My fudgy sweet potato brownies are secretly healthy and they taste just as decadent as proper brownies! This easy recipe contains no added sugar and is flourless, gluten free, grain free, paleo and dairy free.
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A brownie with no added sugar is a feat in itself. But healthy brownies that also feature 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 sugar-free sweet potato brownies.
Brownies with sweet potato 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.
Round after round of test version Sweet Potato Brownies were consumed in this household. Less coconut oil, more almond, another egg... Whatever we could not eat was sent home with visitors.
One day, these fine specimen emerged from the oven. And they were perfect. Wholesome, chocolatey, rich and so, so fudgy.
Below is an image of the original brownies I published in January 2016. I decided to revisit the post today (it is August 2024) and added more photos and infos to bring it up-to date. The recipe has not changed.
Also try my healthy pumpkin brownies and these cottage cheese brownies.
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you'll need:
- Sweet Potato - The sweet potato adds natural sweetness and bulk to the brownies. It makes them taste wonderfully moist and fudgy. My preferred method is to roast them.
- Dates - I used Medjool dates, which are the largest and softest dates with a rich caramel note. Together with the sweet potato, they deliver the perfect amount of sweetness. No need for table sugar!
- Almond Flour - I use ground almonds, which is the same as regular almond flour in the US. Almond flour is naturally gluten-free.
- Cocoa Powder - To put the chocolate flavor into our brownies. Any type works just fine - raw cacao powder, Dutch process or regular unsweetened cocoa powder.
- Eggs - Act as a binder and makes the brownies fluffier. Room temperature eggs are best.
- Coconut Oil - To add dairy-free richness. You can replace this with butter.
- Baking Powder - Brownies are not supposed to rise as much as cakes. We use just a little baking powder as a leavening agent.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Instructions
Let me show you how I make sugar free sweet potato brownies. Here are the basic steps.
Scroll down to the recipe card for more details including ingredient amounts, timings and nutrition information.
STEP 1
Peel and chop the sweet potatoes. Lightly brush them with oil.
STEP 2
Roast them in the preheated oven until they are soft. Let them cool for a few minutes.
STEP 3
Put the pitted dates and the roasted sweet potato into a food processor.
STEP 4
Blend until smooth!
STEP 5
Now, add all other ingredients. Blend again until a smooth batter forms.
STEP 6
Scoop the brownie batter into a baking pan that you have lined with parchment paper.
STEP 7
Bake in the oven until the top is browned, but the inside is still soft and fudgy.
Katrin's Top Tips
#1 Oven-roasting makes sweet potatoes taste more flavorful. They become golden on the edges and caramelize. But, if your preferred method is to cook sweet potatoes on the stovetop, feel free to do so.
#2 Don't over-bake! Take the brownies out of the oven when the inside is still a little soft. This way, they have that perfect fudginess on the inside, with a crisp top.
#3 Let them cool fully. The brownies are very soft straight out of the oven. They firm up as they cool. For razor-sharp edges, I recommend that you chill them in the fridge for 1 hour before cutting.
Variations
Flavor tweaks: Add ½ tablespoon of vanilla extract or a pinch of sea salt. Sometimes I also add a teaspoon of cinnamon or cardamom.
Add-ins: Sugar free chocolate chips or cocoa nibs deepen the chocolate experience. You could also stir a ¼ cup of chopped walnuts or pecans into the batter. Or, add a handful of raspberries!
Sweet potato cheesecake brownies: Make the cheesecake swirl from my keto cheesecake brownies.
Substitutions
No almond flour: For a nut free brownie, swap the almond flour with ½ cup of coconut flour.
No dates: To lower the net carbs in this recipe, omit the dates and use ⅓ cup of granulated sweetener instead. This lowers the net carbs to 7.4g per brownie. Suitable sugar substitutes for this recipe are erythritol, monk fruit or allulose.
Vegan sweet potato brownies: You can try to replace the eggs with flax eggs. However, I have not yet tried this myself.
Recipe FAQs
No, you cannot taste the sweet potato in the brownies. They taste chocolatey and sweet.
My sweet potato brownies contain more natural sugar and carbs than most other recipes on my website. However, they are still MUCH lower in carbs than regular brownies made with wheat flour and sugar. As a diabetic, you may want to consider swapping the dates with a sugar substitute as mentioned in the substitutions section. That said, dates have a low glycemic index and a smaller portion of this recipe may fit into your diet plan. Here is an article about dates and diabetes.
Absolutely. When I first created the recipe in 2016, my children were 9 and 11 years old and very picky about their food. They loved these brownies.
Cut the recipe into 12 large brownies or into 24 cute brownie squares. Normally, I just eat them as they are, but sometimes I warm them gently in the microwave and eat with a scoop of sugar free vanilla ice cream.
Storage
Sweet potato brownies stay fresh in an airtight container on the kitchen counter for up to 2 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days.
You can also freeze them for up to 3 months! I pre-slice them into squares first. This way, I can take out one brownie at a time when I have that chocolate craving.
More Sugar Free Brownie Recipes
- Sugar Free Brownies (Keto)30 Minutes
- Keto Coconut Flour Brownies40 Minutes
- Keto Peanut Butter Brownies35 Minutes
- Keto Avocado Brownies Recipe55 Minutes
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Recipe
Sweet Potato Brownies
Ingredients
- 2 medium to large sweet potatoes peeled and chopped (400g / 14oz)
- 10 Medjool dates pitted (200g / 7oz)
- 1.5 cup almond flour 150g
- ⅓ cup coconut oil 75g, melted and cooled.
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 5 tablespoon cocoa powder 27g, unsweetened
- optional: cacao nibs to decorate
Instructions
Prepare Sweet Potatoes
- Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F.
- Peel the sweet potatoes, cut them into pieces, toss in a little oil and roast in the oven for 20 minutes or until they are very tender. Let them cool.
Brownies
- Blend the sweet potato and the pitted dates in a food processor until smooth.
- Add the remaining ingredients and mix until well-combined.
- Pour the brownie batter into a small (10x7 inch) baking tin lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top has set and the inside is still gooey and moist.
- Let the brownies cool before cutting to allow them to firm up.
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.
Nanna
The best sugar free cake I have ever tasted!!!
used 50 g of coconut flour instead of almond flour, purple sweet potatoes and a little bit of vanilla. Mixed it ll up in a blender. So moist and delicious
it's addictive - thank you for the recipe
Kate
I’ve only just stumbled across your recipes and have just tried these brownies— my sweet tooth initially thought they were lacking but by the end of the mouthful I was tasting the sweetness from the dates! I used coconut flour instead of almond flour which I couldn’t find, and guessed the quantity (3tbsp) which turned out to be plenty, but I think it’ll depend on how large your eggs are. I was wondering if you could use bananas as a sub for some of the dates or if that would make the sugar content too high? All in all, these are great though, so a big thanks from me and I’ll be trying more of your recopes!
Katrin
Hi Kate, I think you could definitely swap out some of the dates for banana, but you might be able to taste it as well - it's such a strong taste. I don't think banana is higher in sugar than dates. Great you made it work with the coconut flour!
Emma
Hello- I want to make these but don’t have a food processor. I have a blender so could whizz up the dates and oil and eggs and sweet potato then mix in the flour - would this work as I don’t want to waste the ingredients...?!
Katrin
I think virtually anything can be made with a regular blender. I didn't have one until I started the blog. From my experience I'd say choose a tall jug that's not too wide so you have minimal splashing and you should be fine. Also, try to source dates that are soft. Medjool tend to be a good choice.
Kristen e Procter
This is the best sweet potato brownie recipe that i've come across so far....and one of the simplest! Thank you for this winner; it will be included in the rotation from now on!
I did make one tweak which was the addition of some nut butter- about 3/4c was added actually quite by accident as I was following another recipe and found yours after I had begun and had already pureed the potatoes and nut butter together. Nonetheless, it turned out absolutely delicious. Thank you <3
@theallenappetite
Honestly amazed by this recipe, the best sweet potato brownie recipe I've tried. Even a fussy 8 year old ADORED them. Added crushed hazelnuts and a splash of vanilla extract which worked nicely. Thanks so much for this!
Kate
Hello Katrin
Thanks for this recipe. I don’t like to use artificial sweeteners. I made it as a round cake and I think that works well. People have quite narrow expectations of brownies, whereas the taste of dates is fine in a chocolate cake.
Katrin
Hi Kate, I'm glad you like the recipe - it's one of the first ones I posted when I started this blog. I like the taste of dates too, but I haven't used them in sweet recipes for a while now as I've been looking at ways to lower the carb count. I've been using natural (not artificial) sweeteners like erythritol and stevia and find that when you mix them and only use a little, you cannot actually taste their individual aftertaste. I've actually been wanting to update this recipe with an option of how to make it without the dates. I'll let you know when I do!
Marwa
May i substitute the almond flour with white wheat flour?
How many grams should i use in this case please?
Thank you..
Katrin
I am sure you can, though I am not sure if it would be exactly the same amount. It's probably a similar amount, so I'd try using a bit less, and see if the dough looks a good consistency, adding more if needed.