One of the first things Chele realized after being diagnosed with celiac disease was just how many baked goods were suddenly off her menu. Breads, cakes, cookies, pastries, pies…. losing those things alone presented a huge adjustment, before even getting to all of the other dietary and lifestyle changes she would need to make. Sure, there were gluten-free replacements available at the grocery store, some of which she discovered were quite good (after wading in blind and figuring it out through trial and error). But homemade? That proved to be a bigger challenge.
Once all-purpose wheat flour is no longer an option, baking becomes a far more nuanced science. There are an absolutely dizzying array of alternative flours out there – from rice flour and nut meals to proprietary baking blends – and each one of them has its own properties and quirks that make them more suited for some applications than others. Trying to sift through them all to figure out what works best for any particular recipe can be a daunting, frustrating, and potentially expensive process. This extends to adapting existing recipes to gluten-free. Sometimes you can do an easy 1-to-1 swap with a gluten-free flour and everything works out great. Other times, the ingredients can react in unexpected ways, leaving you something that is technically edible…. Such was the birth of what we are sharing now.
A while back, I was very interested in trying miso (Japanese fermented soy bean paste) in sweet applications. Around the same time, Chele was gifted a large bag of macadamia nuts. So I started digging around on Google for recipe ideas, and came across this recipe from Fix Feast Flair. Chele and I both love butterscotch, so we decided to attempt a gluten-free version. We did a straight swap with Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour, which had served us very well in prior baking experiences. Initially, we were pleased with the flavor profile – the saltiness of the miso playing off the brown sugar and butterscotch much in the way salted caramel works. But we couldn’t manage more than a few bites. It was overpoweringly sweet and rich, with a texture that was overly soft and moist. It felt more like eating a brown sugar/butter mixture than a blondie. Not quite the experience we were after.
After some time to reflect, we knew this recipe had potential but needed some adjustment in order to work in a gluten-free form. We stuck with our trusty Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour, but altered the quantity while also backing off on the sugar. Finally we had what we were looking for: moist, decadent gluten-free blondies with a perfect balance of salty and sweet. These quickly earned rave reviews from our taste testers, and vanished shortly after.
Gluten-Free Miso Butterscotch Macadamia Blondies
Equipment
- parchment paper
- 9" x 9" baking pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup macadamia nuts chopped
- 1¾ cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ cup white ("shiro") miso
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 12 Tbs butter (dairy or plant-based) melted
- 1 Tbs vanilla extract
- 2 Tbs vanilla bean paste
- 1 cup butterscotch chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Spread chopped macadamia nuts in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for about 5 minutes, or until nuts just begin to turn golden (watch carefully, as nuts can go from toasted to scorched very quickly). Remove from heat and set aside.
- Mix flour and baking powder together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a separate mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, miso, and melted butter. Stir until blended to a homogenous paste.
- Beat eggs, then add to miso-sugar mixture along with vanilla extract and paste. Stir until fully combined.
- Fold flour mixture into wet ingredients until just barely combined (careful not to over mix). Add nuts and butterscotch chips and fold into batter.
- Line a 9" x 9" baking pan with parchment paper, leaving a little excess along the edges (to be used to pull the finished blondies from the pan). Pour the batter into the pan and spread with a rubber spatula.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes at 350°F, or until the top is dry and golden and a toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean.
- As soon as the pan is cool enough to handle, use the excess parchment paper to pull the blondies from the pan. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- We have only made this recipe using Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour, and have not tested it with any others. Other flours may give different results, including flavor, texture, and appearance.
- Be sure to use true white miso (aka. shiro miso), and not “miso paste” or “instant miso”, which contains much more liquid. True miso is sold refrigerated in tubs or bags, and can be found at Asian markets and some mainstream supermarkets.
- To make this dairy-free, use a plant-based butter (we made the blondies in our picture using Country Crock Plant Butter with Avocado Oil).
