Barley Brownies

Types of Chocolate

By Cat, 2009 (Photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons)

• See also: 1. Cookies Menu; 2. Chocolate (About); 3. Chocolate Decadence Brownies
• Includes: 1. Barley Brownies, Original version); 2. Barley Brownies, Pre-soak version

If you’re like me, when you hear barley you think of beef-barley soup, or horse feed; and you wonder, “what in the heck?” What drew me to this recipe, and barley flour in general was an experiment of avoiding wheat to see if it would resolve some digestive issues. I bought several Bob’s Red Mill flours, including spelt, oat and barley. I learned that barley flour has some good qualities:

• it is a great substitute for cake flour. Most cake flour is bromanated (treated with bromine), a practice that has long been known to be unhealthful, as it causes problems for the thyroid.
• It is a low-gluten grain.

Barley Brownies

This recipe is adapted from a package of Bob’s Red Mill Barley Flour (1). I’m currently trying to avoid wheat to see if it makes a difference in my health, and barley is a great alternative because it is a low-gluten grain. I’m also trying to pre-soak (partially-ferment) my grains before cooking/baking; see below for a pre-soaked version.

The original recipe calls for brown sugar, but I prefer to use stevia with a bit of honey, maple syrup or Rapadura sugar in baked goods. And I prefer to pre-soak then roast or toast nuts before using.

The original recipe calls for “oil” without specifying type. Olive oil would add the wrong flavor, and I don’t recommend using commercial corn, soy or canola oil (though you could use cold-pressed safflower or sunflower oil). I suggest using either melted coconut oil or butter. Ghee is another alternative.

Makes 16 brownies.

Ingredients & Equipment:

• 1/2 – 1 cup chopped nuts, soaked and roasted, if desired
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup melted coconut oil or butter
• 1/4 cup Rapadura or brown sugar (or use 1 cup sugar and omit the stevia)
• 1 tsp real vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup barley flour
• 1/2 tsp stevia extract powder (omit if using 1 cup sugar)
• 3/4 tsp unrefined sea salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 4 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (or Dutch-process cocoa, or 2 Tbsp of each)
• Equipment:
• small bowl or pint jar for soaking nuts
• large bowl
• whisk
• 8″ square baking pan or 4” x 9”” loaf pan

Method:

1. Presoak nuts, 2-days before: Chop then soak nuts overnight in warm water, then roast them in oven at lowest setting for 24 hours. See Soaking & Sprouting Nuts & Seeds for more detail.
2. Brownies: Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter baking pan.
3. Whisk eggs to break up, then whisk in butter/oil, sugar, cocoa and vanilla until well blended.
4. Sift together barley flour, stevia (if using), salt and baking powder, then stir in nuts to dredge. Fold this into chocolate mixture.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for 20 – 35 minutes. Brownies should still be a bit soft in the center of the pan.
6. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan, enough to be able to cut 16 brownies in a 4×4 grid (8″ square baking pan), or 12-each 3/4″ slices (loaf pan)

Barley Brownies: Presoak Version

See below for testing. I’ve modified the recipe according to the results of the testing (updates are in blue). I love this recipe, but the amount of time in the oven is tricky – too little and the brownies fall in the middle. Too long and they are too dry.

Because the original recipe did not contain any liquid (other than oil and eggs), and yogurt or lemon juice water is required for the presoak, an equivalent amount of coconut flour must be added the next day, to absorb the water. Makes 12-16 brownies (depending on how large you cut them)

Ingredients & Equipment:

• Presoaks (nuts, flour): 1/2 – 1 cup chopped nuts
• 1/2 cup barley flour
• 2 – 4 Tbsp filtered water
• 1 tsp lemon juice, whey or yogurt
• 1/2 cup melted coconut oil or butter

Next day

• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup Rapadura or brown sugar (or use 1 cup sugar and omit the stevia)
• 1 tsp real vanilla extract
• 4 Tbsp cocoa (or Dutch-process cocoa)
• 2 – 4 Tbsp coconut flour (use same amount as acidified water for presoak)
• unbleached white flour
• 1/2 tsp stevia extract powder (omit if used 1 cup sugar)
• scant 1/2 tsp unrefined sea salt (amount reduced from 3/4 tsp)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• Equipment:
• small bowl or pint jar for soaking nuts
• large bowl
• whisk
• 8″ square baking pan or 4” x 9” loaf pan

Method:

1. Presoak nuts, 2-days before: Chop then soak nuts overnight in warm water, then roast them in oven at lowest setting for 24 hours. See Soaking & Sprouting Nuts & Seeds for more detail.
2. Presoak flour, 1-day before: Stir lemon juice/whey/yogurt into 2 Tbsp of the water, then stir into flour; it should be easy to stir but not too sloppy. If too dry, add more water, 1 Tbsp at a time, and note how much was added. (see Soaking & sprouting grains for more detail).
3. Brownies, Next day: Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter baking pan.
4. Whisk eggs to break up, then whisk in sugar, cocoa and vanilla until well blended. Stir into presoaked flour with melted butter/oil.
5. Sift together coconut flour (equivalent amount to total water used in pre-soak) and white flour (to make 1/4 cup), stevia, salt, baking powder and soda. Stir into batter, then stir in nuts.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for 20 – 35 minutes. Brownies should still be a bit soft in the center of the pan.
7. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan, enough to be able to cut 16 brownies in a 4×4 grid (8″ square baking pan), or 12-each 3/4″ slices (loaf pan).

Testing Presoak Recipe

Testing 8/5-6/10: Usually I use yogurt to acidify the water for a presoak, but I was out of yogurt, so used fresh-squeezed lemon juice. Mixing 1/2 cup melted coconut oil with 1/2 cup barley flour made a pretty liquid mixture. So I added only 2 Tbsp water with the lemon juice; couldn’t tell if it was enough. The oil will solidify overnight as the house cools. In the future, add the oil after the acidified water, or on the second day.  8/6: I set the pre-soak bowl on my warm stove (pilot light) so the coconut oil would soften. It was very easy to mix into the batter this way, so next time for presoak, I’ll add acidified water to the flour first, to know how much is enough, and then stir in the melted oil and let it soak. I used 2 Tbsp dark cocoa and 2 Tbsp Dutch process cocoa, as I like the effect of the mix. Batter is very easy to mix and it goes quickly. I didn’t start this 2 days before, so didn’t soak the nuts. I did, however, toast them in 300°F oven for 15 minutes, then let them cool before adding to batter. I set the alarm for 30 minutes of baking, but I think that may be too long. Next time I’ll try 20 minutes. Result: A tad salty, and definitely baked too long. Didn’t rise enough either, perhaps need to add some baking soda in addition to the baking powder. I note that the saltiness decreases on the second day. I’ve adjusted recipe with changes.

Subsequent batches: I didn’t record the dates, but I made the changes as learned from the first batch. I do prefer it when I use yogurt instead of lemon juice for the presoak.I recommend not adding melted butter/oil until the next day, when you add it with the sugar and cocoa. I bake this in a bread pan, then cut 3/4″ slices to eat like cake for my lunch treat. I love this recipe!

References:

1. Bob’s Red Mill Barley Flour (link removed at their request)