Brownies, even for a Gluten-Free heart
Stephanie Lindquist
October 28th 2012
FND 310
Introduction:
Gluten is a protein composite that is made from glutelin and gliadin. These are two
protein compositions that are found in the endosperm of the grain. When they combine gluten
is formed, although to activate the gelatinization process of gluten it has to have heat and
water added to it. Gluten is very important in the baking process because is adds the elasticity
to dough. It gives it the ability to rise without crumbling apart and to add the chewy texture to
the final product.
Even though gluten is a very important factor to all baked goods there are many people
that are now demonstrating to be allergic or have intolerance to gluten, Celiac disease. An
intolerance to a food is defined as a fatal reaction or symptom producing food or beverage of
one or more organs in the body. An allergy to a food is an immune response to that food. The
protein in the food is the most common allergenic because the body sees the protein to be a
harmful substance in the body. Not being able to handle gluten in the body is detrimental to
bakers everywhere because they lose the cliental but this is even more devastating to those
people and their families that have the allergy or intolerance because they are not able to eat
so many foods due to this. It takes out one of the food groups that are important for daily
metabolic growth and development causing malnutrition very easy to obtain.
Many non wheat flours can be used in order to make different baked goods for people
with Celiac disease. Some of the more popular flours are oat flour, almond flour and flax seed
flour. All of these flours add little sodium, protein, and easily digestible carbohydrates. Many
other researchers that have done like experiments to find which flour is best used have found
that mixing multiple flours together add the quality and flavor the same of that a normal gluten
brownie would have. Although when doing this figuring out which flour has which property is
harder to define.
Xanthan gum was used in the three modifications to help the brownies stay together.
Xanthan gum was used because it is a polysaccharide with thickening, stabilizing, and gelling
agents. It is found in many dressings to keep the water and oil from separating. When using
non wheat flours in baked goods if it very important to try to get to gelling ability that gluten
has into the product, some ways to go about this is adding extra eggs or a gum. For this
experiment each of the flours, oat, almond, and flax seed, were used separately in order to
distinguish what was the best raising and tasting flour for brownies. The only deviation
between the control brownie that uses gluten forming all purpose flour and the three
modification brownies using non wheat flours was the use of xanthan gum.
Materials:
Brownie Recipe (control):
Gluten-free Recipe:
-4 Eggs
-4 Eggs
-1 ½ cup All purpose flour
-1 ½ cup gluten free flour
- ¾ Tbs. Butter
- ¾ Tbs. Butter
- 1 ½ cup Sugar
-1 ½ cup Sugar
-4 Tbs. Vanilla
-4 Tbs. Vanilla
- 12 oz .Semi-sweet chocolate chips
-12 oz. Semi-sweet chocolate chips
-1 tsp. Baking soda
-1 tsp. Baking Soda
- ¼ cup Water
- ¼ cup Water
-1 Tbs. Xanthan gum
Methods:
When preparing the gluten free brownies, the same directions were used as the all
purpose flour recipe. First preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix the flour, baking
soda and xanthium gum (for gluten free recipe only) into a medium sized bowl and set it aside.
Next mix the water, butter, and sugar in a 10’ sauce pan, bring it to a simmer while stirring
frequently. Once it comes to a simmer turn down the heat and add the chocolate chips, stirring
constantly. Once all the chocolate chips are melted slowly add the dry mixture to the wet
mixture. Only mix until everything is moist still with lumps. Pour the mixture into a well greased
pan. Use a 7.5 inches by 7.5 inches for gluten free and 9 inches by 13 inches for the control
recipe. For the gluten free brownies let bake for 40-45 minutes, and for the control brownies let
bake for 35-40 minutes. To check for doneness on both brownies stick a toothpick in the middle
of the brownies, if it comes out clean it is done. It is very vital that the oven door not be opened
during baking the gluten free brownies till they are at least half way don’t cooking so that they
can rise.
For this experiment three different gluten free flours were used in order to distinguish
which was the best tasting and the one that gave the best rise. Even though the types of flours
were different the amount of flour, the other ingredients used and the preparation of the
recipe was the same throughout all three variations. The three different flours used were oat
flour, almond flour, and flax seed flour.
Subjective testing is testing a food based on person opinion. In order to judge the
brownies subjectively there were six panel judges that were presented with three pieces of
brownie in front of them; 561 (Oat flour), 847 (Almond flour), and 921 (Flax seed flour). There
was the same question about each brownie; what are the texture, flavor and appearance of
each of the brownies. Along with one overall question, “Which do you prefer?” Each of the
judges wrote at least one word to describe each area of the three different brownies. Each of
the evaluators were in different areas of the room and very quiet. No bias was exchanged
between the other judges and me.
An objective test is a test that uses physical measures of the brownies. The objective
test that was used to measure these brownies is the height in centimeters. Each of the
brownies was measured in the center of the brownie because that is where the brownie is the
denser so it doesn’t rise as much as the perimeters of the brownie because the perimeter has
the pan as a structural backbone in order to help raise it completely. While measuring the
height of the brownies there was a gap between the top crust of the brownie and the rest of
the brownie, because of this the top crust was disregarded when measuring.
Results:
The result of the subjective test was almost universal on which flour was preferred. Four
of the six judges picked the brownie 847, Almond flour, to be their favorite. Some words to
describe this brownie for the texture were; wet, rich, gooey, and dense. For the flavor it was
said to have a better chocolate and sweet taste yet still tasted bland compared to the control
brownie. The appearance of this brownie was darker than the other brownies, moist, and heavy
inside.
There was one judge that preferred the 561, oat flour, brownie. The texture was
described as dry, hard outer layer, and mushy. The flavor was thought to have some sort of
pumpkin, or apple sauce put in the recipe. The flavor was also thought to taste very oily, not
like chocolate and to have a strange after taste that couldn’t be identified. Appearance of the
561 brownie was flakey, fluffy, and dry.
The last brownie 921, Flax seed flour, also got one vote as the preferred one. These
brownies textures brought up words like crunchy, coconut feel, grainy, and gross. The flavor
was elaborated as bland, bad, wheat like, and bran. The appearance showed to be breaking
easily, solid, and flaky.
The results of the objective test was that 921, flax seed brownie, was the tallest
brownie. The flax seed brownie was 6.35 centimeters or 2.50 inches tall. The shortest brownie
was 847, almond flour, at 3.81 centimeters or 1.50 inches tall. The oat flour was right in the
middle at 5.08 centimeters or 2.00 inches tall. See pictures in the back.
Discussion:
After composing this experiment it was clear to see that the overall brownie of choice
was the brownie made with the Almond flour. This brownie must have been the overall favorite
because it already starts with more moist flour than the rest. It is also suggested when using
almond flour that less flour be used but that was not taken into consideration during the
baking. This would explain why the almond flour brownie rose too much and spilled out of the
pan. Even though the almond flour did rise over the edge of the pan and spill over in the oven it
was the denser one of the three and the shortest when measured because the dough was too
heavy and it decreased in size as it cooled. The almond flour was also the brownie that fell
apart the easiest. After cutting the brownie into small pieces for the judges there was no visible
line as to where one brownie stopped and the other started.
The oat flour was drier to the judges’ mouths because when cooking oat flour there
should be more liquid added. This is the case because oat is a cereal that absorbs an abundant
amount of water in order to start its own gelatinization. Even though this flour made from a
cereal that does its own gelatinization it doesn’t have a strong gelling agent, especially after it is
ground up.
Flax seed flour was the tallest brownie but voted last by majority when judged by the
panel of food evaluators. The taste was voted last because it was very grainy and crunchy. This
would be because when the flax seeds are ground into flour they cannot be completely ground
into a fine powder. It looks like a finely chopped nut. The reason it was the tallest was because
the flour started off bigger when it was measured in the same amount.
All of the brownies had a thin top layer of crust over the rest of the brownies because
there was probably too much mixing before the dough was inserted into the oven. Gluten
wasn’t formed but there was baking soda in the recipe and it activates when it is added to a
liquid and when it is put in the oven. By adding the liquid and mixing it too much or letting the
dough sit before being put in the oven, there is too much leavening being used. When this
happens the crust of the brownie starts to bake and harden in the oven while the inside of the
brownie doesn’t stop rising until it is pushing against the crust of the brownies and collapses on
top of itself. In order to avoid this next time it would be smarter to follow the recipe with only
the ten strokes or until everything it moistened.
Conclusion:
When making brownies that are gluten free is it best to use almond flour for a brownie
that is moist and tastes just like a regular gluten brownie. Even when the gluten free brownies
were made with only one flour to see the differences that each flour brought to the table it
would be smarter for gluten free, Celiac patient to experiment on their own to find which tastes
they prefer. This would be beneficial because the person knows what exactly they would be
baking on a regular basis and they also know what they like and do not like. Many blends are
suggested to these people so that they can get products that are very close to the non wheat
products they are trying to resemble. Some blends are good for some products while other are
better for another product. Some tips for someone that is just starting to be gluten free is to
not get one’s hopes up, there will be a lot of failed attempts to make something and it not turn
out, and also don’t give up. Just because something doesn’t taste right or flour doesn’t do
anything close to what one may have wanted, it was still a learning process and a building block
for all the other future attempts.
References:
De la Barca, A. Gluten-free breads and cookies of raw and popped amaranth flours with
attractive technological and nutritional qualities. Plant foods for human nutrition. 2010; 63.
Gambus, H. Quality of gluten-free supplemented cakes and biscuts. International journal of
food science and nutrition. 2009;60:31-50.
Levent, H. Enrichment of gluten-free cakes with lupin (lupinus albus l.) or buckwheat
(fagopyrum esculentum m.) flours. International journal of food science and nutrition.
2011;62:7-12.
Sanchez, H.D. Torre, O. Optimization of gluten-free bread prepared from cornstarch, rice flour
and cassava starch. Journal of food science. 2006;67
Xie, Y.R. Heittiarachichy, N.S. Xanthan gum effects on solubility and emulsification properties of
soy protein. Journal of food science. 2006:62
Pictures:
Flours used in same order cooked and judged.
Oat flour brownie right out of the oven.
Almond Flour, brownie straight out of the oven.
Flax seed flour, straight from the oven
Looking at the different densities
and heights that each of the
brownies had. 561, oat flour, 847,
almond flour, and 921, flax seed
flour.
Objectively testing the oat flour, height at 2 inches