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Sweet Potato Brownies

This book "the Greenhouse Cookbook" is a newbie on my book shelf and I just had to make these Sweet Potato Brownies
May 6, 2017 | Joy McCarthy

If you've ever seen my book shelf or rather shelves, you'll know I'm a little obsessed with cookbooks. I love flipping through them and looking at all the beautiful photos. The photos are what inspire me in the kitchen. As much as I also love food blogs, there's just something so special about sitting down with a cup of tea and flipping through a cookbook on a Sunday afternoon. 

This book "the Greenhouse Cookbook" is a newbie on my book shelf and I just had to make these Sweet Potato Brownies

The photography in this book is beautiful. It will definitley make you hungry! I also love that it's printed on matte paper (maybe that's a weird thing to love, but I do!). It's created by four people, who own Greenhouse Juice and Emma is one of them (however, this recipe specifically was created by Christine Flynn at IQ Food Co). I featured her recently for International Women's Day. 

No matter if you're cooking for vegans or ominivores like in my household, there's something for everyone in this 100% plant-based recipe cookbook. 

Back to these brownies, I love the fact they call for sweet potato as an ingredient because I love putting sweet potato into baked goods and smoothies. I know that might sound weird, but it actually makes perfect sense!

I topped them with coconut flakes and a couple of extra chocolate chips. 

Sweet potato is naturally sweet and is FULL of fiber, so it really only makes sense to include it in baked goods and brownies, doesn't it?

The sweet potato and applesauce make them so moist and delicious.

Before I share the recipe, I should tell you I made a couple of modifications, but quite minor. I used maple syrup instead of agave and eggs instead of chia. I like adding eggs for protein. Now because I added eggs I reduced the almond butter a touch just to ensure the texture was still okay. I had to cook them a lot longer then the recipe suggests but once it's in the oven, it doesn't matter to me! They were worth the wait! You'll see my additions in the recipe below and you can decide how you want to make them. 

Desserts
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Ingredients
  • 1 large sweet potato, chopped
  • 3/4 cup almond butter*
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup**
  • 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 2 eggs***
  • 1 1/2 cups raw cacao powder****
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 3/4 tsp sea salt
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
  2. Bake sweet potato for 35-45 minutes in a covered baking dish or until fork tender. Mash with a fork.
  3. Reduce heat to 325F. Line a rimmed 9x9inch baking dish with parchment paper.
  4. In a large bowl combine mashed sweet potato, almond butter, maple syrup, eggs and applesauce. Make sure there are no lumps in the almond butter. Pour all the dry ingredients on top. Combine with a rubber spatula. The trick is to eliminate all the clumps but not to overmix. If you mix too much the baking soda will activate early and the brownie won't rise.
  5. I had to bake these until 40 minutes but the original recipe says 26 minutes (fyi). Remove from oven and let cool. Gentle remove from baking dish, tightly wrap in plastic and freezer. After about an hour use a hot, wet knife to cut evenly into 18 brownies. Serve chilled.

Notes

Original recipe calls for:
*1 cup plus 1 tbsp almond butter
**1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp raw agave
***3 tsp chia seeds
****1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder

The lovely folks at Greenhouse Juice are offering you a chance to win their cookbook on my instagram all weekend long!

UPDATE: I posted an updated version of this recipe on instagram. ENJOY!

Have a joyous weekend!

Joy 

25 Comments
Doris   •   May 6, 2017

Hi Joy! How much mashed sweet potato did you use? I can't wait to make these! Thanks!

Reply
Joy McCarthy   •   May 6, 2017

Amy C.   •   May 7, 2017

Hi Joy, Could I use peanut butter instead of almond butter?

Reply
Rachel Molenda   •   May 10, 2017

Julie   •   May 9, 2017

Hi Joy, Baking the sweet potato in the oven didn't work well for me, it created a dry skin and I lost quite a bit of potato, it was also very long. Next time I think I'll steam or boil it.

Reply
Rachel Molenda   •   May 10, 2017

Janet   •   May 10, 2017

I'm a tight wad with my ingredients. These look expensive to make with so much raw cacao, maple syrup and such, but I'm sure they're worth it! For a special occasion I wouldn't complain if someone made them for me though! Happy Mother's Day, and Happy Mutter's Day for all those who have dog-fur-babies instead.

Reply
Rachel Molenda   •   May 11, 2017

Laura B.   •   May 12, 2017

I just made a batch and they are amazing!! I can't wait to fool my son and husband with these amazing treats. They'll never guess that there is sweet potato in them. I think I will top them with some mixed berries for my Mom's Mother's Day dessert. Happy Mother's Day!!

Reply

Steph   •   May 22, 2017

would it be possible to subst agave with honey or maple syrup as it's a bit diff to find? I'll be using the chia seed recipe variation as unfortunately I'm allergic to eggs

Reply
Rachel Molenda   •   May 23, 2017

Bessie Proto   •   May 28, 2017

We have a nut allergy in the house what can we use for substitutes?

Reply
Rachel Molenda   •   May 29, 2017

Lynne   •   June 10, 2017

Hi can I ask why you wrap in plastic (cling wrap) and put in the freezer? Thanks

Reply
Rachel Molenda   •   June 12, 2017

Elaine   •   April 7, 2018

I microwaved the sweet potato then blended everything in the food processor and it worked out great after 30 minutes

Reply
Rachel Molenda   •   April 9, 2018

Allison   •   March 10, 2019

Could you go back to 3tsp chia seeds instead of 2 eggs but keep everything else about your recipe the same?

Reply
Joy McCarthy   •   March 12, 2019

Elaine Cowling   •   March 25, 2020

Please will you give a weight on the sweet potato. the ones in the stores these days are either tiny or massive. My latest large ones are about 1.5 lbs. Thank you!!

Reply
Joy McCarthy   •   March 26, 2020

Elaine   •   March 26, 2020

I took a wild guess and cooked up a 1 lb sweet potato and it yielded about 1 cup. The recipe worked well, (oh yes they are yummy!), so that must be about right! Thanks for the reply!!

Reply
Joy McCarthy   •   March 27, 2020

Steph   •   April 27, 2020

Wondered if you could use something else instead of so much almond butter. Not another nut butter. Maybe more sweet potato? 3/4cup of almond butter is a lot and quite an expensive add in.

Reply
Joy McCarthy   •   April 28, 2020

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