Sweet potato brownie heaven

These brownies are without a doubt the most gooey, mouth-watering and delicious brownies that are so easy to whip up. In addition to being delicious they are also very healthy, as they are gluten free, high in protein (3.9g per brownie square / 8% of your daily requirement!) and are refined sugar free! What more could you want out of life. The secret ingredient to these brownies is slightly unconventional however becoming a lot more popular these days – can you guess it ? Sweet Potato !

The humble sweet potato comes in many colours – white, orange and purple are some of the more popular hues. This root tuber is rich in vitamin A which plays an essential role in vision, and also contains high levels of vitamin C. Other notable facts about the sweet potato is that it is high in fibre and also rich in anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant molecules (eg. superoxide dismutase and catalase) which bind free oxygen radicals and heavy metals in the gut, aiding in their clearance and destruction. This humble vegetable is actually a superfood warrior and deserves all the praise.

Here is the gorgeous recipe for these babies, inspired by Deliciously Ella and The Happy Pear. Enjoy ????

Brownie Ingredients

• 600g orange sweet potato, steamed in chunks with skin on
• 100g ground raw almonds or mixed nuts of choice
• 100g Oats, ground in blender to a flour consistency
• 16 dry dates, softened in steamer or covered in water and microwaved for 5 minutes
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup or 4 tablespoons date water (from softened dates in water if you microwave them – kills two birds with one stone)
• 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
• 4 tablespoons cacao powder (or cocoa)

Icing:

• 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons cacao powder
• 2 tablespoons nut butter of choice (almond, peanut and cashew are my fave)
• 1 tablespoon liquid sweetener of choice / to taste

Method:

• Start by cutting the sweet potato into large chunks and steaming or boiling until soft
  In the mean time, grind up the almonds and oats until flour like texture and add to a bowl along with the cacao powder
• Approximately 5 min before the potatoes are done steaming, add the dates in to soften them up.
  Mash or blend the dates, sweet potato, coconut oil and maple syrup (or date water) until a homogenous texture then add in the dry ingredients and mix together. Taste – if you prefer a sweeter brownie, simply add more maple syrup at one spoon at a time until desired sweetness (it’s very subjective!).
• Pour the mixture into a square baking tin lines with baking parchment paper and flatten out.
• Bake for 20 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius until a knife comes out clean if you stick it in. They will still be quite gooey so leave to cool for an hour and make the icing in the mean time
• To make the icing, melt the oil in the microwave and mix in the cacao, maple and nut butter until a smooth consistency.
• Once the brownies are cool, pour and spread over the icing and then leave to set for an hour in the fridge (or eat when still runny if you can’t resist!)
• Cut into 16 brownies and devour !