Recipe Remake: Gluten-Free Buckwheat Brownies

I try not to jump on food fad bandwagons. So we're not gluten free. We're not dairy free. We're not vegetarian or vegan. I know there are plenty of people that are these things for various reasons. For me, all these food lifestyles are difficult to adhere to--especially in China. My family doesn't have any medical reasons to cut out certain foods from our diet, so we don't. I have a general "everything in moderation" approach to our eating. I try to make healthy choices for us without depriving anyone of anything. We still eat bread, dessert, and pasta but we don't do it every day. I try to make things from scratch so I know what is in them, rather than eating lots of processed foods. I try to give my kids quasi-healthy, filling snack options. For me, trying to incorporate more whole grains has been a fun thing that has also brought added nutrition. I try to take out some of the bleached white flour in things we're eating and replace it with heartier, more nutritious whole grain flours. For the most part, all my experimenting has resulted in equally yummy results! Recently, though, I had a guest who couldn't tolerate gluten. So I tried my go-to brownie recipe with buckwheat--a gluten free grain. Everyone thought the brownies were still great and likely wouldn't have even known they didn't have regular flour. I would make these again whether I needed the gluten free version or not! 

Almost-as-Good-as Boxed Brownies -- with Buckwheat!
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups buckwheat flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder (I put 1 1/2 tsp but probably didn't have to)
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup oil
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chips or chopped up chocolate bars (add more if you want)

Mix together dry ingredients. Add oil, eggs, and vanilla and mix until moistened. Finally, stir in chocolate chips. Pour into greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350F (180C) for 20-25 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Do not over bake or they will get dry!