Frosted Gluten Free Gingerbread Brownies

After tasting these Frosted Gluten Free Gingerbread Brownies, you won't want to go back to regular boring brownies.

Gingerbread is my obsession this year. From gingerbread lattes to gingerbread-spiced nut butters, I'm tossing my homemade gingerbread spice in everything under the sun. Naturally, gingerbread brownies were bound to happen.

Like most of the desserts I create, I go for rich over sweet. Too many treats are overloaded with sugar - and frankly, I want to taste something more than just sweetness in my food. So instead I try to lean into the dark, bittersweet richness of chocolate, the touch of buttery fudge, and the distinct warmth of molasses and gingerbread spice.

When you're making super-rich brownies, using melted chocolate is the only way to go. Cocoa powder alone will simple not get you to the level of chocolate explosion that I craved for these gingerbread brownies.

After hitting on a texture that I liked for the brownies, I decided that they needed a little extra oomph. It's the same approach I had with my Dark Chocolate Pots de Crème with Marshmallow Crème: a lighter, sweeter topping contrasts with the deep, dark, rich underbelly beneath.

The icing on the cake, as they say (pun totally intended), to add an extra dose of sweet to balance the dark chocolate of the brownies themselves. I highly recommend not skipping the frosting for that reason - it just helps to balance these rich brownies!

Now that I'm thinking about it, my photography style seems to adopt the same concept. Rich shadows, contrasted with slivers of bright whites and highlights. At least, that's generally what I try to accomplish.

Who knew that dessert choice could say a lot about photography style? Hmm...maybe that's a Buzzfeed quiz waiting to happen. Or is it the other way around - my photography style has bled into my preference for sweets? I might never sort through that conundrum.

Back to the gingerbread obsession.

I adore warm spices. Cinnamon, clove, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cardamom, star anise... you find them in almost all "fall" spice blends, in different combinations. Pumpkin pie spice, chai spice, and gingerbread spice are all some combination of those. Pretty crazy when you think about it, isn't it? Just goes to show how endless the spice possibilities are.

So, for this recipe, I put together my go-to combo of gingerbread spices. I've included that recipe here, too! You'll have lots of gingerbread spice leftover, so get creative with it - add it to cookies, quick breads (like my pumpkin banana bread!), your morning coffee or tea. Or make these brownies. Again and again and again. I wouldn't blame you!

Frosted Gluten Free Gingerbread Brownies

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