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My dessert addiction is always leading me to find a healthy preparation for my favorite sweets and these fudgy vegan chocolate brownies with sweet potatoes are perfect. Your kids and family will never know this recipe is loaded with fresh roasted sweet potatoes. My brownies are even naturally sweetened with no added sugar. Whenever I have a children’s birthday party to attend this is always my go-to recipe and it’s a hit with both the kids and parents. I’m asked for this recipe often, so here it is for everyone to enjoy!
- The Secret Ingredients to Our Healthy Brownie Recipe
- Foods to Sweeten With Dates Instead of Sugar
- These Eggless Brownies are Vegan & Gluten Free!
- How to Make Fudgy Vegan Chocolate Brownies with Sweet Potatoes
- How to Serve Your Vegan Chocolate Brownies
- Storage Tips
- Love this recipe? Enjoy More Healthy Desserts!
The Secret Ingredients to Our Healthy Brownie Recipe
The first secret ingredient is of course sweet potatoes. The trick is to roast your sweet potato in the even. This will reduce water content and caramelize the natural sugars in the sweet potato, giving a delicious flavor to your brownies. Roasting the sweet potatoes is my extra special secret that produces a wonderful flavor. Avoid the temptation to microwave or steam your sweet potato. You can also cut the roasting time in half by cutting your sweet potatoes into small cubed pieces and placing them in foil.
The second secret ingredient to this recipe is using fresh dates as a natural sweetener. Dates are an amazing way to naturally sweeten everything from desserts to freshly made almond milk. The possibilities are endless and in this recipe, they add the perfect amount of sweetness to the brownies.
Foods to Sweeten With Dates Instead of Sugar
I often keep a small container of date paste in my fridge. I just blend a container of dates into a fine paste and keep refrigerated in a storage container for up to two weeks. I use it fairly often to sweeten a plethora of different recipes. Here’s a helpful list of all the different types of food and recipes you can add dates as a natural sweetener.
- Yogurts
- Chia Seed Pudding
- Oatmeal
- Smoothies
- Salad Dressings
- Pies, Cakes, Cookies, & of course Brownies
- Used as a Glaze on Meats Like Lamb and Duck
These Eggless Brownies are Vegan & Gluten Free!
Another reason I love making my brownies with sweet potatoes is that they won’t need any eggs! That means these healthy brownies are naturally vegan. We also use tapioca flour to make them gluten-free. Tapioca flour is a great ingredient to keep in your pantry as a flour and starch alternative. Adding tapioca flour to desserts will give them a chewier texture and assist in retaining moisture.
How to Make Fudgy Vegan Chocolate Brownies with Sweet Potatoes
First, you will want to prepare your mashed sweet potato by peeling a large sweet potato and cutting it into cubes. Then place the cubes in foil and bake at 400 degrees in your oven for 30-40 minutes until they are fork-tender. By roasting your sweet potatoes they will be denser with less water and the natural sugars will reduce and carmelize making your vegan chocolate brownies extra decadent.
Once your sweet potatoes are finished, let them cool down to room temperature. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 350F and prepare an 11’’ x 7’’ baking tray with wax paper. Next, soak your dates for about 5 minutes in a small bowl with water to soften them.
Then, you will add the softened dates, cooled sweet potato puree, almond milk, coconut oil, and vanilla extract into a food processor. Blend until smooth.
In a separate large-sized bowl, mix the almond flour, cacao powder, tapioca starch, salt, baking powder, and orange zest. Then add the sweet potato and dates batter into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir until combined.
Finally, place the brownie batter into the prepared baking tray. Bake the brownies for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees. You’ll notice that inserting a toothpick won’t come out perfectly clean and this is ok. A few lumps are not a problem as these brownies have a fudgy moist consistency. Once the brownies are cool they will harden so be sure to let them cool before cutting and serving.
How to Serve Your Vegan Chocolate Brownies
Adding Orange Zest to these brownies was a game-changer for me. I love serving them with a drizzle of melted vegan chocolate and orange zest grated over the top. These brownies are also great with coconut whipped cream and fresh berries.
Storage Tips
These brownies are perfect for making the day before because they are even better when they’re cold! You can also freeze your vegan chocolate brownies and take them out the day before to defrost. If enjoying fresh, store in the refrigerator and enjoy for 4-5 days.
Vegan Chocolate Brownies with Sweet Potatoes
EQUIPMENT
- baking pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup sweet potato puree 1 small sweet potato
- 1 cup medjool dates
- 1 ¼ cup almond flour
- 3 tbsp tapioca flour
- ⅓ cup cacao powder
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¼ cup almond milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp orange zest 1/2 an orange
Instructions
Sweet Potato Puree
- First, make your sweet potato puree by preheating the oven to 400 degrees. Peel your sweet potato, cut into cubes, and place on a piece of foil curled up at the edges. Bake for 30-40 minutes until completely soft and let cool. Once cool, blend into a puree and set aside.
Making the Brownies
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare an 11 x 7 baking tray with wax paper.
- soften the Medjool dates by placing them in water for 5 minutes, then drain.
- Add softened dates, sweet potato puree, almond milk, coconut oil, and vanilla extract into a food processor and blend until smooth.
- In a separate large bowl mix the almond flour, cacao, tapioca starch, salt, baking powder, and orange zest.
- Then add the sweet potato batter into the dry ingredients and stir until combined.
- Place Brownie batter into your prepared baking tray and bake for 25-30 minutes. Let the brownies cool completely before cutting and serving.
Optional Topping
- drizzle with vegan chocolate and orange zest. Chocolate drizzle will add about 25 calories per serving.
Notes
- For this recipe, due to the fudgy texture, your toothpick will not come out clean.
- Don’t worry if there are a few lumps in your brownies as it adds to the texture.
- These brownies are even better cold so these are excellent to make in advance. You can also make your sweet potato puree in advance.
- Store brownies in the refrigerator for 5 days or freeze and defrost the day before.
- Orange Zest can be left out if you do not like the combination.
Sondra Barker
