Moist, satisfying and finger-licking chocolatey. A healthy brownie recipe without the sugar rush. Hello, Sweet Potato Brownies!
A brownie with no added sugar is a feat in itself. But healthy brownies that also features a vegetable? A superfood vegetable that's a major source of vitamin C? Friends, I know. This is almost too good to be true. But here they are: Gooey, moist, chocolatey, superbly satisfying Sweet Potato Brownies.
Sweet Potato Brownies have been making the rounds in the healthy eating space for a while, and I have tried a few of the recipes floating around. Then I started tweaking the ingredients. I have to say, this became somewhat of an obsession.
Round after round of test version Sweet Potato Brownies were consumed in this household. More oatmeal, no oatmeal, less coconut oil, more almond, another egg... Whatever we could not eat was sent home with visitors.
The builders got some, the neighbours got some, and the piano teacher went home with a doggy bag at least four weeks in a row.
Then, one day, these babies emerged from the oven. And they were perfect. Finger-licking perfect!
Sweet Potato Brownies take their sweetness not only from the sweet potatoes, but also from dates. Now, there are a lot of sugar free advocates who demonise dried fruit such as dates because of their high fructose content. Some recommend to completely cut them out of your diet. The question needs to be asked: To date or not to date?
Let's have a look at the facts.
Dates contain about six times more sugar and calories than most fruit. Five small apples have the same amount of sugar as circa four Medjool dates (the softest and tastiest date around).
But here is the big difference: Unlike sugar, dates are also full of fibre, which slows down the sugar absorption to your liver. And this in turn lets you have a much more regulated and calmer insulin response. Dates actually have a low glycemic index (around 43-53).
The fibre has the added benefit of making you feel fuller faster; and last but not least dates are packed with nutrients and minerals, while sugar is void of any nutrition.
- You cannot see them
- You can only taste their moistness, not their potatoey-ness
- Knowing they are making their way into little people's bellies with a soundtrack of "AAHs" and "OOOHs" is just awesome.
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Recipe
Sweet Potato Brownies
from Sugar Free LondonerNote: The servings slider only changes the first amount in each line and not any subsequent amounts. Please make your own calculations where necessary.
Ingredients
- 2 medium to large sweet potatoes peeled and chopped (400g)
- 200 g Medjool dates ca 10
- 150 g / 1 ½ cup almond flour or ground almonds
- 75 ml coconut oil or substitute with butter
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 5 tablespoon cocoa
- optional: cacao nibs to decorate
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180C and line a small (10x7 inch) baking tin with baking paper
- Peel your sweet potatoes, cut them into pieces, toss in a little oil and roast in the oven for 20 minutes until they are very tender.
- Throw them in your food processor with the pitted dates and blend until you have a wonderfully gooey mixture.
- Add the remaining ingredients and mix until well-combined
- Pour mixture into the tin a and bake for 25-30 minutes or until you can pierce it with a knife bringing it out almost dry.
- Let it cool a little before cutting!
Notes
Nutrition
Helena Paul
I made it with coconut flour, great texture and delicious!
Alison
Made this georgously fudgy brownie with fantastic result surprisingly as I was a little nervous as to whether it would have a good result. However tried & tested by Katrin I should have known better as you have produced a cracker here.
Considering there is no added sugar or sweetener the brownies are very sweet & for any chocoholic out there this is a must recipe & Katrin well done yet again yum very scrumptious
Blanche
It is very good! I was so surprised, I did it for my sister's birthday and everyone loved it. I will definitely do it again for a snack, thank you
fatema
hey, I tried these out last night and they are amazing. I will def be making these again. How do i store these and can I freeze them?
Katrin Nürnberger
Whenever I bake, I tend to keep them on the counter for the day and then I store in the fridge. They also freeze well.
Adriana Grabau
These are amazing made them twice now , hubby and bubba love them
Donna Wilbor
Hi . When substituting the dates for sweetener what are the net carbs please? X
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Donna, if you remove the dates, the net carbs are 7.4g per portion.
Diana
What does "ca 10" mean in reference to the dates? My daughter will be making this with her daughter and doesn't own a kitchen scale.
Katrin
Circa 10 dates. I used medjool dates in the recipe, they are quite large and soft.
Acacia
Is there an alternative to the dates? My daughter has a chronic bowel issue so she has to be low fibre.
Katrin
I have been meaning to rework the recipe without the dates, just haven't got around to it yet. I have a great recipe for pumpkin brownies you could try instead. If I changed this recipe, I'd probably add a little almond flour (to replace the firmness that the dates give) and use erythritol sweetener.
Rachel
Can you just use regular sugar instead of dates? Also would it still be 1/3 cup?
Katrin Nürnberger
I haven't tried it, so I'm not sure. I think it would probably work.