Tahoe Cabin Brownies

This past weekend, I went on my boyfriend's work retreat with him to Lake Tahoe. We stayed in a huge house and made dinner for everyone on Friday night. I did my spin on Mexican food, two huge chicken and beef mixtures, black beans and corn cooked in cilantro and cerveza, fajitas, CC handled preparing a massive salad, and homemade salsa and guacamole. The only thing we did not make was dessert. This came as a disappointment to some, and so the next day while everyone was at the work portion of the retreat, I stayed behind and made something for dessert Saturday night. I was looking to make something gluten-free, but had no wacky ingredients like xanthan gum. It was all going to have to be devised from pantry items.

I used sushi rice I found in the cabinet to make rice flour. All I did was mill the raw rice in a blender until it was a powdery texture. I recommend using a coffee mill if you have one. I did not.

I also was lucky enough to have sugar, cocoa, honey, bananas, Frangelico, whipped butter, a stick of unsalted butter, salt, eggs, and the rice. No problem.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups rice flour
3/4 cups Rodelle cocoa
1/2 tsp salt

1 or 2 bananas
2 eggs
1 Tbs Frangelico

3/4 cup sugar
3 Tbs honey

1 stick unsalted butter
1/8 to 1/4 cup oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mill enough rice to yield 1 1/2 cups of rice flour.
Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa to that. I used Rodelle brand. It's some of the richest cocoa I have tried recently and the results are spectacular.
Add about 1/4 tsp salt to that.

Pulse 1 or 2 bananas in a food processor. You can use 2 and use less oil or use 1 and use 1/4 cup oil instead of an 1/8 cup below. Add 2 eggs to the bananas and pulse a few times to mix them in.

Soften 1 stick unsalted butter, and add 1/8 to 1/4 cup vegetable oil. All I had was corn oil, so that will work ok, too.

Add 3/4 cup sugar to the butter/oil mixture. Then add 3 Tbs honey, and 1 Tbs Frangelico (this takes the place of vanilla in the recipe, because I didn't have any vanilla with me). Mix until combined, then add the rice flour/cocoa mixture alternately with the banana/eggs mixture. Mix until incorporated.

Pour into a non-stick loaf pan and bake for 30 mins. Reduce heat to 300°F, and bake for 20 more minutes or until the batter is drying on the edges and is set in the middle.

Icing:
3/4 cup whipped butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp Franglico
1 Tbs honey
1 Hershey fun size bar
1/4 cocoa
pinch salt

Set out the whipped butter to soften a bit, then pulse the sugar in a blender or food mill until it is superfine. Then add the butter to the sugar in the food processor. Melt the Hershey bar and the honey together in the microwave 5 seconds at a time and mix it until it is syrup consistency. Set aside. Add the Frangelico, cocoa, and salt to the mixture in the food processor, and pulse to blend. Lastly, add the chocolate and honey to the icing and pulse a few more times to incorporate. Wait until brownies have cooled, and frost.