
My gluten-free and vegan baking adventures continue! [See post 1 here]
This time, I’m using a gluten-free flour called Teff Flour.
Have you heard of Teff flour before?

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I hadn’t until I looked through the Clean Start and Clean Food Cookbooks. Teff flour is not only gluten-free, but it’s high in protein, iron, calcium, and zinc. Teff contains 2x the Thiamin, 3x the Folate, 7x the Calcium, 3x the Iron, and 3x the Zinc as compared to wheat.
The Teff grain is incredibly small too, measuring about 1/32 of an inch in diameter! It takes 150 grains to weigh as much as one grain of wheat.
Check out how tiny the Teff grain is!

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Because the grain is so small it is virtually impossible to hull the grain before grinding it into a flour. This means that teff flour is identical in nutritional value to the whole grain. Dark or brown teff is higher in iron and ivory teff is higher in protein. There is also a red teff, but I don’t think it’s common.
When I was at Bulk Barn the other day picking up some Goji berries, I was surprised to see that they carried Teff Flour. You can also purchase teff flour at many health food stores and Bob’s Red Mill also makes Teff flour.
I rushed home to make these brownies, not knowing what to expect, and they knocked our socks off!

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Gluten-Free, Vegan, and Oil-Free Walnut Chip Brownies
Lightly Adapted from Clean Start cookbook. Recipe printed with permission from Terry Walters. Copyright 2010, Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce or finely grated apple
- 8 pitted medjool dates
- 1 medium ripe banana
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup brown teff flour
- 1/2 cup almond meal (I ground almonds in my food processor)
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/3 cup chopped walnuts (my addition)
- 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips (my addition)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F and line an 8” x 8” pan with parchment paper so it overlaps on two sides. Lightly grease the parchment and sides of the pan with oil.
2. In a food processor, process the almonds into a flour like consistency. Remove ground almonds and set aside. In the food processor, process the applesauce, dates, banana, maple syrup, and vanilla until almost smooth.
3. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the teff flour, almond meal, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix until just combined. Fold in the nuts and chips. Be careful not to overmix the batter.
5. Spoon batter into prepared pan and gently smooth out with a wet spatula. Batter will be very sticky! This is normal.
6. Bake for about 25-27 mins (I baked for 27 mins). at 350F or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let brownies cool completely for at least 1 hour before slicing as they are VERY delicate and fall apart. I suggest cooling and then freezing the brownies until firm, so you can slice them easier without them falling apart. Keep in a sealed container for up to 3 days.
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To amp up the brownies, I added walnuts and chocolate chips because we love a nice crunch to our brownies!
The Teff Flour has a very light taste and I couldn’t even tell that I was using a new flour. The brownies are incredibly fudgy, but still a bit cake-like in texture.
The only small issue I had was that the brownies tended to fall apart when I cut them after cooling. If this is an issue for you, I would suggest cooling them in the pan, then freezing until firm (but not solid completely), and finally, cutting them for a less crumbly slice.
Either way, when I tasted the brownies I really didn’t care what they looked like because they were just that good! Big thanks to Terry for allowing me to share this incredible recipe with you today.

Have you ever tried Teff flour before? What are your favourite flours to bake with?
My favourite flours to bake with are whole grain spelt flour (for heartier baked goods like muffins), light spelt flour (for lighter baked goods), whole wheat pastry flour, and Kamut flour (bakes very similar to white flour). Teff flour will be moving onto this list too. :)
Happy Father’s Day to all the wonderful dads out there!
These really look ridiculously good. Think I could use agave instead of maple syrup?
These look great. I’m all about oil-free baking. I have not tried teff flour yet, but am intrigued – If I’m not mistaken, it’s what people use to make injera the (apparently) delicious Ethiopiean bread. I usually stick with White Whole Wheat flour, or Whole Wheat pastry flour for baked goods.
I cannot wait to try these out! Your photos of your cooking are amazing too, I am looking forward to more posts!
These look to die for! I love oil free baking and also prefer making baked goods vegan. I will definitely be trying out this recipe!
I also love baking with whole wheat spelt flour thanks to you. =) Thanks for portraying so many different and somewhat out of the norm grains!
I love teff flour! You used just the right amount, just about a third of the recipe. I like the sub out some of the other flours and ad in teff for nutrients. I was just about to think–gee, I can make this recipe without any substitutions but I can’t because my husband is allergic to bananas of all things! drat! maybe some mashed sweet potato will work…i’ll let you know. thanks for the GF vegan goodness! love ya for it!
i meant a third of the flour mixture, not whole recipe.
Angela, I am so glad you posted a gluten free low glycemic recipe! We are twins I did the same today :) I can not wait to try these babies out. I love brownies but haven’t made them since I stopped eating gluten and now this is a perfect excuse. Love all the healthy subs with applesauce, dates, bananas, and maple syrup. Uggg I love your blog so much it hurts.
These brownies look fantastic! I can’t believe they are gluten and oil free!
I LOVE teff flour! It tastes like artichoke and hazelnuts to me. This recipe from Fine Cooking is one of my favorite ways to use it: http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/swiss-chard-sweet-potato-feta-tart-teff-crust.aspx
Oh my, these look so decadent! Thank you for introducing me to teff flour! Hope my whole foods carries it!
YUM! This is totally on my “to-bake” list! I need to go buy teff flour.
i have both cookbooks!..i love all the recipes…
being a busy mom and cooking everything from scratch–in the kitchen at least 3 hours a day, i don’t have time to bake goodies for my girls…..it’s the one part of cooking that i have not been able to explore…but making these brownies look simple enough, and i love maximizing our family’s nutrition load…i’ve made black bean brownies before, but these look even more nutritious…i am looking forward to baking with teft…
i love teff flour! i’m also gluten-free. my other favorite flours are sorghum and superfine brown rice flour.
have you made the peanut butter chocolate chip teff cookies in the clean foods cookbook yet? i’ve made them tons of time. they are super quick to whip up and are a huge crowd pleaser!
Hi Angela….Thanks so much for posting such wonderful recipes! I am new to vegan and sugar free cooking and was so excited to stumble upon your webiste. I love the pictures of the food and your recipes always turn out great! I just made these brownies and they taste great, but they are missing the gooey texture brownies usually have. I’m thinking about adding a chia egg the next time I make them….do you think that might work?
Hi Kerry! Thank you :) I find brownie texture/density is a big ‘personal preference’ type thing! These are definitely a bit more cake like in texture and not uber dense. Let me know if you use a chia egg next time, id be curious!
Yum! These would be PERFECT (minus the walnuts) for my sister-in-law! I’m excited to try them out.
swoon… these look so decadent – consider them bookmarked! i made some yummy raw brownies last week because it was too hot to turn the oven on, but i think things are cooling a bit in the next few days around here. now i have something to look forward to!
I made a batch of these brownies yesterday, followed the recipe exactly except no walnuts and I ground the teff into flour in the vitamix from the whole grain. My husband thought they were the best brownies he’s ever had, vegan or non! Had to make another batch today to share with friends after he talked them up so much. :)
Wow that’s great!!
ok made these yesterday!! a winner! they have that fudgy, satisfying chocolate cake taste..i made mine from terry walter’s cookbook, minus the chocolate chips and walnuts (since i thought there were enough nuts from the almond meal)….thanks for the inspiration….ps we ate them for breakfast because these are sooooo nutritionally packed….learned about amazing teff flour….
I am newly gluten free and gfree baking…i think you need to add a starch like potatoe starch (bob red mill’s has one) and Xanthan gum (bob red mill’s too) Xanthan gum helps bind the ingredients together and acts like gluten would making it stretchy and sticky thus holding it all together and making it less crumbly.
Thanks for supporting the gluten free family.
Those look amazing!! My favorite dessert of all time are brownies…..must make these. Never used Teff flour before, although I love injera and that’s made from Teff.