Gluten-Free Beet Brownies
These flour free brownies are nutrient dense, sweetened with cooked beets or yams and maple syrup. Shared with me by our neighbour Sandra, an incredible gardener and cook, who generously shares her fig harvest and other garden abundance.
The original recipe comes from Half the Sugar All the Love. I replaced the yams with overwintered beets from my garden, switched the almond butter for sprouted sunflower seed butter and swapped out the egg for sprouted flax or chia to keep my vegan ‘peeps’ happy! I also used sugar free chocolate chips to help keep them lower glycemic so that I can enjoy them too!
Makes 24 small squares
Ingredients
1/2 lb beets or yams
1/2 cup sprouted seed or nut butter of your choice
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1 Tbsp sprouted flax or chia mixed with 3 Tbsp water
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 tsp vanilla powder
3/4 cup raw cacao powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup unsweetened chocolate chips
Mindful Preparation
Cook the beets. I like to leave them whole and pressure cook in my Instant Pot for 5-7 minutes. Once cooled, the skins easily slip off. Chop them smallish.
If you are using yams, peel, chop and boil until soft. Meanwhile gather your other ingredients.
Preheat the oven to 350° F and line a 9x13 inch baking dish with parchment paper.
Combine cooked beets or yams with seed or nut butter, flax or chia/water mixture, coconut oil and maple syrup in a food processor until very smooth. Scrape the sides as needed.
Add remaining ingredients except chocolate chips and process until you have a smooth batter.
Add 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and pulse to combine.
Spread into parchment lined dish and sprinkle with the remaining chocolate chips. An off-set spatula works well to spread this thick batter to the corners of the pan.
Bake for 30-35 minutes and allow to cool completely before cutting.
** They freeze beautifully!
