tasty brownies! Used an 8×4 silicone pan, baked for 25min per someone else’s advice and the testing stick came out clean. Could watch them at 20min mark to be safe. Brownies still gooey with crust. Also used less sugar- 90g of brown sugar and 3 tbsps (eyeballed) of white sugar. Added about a tsp of instant coffee (no espresso powder at home) per someone else’s suggestion.
Garnished with chopped dark chocolate and almonds. Brownies are very rich and sweet enough. Probably could cut down sugar even more. This small batch is the perfect portion. I cut them into 16 pieces. Definitely not a health food but good in moderation!
Hello!
I am here to say that I’ve made these twice in the past week much to my family’s delight. I subbed out butter for TJ’s vegan buttery spread. Both times I have made them in a 7 inch round cake pan, first in a spring form, second in a traditional. They are bakery style thick and I added about a half a cup of almond slivers to the first batch. My dad who despises nuts vehemently complained that I had “poisoned” the batch with almonds so thats vote of confidence one beyond myself. Today I made a second batch and felt the first was a bit too fudgy. Reducing liquid wouldn’t work so I reduced both sugars to 5.5tbsp. They are perfect, I wish I had added the almond slivers but today is Fathers day. Even the fudgy batch was fantastic, I’m thrilled to have such an easily adapted gluten ( and dairy) free option in my recipe book!
LOVED THIS RECIPE! For a level up, try and brown the butter .. OMG it was so heavenly
Perfectly delicious! I followed the recipe exactly and pulled them out at 33 minutes.The batch is just the right size for 2 people to have dessert for 4 nights…if they last that long.
This recipe was great! I used toasted pecans in the recipe and removed just a little sugar but otherwise, made as directed. I couldn’t wait for the brownies to cool down so I could eat them. Quite delish. Thanks.