Fancy a nice, warm, gooey brownie? But healthy? Low FODMAP? Gluten and dairy free?! Well then this is the recipe for you! Simple, healthy and clean ingredients- 3 qualities you don’t often see in traditional brownies. These sweet potato brownies seriously taste as if you had bought them fresh from a bakery. They are so rich and flavourful- I devoured the entire batch in 2 days… on my own!!
You can mash the sweet potato in a bowl with a fork like how I did, or you can make your life easier. Another idea is to put all your wet ingredients into a food processor or blender to combine them. I chose not to do this because I like the act of mixing all the ingredients together. (I also just don’t fancy the extra washing up)! But I would recommend removing the wet ingredients and putting them into a mixing bowl to add in the dry ingredients.
You can substitute the 1/2 cup light brown caster sugar for a 1/3 cup maple syrup. Be cautious when doing this though and feel free to add some more gluten free flour to the batter if it’s too wet. 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. It is also possible to sub the sugar for other sugars such as white caster sugar, white granulated or golden granulated without changing the end result of your brownie too much.
It’s important to mix the wet and dry ingredients separately to make sure that you don’t have any hidden pockets or lumps of certain ingredients. So by mixing the dry ingredients first, you make sure that you won’t get an enormous bite of just straight cocoa powder! I would also really recommend sieving all of your dry ingredients to remove any cocoa powder pockets, and to give the batter a much smoother texture. This will give you a better end-result in your brownies.
What to pair with your sweet potato brownies:
- A scoop of dairy free ice-cream
- Chopped strawberries
- Drizzle of melted dairy free chocolate
- Crumbled on top of a bowl of porridge
- Sliced oranges and a sprinkle of orange zest
- With my 2 ingredient grape sorbet!
Make sure you don’t over-mix this batter. This will cause the brownies to become cakey- but if this is your ideal brownie then carry on! Generally, brownies are preferred gooey and moist, the sort of texture that glues your mouth together. These sweet potato brownies do exactly that, without all the added extra sugars, butter and preservatives!
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 means that your brownie is completely cooked and safe to eat, but still has the gooey inside texture that makes these desserts so irresistible. Be careful though to not poke your knife into one of your chocolate chunks as this could make your think the batter is completely under-baked!
After removing from the oven, leave the brownies to cool on a cooling rack for at around 45 mins before cutting into them- I know this is torture! By waiting for the brownies to cool, you allow the gooey insides to set a little, meaning the brownie will hold its shape better. Additionally, letting the brownie set makes it far easier to cut into. The cooling process will also encourage the top and sides to harden slightly- giving you the perfect sweet potato brownie with a crispy exterior and smooth, gooey interior.
Ingredients: (makes 12 brownies)
- 1/2 cup gluten free flour
- 1 scoop vanilla or chocolate protein powder
- 1/2 cup light brown caster sugar
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 cup sweet potato puree (approx 3 medium sweet potatoes)
- 1/4 cup smooth unsalted peanut butter
- 3/4 cup+ 2 tbsp unsweetened almond milk
- 1 tsp vanilla sugar or vanilla essence
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tbsp decaf espresso powder (for a richer chocolate flavour)
- 1/2 cup dairy free, roughly chopped low FODMAP dark chocolate (can sub for chocolate chips)
Method:
Step 1: preheat oven to 180°C. Line and grease a baking tray.
Step 2: peel, chop and boil the sweet potatoes until fork tender (about 15mins)
Step 3: mash the sweet potato.
Step 4: in a large bowl, add the sweet potato puree, peanut butter, almond milk, vanilla essence/sugar. Mix.
Step 5: in a separate large bowl, add all the dry ingredients apart from the dark chocolate and mix.
Step 6: add the dry ingredients to the wet, fold the mix until almost fully combined.
Step 7: gently fold the chocolate chunks/chips in.
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.
The brownies will keep for 2 weeks in a sealed container in the fridge.
Trust me, you won’t regret making these sweet potato brownies! Please send me the pictures of your creations to my Instagram TheLazyLowFODMAP!
