Hey! How’s your day going so far?
Lots of sweet potatoes in our house lately.
For Livi,
for Bell
and for us.
100% correct: sweet potato brownies.
I’ve seen a lot of recipes for vegetables in desserts lately, and as amazing as they look, I couldn’t get behind it. Beans shouldn’t be anywhere near my dessert, cauliflower is just a nooooooooo, but sweet potatoes? Now that’s something I can deal with- they’re already pretty dessert-y on their own.
In all fairness, this wasn’t my idea at all. We have a surplus of sweet potatoes over here -at TJs you can’t get just a couple of organic ones, you have to buy a big bag- and I was wondering what to do with the extras. I decided to bake something, since the Pilot was flying late, the sky was ominous
and it would distract me from worrying about him.
Instantly I went to Pinterest to check out my Recipes board, and remembered these glorious things. I haven’t always had luck with Paleo-style recipes, so I un-Paleo’ed them and also decreased the amount of eggs. When you eat at least 2 a day, they’re a valuable commodity and I didn’t want to use 3 on the brownies, so I did one instead.
Here’s what I came up with:
Sweet Potato gluten-free brownies
Adapted and inspired by this recipe.
-1 bar (3.5 oz) dark chocolate
-1.5 T coconut oil
-1/4 C cocoa powder
-1 T alcohol-free vanilla
-1/2 t cinnamon
-1/4 t espresso powder (can be omitted, but I think it gives brownies a richer taste)
-flesh of two medium-small sweet potatoes (a little under 2 C); give them a whirl through the food processor for a smoother texture
-1 egg
-2 T ground flax
-1/4 C pure maple syrup
-1/2 t baking powder
-1/4 C gluten-free flour blend (or flour of choice)
-hefty pinch of sea salt
-Pre-heat oven to 325 and grease a small baking dish (I used a pie dish) with olive oil.
1. Melt the chocolate with the coconut in a double-boiler, or in the microwave (stir and check after 20 second intervals).
2. Add in the cocoa powder, and stir until there are no lumps or chunks of powdery magma.
3. Next, stir in the vanilla, cinnamon, espresso powder and mix well, then the sweet potatoes, egg, flax and maple syrup.
4. For the dry ingredients, I put them into a sifter and sifted into the wet mixture before stirring. I’m sure you could just add them in and stir, and it would be bueno.
5. Pour mixture into the pie dish (and if you’re like me, save a little in the bowl to enjoy. Salmonella schmalmonella) and bake for about 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
I enjoyed one for dessert, and gave one to that good-looking guy in the green flight suit when he came home.
It was fun trying to get him to guess what the secret ingredient was. He loved them!
For those of you who are curious about the nutrition facts, here ya go.
This morning, I’m off with Liv to her baby class and no idea what we’re doing for the rest of the day. It will be an adventure, I’m sure 
Have a great day!
xoxo
Gina
BEAR DOWN, CATS!! College World Series champions! <3
Something to do: Check in when you’ve done Workout 3 for the Summer Shape Up! How did it go? I’ve heard amazing feedback so far- keep up the great work, and keep the pics coming- I love them. (#summershapeup @fitnessista). I’ll be doing some Week 3 shout outs tomorrow morning.
Here’s a playlist for this week’s workout, too! Hope you enjoy <3
Summer Shape Up is here! It's a FREE plan to feel energized and build lean muscle this summer. Tag me @fitnessista #summershapeup 
Hi, I'm Gina. Welcome to The Fitnessista! I love blogging about my adventures as a new mom, military wife and fitness instructor, as well as sharing new workouts and recipes. Check out the About page for more info - thanks for stopping by!
Oooh man. I’ve been on a major sweet potato kick lately too, craving them all the time! These look so good. Making them asap. Also checking in for my hiit (had to swap mon and tues), i did 30 mins of run/walk with sprinting intervals…it kicked my butt for reals.
just took the brownies out of the oven. My goal for this week was no sugar so…. I keep justifying consuming said brownie because they have sweet potato and not very much sugar in them, haha, its totally worth it!
You are so cute. You really DO love Pitbull eh? I, too, am a sucker for what I call “silly” pop songs. My latest faves are the Selena “Love Song” song and “Scream” by Usher. I kind of have a crush on Usher
Summer shape up check in! Didn’t get a chance to do the entire workout (pressed for time), but I loved each move! Until…. the frog crunches. Oh my goodness! When I got to six, I just about died!
Loving summer shape up! These workouts are amazing.
These look so awesome! I’ve been on a beta food loving train for the past few weeks, so this is a win in my books! And is it weird I kind of want those things that hold Liv’s baby food in them. They are so dang cute. Why is it the stuff for babies is always the most adorable stuff.
OMG! i love chocolate and sweet potatoes! i will be trying to make this! thanks for the great advice. LOVEEEEEE ur blog
These look great, Gina! What is your go-to GF flour blend?
i usually just use brown rice, but i had some of this flour mix left over: http://fitnessista.com/2011/04/sometimes-ya-need-a-brownie-giveaway/
I’ve had some sweet potatoes staring at me for the past few days from a great produce stand. I saw this recipe and HAD to make it. They are cooling now but HOLY CRAP that batter was good! I can’t decide if I want to cut them like pie slices or just cut squares. Either way I can’t wait to eat one!
These look amazing!! Who knew sweet potatoes could be subbed for brownies?! Such a great idea. I hope to try these soon
Did you cook the sweet potatoes before you put them in the food processor? This sounds delicious!
yep!
So I just tried these — and LOVE! I accidently put in almond flavoring instead of vanilla, but once I figured it out, I balanced it with equal amount of vanilla — and I have to say, excellent mix up! I figured it would probably work since sweet potato casserole uses both! Great recipe, Gina — Thanks!!!
yayyyy so glad you liked them!
Bella is just too cute in that pic!
Okay first things first…LOVE the pics of Bella licking her lips as the plate is coming toward her ♥
Second, the brownies look amazing and I can’t wait to try them!
Third, bahahahahahahahah on the Dane Cook vid – LOVE him! So funny!
Going to make these amazing brownies but quick question…..and i know its a stupid one but did you cook the sweet potatoes first before you added them into the receipe? and by ‘flesh’ do you mean including the flesh in them?? sorry to be a pain with these questions.thanks so much
maryam
london, england xx
by flesh i mean everything but the skin
and yep, i baked them first
hope you love them!!
These are going in the oven…RIGHT NOW! (:
I can’t find your playlists on spotify. What is your user name or how should I search it? Thanks!
i think it’s under fitnessista? i’ll check for you
Can’t find it. =(
oh my god… i just made these (with a few substitutions) and almost devoured the entire bowl of batter before they even made it to the oven. AMAZING! thanks for the great recipe
yeahhhhh! i’m so glad you liked them! i need to make another batch…
Pinned these a while ago and now they are FINALLY in my oven! Batter was delicious! Perfect post run snack…….. amIright?!
Hi Gina ~
I stumbled upon you via google search, using the keyterms “sweet potato and cookie” and I am beyond thrilled that I did !
I just made your sweet potato brownies … OH.MY.GOD. ! Amazing. And, here’s 2 variations I made to the recipe: I only had 1 lg sweet potato to puree, so I also used half of an avocado (yum) And, I didn’t have flax seed so I ground together espresso beans (for the espresso powder) AND roasted pumpkin seeds. It’s a great substitute !
Thank you for being out here in the world making delicious healthy food !
Namaste,
Kerry