These are such gooey chocolate orange brownies. With big chocolate chunks, low sugar and oil free, these chocolate orange brownies are awesome! They have such a great balance of dark chocolate and orange, which makes them the perfect healthy treat to hit that chocolate craving. I love the big gooey chocolate chunk pockets, the rich and decadent interior and the crispy exterior. You have to give these a try!
So I would recommend boiling your sweet potatoes in advance and mashing them before starting this recipe. This is because it will ensure that they are fully cooled, making it better for baking. You want all the ingredients to be the same temperature going into the oven and cooking harmoniously together. Therefore, you cannot have piping hot sweet potato mash in your bowl to add other ingredients to!
If you have pumpkin or butternut squash to hand instead of sweet potato, feel free to use those instead! They are still the right consistency and add a touch of natural sweetness to the brownies. However, if you substitute in butternut squash or pumpkin into this recipe, add an extra 3 tbsp of sugar (whichever you have decided to use) to balance them out.
I have used a lot of orange juice and orange zest in this recipe, but the ratios ensure that neither the dark chocolate nor the orange is overpowering. Because we use dark chocolate chunks, cacao protein powder and a hefty amount of cocoa powder, it is important that the orange flavour doesn’t get lost! I would not recommend using orange juice from a carton, since they can contain so many extra ingredients and high FODMAPs. Sticking to freshly squeezed orange juice gives us natural flavours and sweetness.
If you enjoyed this recipe, I recommend you check out my other chocolate brownies recipe, and the chocolate chunk sweet potato biscuits. They are just as delicious and just as easy! I love baking with sweet potato, it just adds such a clean and delicious natural sweetness. I recommend you give it a try if you haven’t already!
Some ideas on how to have your chocolate orange brownies:
- With some low FODMAP ice cream
- With a squirt of dairy free whipped cream
- By adding a slice of dehydrated orange
- Grating some orange zest on top to add some freshness
- Just alone (I tend to just grab one and take it on the go!!)
You can substitute the 1/2 cup light brown caster sugar for a 1/3 cup maple syrup. If you make this swap, ensure that you add this to the wet ingredients in step 4 rather than the dry ingredients in step 5. Additionally, you can also sub the sugar for other sugars such as white caster sugar, white granulated or golden granulated. I choose a darker sugar because it adds more depth to the brownies, but if molasses upsets your IBS, I recommend sticking to white sugar.
I recommend sieving your dry ingredients into the wet ingredients to ensure there are no big lumps (I know that cocoa powder is prone to forming lumps). This will just ensure that your brownies have a much more consistent texture, which I’m sure we all want! If your granulated sugar is too big to go through the gaps in your sieve, no worries, I just ensure that the rest of the ingredients have gone through, and then add the sugar afterwards.
These brownies make your kitchen smell soooo good! I made these for my birthday party for my friends who are gluten and dairy intolerant. They couldn’t believe it- they’ve definitely become a staple in my baking routine, and I often make these chocolate orange brownies for others, since they go down so well! Give them a try and offer them to the chocolate lovers around you- let me know what they think!
For the chocolate bar that I used, I used a 75% dark chocolate with orange and ginger flavouring, just to add to the deep flavours of the brownies, and to enhance the orange flavour further. You can also use normal low FODMAP chocolate chips, but I personally love the big pockets of chocolate in brownies! The dark chocolate is a great choice, because it ensures that the brownies do not become overly sweet and have that balance.
I always save some chocolate chunks for on top of my brownies, before they go into the oven. This way, they are sure to have a chocolate chunk in every bite- what’s not to love!? Double the chocolate- sign me up! Feel free to sprinkle over some sea salt flakes- I have tried this on several occasions, delicious, but personally I prefer my chocolate orange to be more on the sweet side, with the main focus on the orange flavours. In my opinion, the salt and decaf espresso powder in the batter recipe itself helps to enhance the chocolate flavour enough.
To test if your brownies are done, stick a knife into the centre of the brownies. You want the knife to be lightly coated in brownie mix, but not completely covered. This will ensure that the brownies have been fully cooked but will have that gooey and moist interior that makes the perfect brownies (in my opinion)! Don’t forget that the brownies will continue to cook briefly even after taking them out the oven, and they will settle and dry out once you have cut them.
Ingredients: (makes 12)
- 1/2 cup gluten free flour
- 2 heaped tbsp That Protein cacao protein powder
- 1/2 cup light brown caster sugar
- 1/3 cup cacoa powder
- 1 1/2 cup sweet potato puree (around 3 medium potatoes) or 1 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/4 cup smooth unsalted peanut butter
- 3/4 unsweetened almond milk
- 1 tsp vanilla essence or vanilla sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tbsp decaf espresso powder
- 3 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice (around half an orange)
- 1 tbsp of orange zest
- 1/2 cup roughly chopped low FODMAP dark chocolate
Method:
Step 1: preheat oven to 180°C. Line and grease a baking tray (cm).
Step 2: peel, chop and boil the sweet potatoes until fork tender (about 15mins)
Step 3: mash the sweet potato in a big bowl.
Step 4: add the peanut butter, almond milk, vanilla essence/sugar orange juice and zest to your sweet potato puree and mix.
Step 5: in a separate large bowl, add all the dry ingredients apart from the dark chocolate and mix.
Step 6: sieve the dry ingredients into the wet, fold the mix until almost fully combined.
Step 7: gently fold in the chopped chocolate chunks. You can save some to put on top of the brownies!
Step 8: pour mix into your baking tray and cook on the middle rack of your oven for 25-30 mins. You want the top of the brownies to look baked, but have a gooey, fudgy centre.
After removing from the oven, leave the brownies to cool on a cooling rack for at like 45 mins before cutting into them- I know this is torture! Your brownies will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Please send me pictures of your chocolate orange brownies! I look forward to seeing them over on my Instagram TheLazyLowFODMAP. Tag me in your pictures and join the community! Happy baking!
