Sweet Potato Brownies
Add natural sweetness and a boost of nutrients to your dessert when you make these sweet potato brownies.
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 Brownies
Ingredients
- -1 bar (3.5oz) dark chocolate
- -1.5 T coconut oil
- -1/4 C cocoa powder
- -1 T alcohol-free vanilla
- -1/2 tsp cinnamon
- -1/4 tsp espresso powder (optional)
- -flesh of two medium sweet potatoes (about 2 cups). Give them a whirl in the food processor for a smoother texture.
- -1 egg
- -2 T ground flax seed
- -1/4 C maple syrup
- -1/2 tsp baking powder
- -1/4 C gluten-free flour blend (or any flour)
- -hefty pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 and grease baking dish (I used a pie dish) with olive oil.
- Melt the chocolate with the coconut oil in a double boiler or microwave (stir and check in 20 second intervals).
- Add in the cocoa powder and stir until there are no lumps.
- Stir in the vanilla, cinnamon, espresso powder and mix well.
- Next, add the eggs, flax and maple syrup.
- Put dry ingredients in a sifter and sift into the wet mixture before stirring.
- Pour mixture into pie dish and bake for 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out a clean.
Notes
- These brownies are even better the next day, so don’t be afraid to make ahead!
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
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I can’t believe you got a shot of the puppy licking his chompers! I GOTTA try these brownies!
I can’t get behind beans in brownies either, but I could totally do sweet potatoes. I love them so much! I think these brownies would be good topped with almond butter too…just sayin’
Those brownies sound surprisingly delicious! I’m one of those people who can’t seem to get into the whole veggies into dessert thing, but those look positively amazing.
The bean substitutions never seem to work for me, but the sweet potatoes sound like a great idea!
Checking in for my first week TWO workout. It was crazy awesome, especially to start my day off before work. 🙂 It took me a hot second to get my balance with the split lunges but by the second circuit I figured out how to use my hands/hips to balance. The side jumps whipped the heck out of me but in a good way!
My black bean brownies were NASTY, and I looooove to eat anything I make even when my hubster and kidlets hate it. I threw them away. Sweet potatoes are my favorite and already sweet so I’m sure those are amazing! You could probably use some canned pumpkin too.
I have been craving brownies and have sweet potatoes at home so this is perfect!
Delurking to say…I’m a Gamecocks fan, so sad we lost last night…but Arizona was truly the better team 🙂
But these brownies look awesome – I’ll actually make these instead of bookmarking and never remembering! Also excited to do the week 3 SSU tonight. Love the blog!
These brownies look and sound amazing!! I have a couple of questions about the recipe when you have a second – I was wondering if pure vanilla extract is normally alcohol-free, and if not, what’s the difference? Also, is the espresso powder instant? And did you roast the sweet potatoes in the oven first? PS I’m loving the song Brokenhearted right now – so catchy and addicting!
week 3 workout kicked my biscuits! and I loved it!
Oooh these look amazing! I’ve seen plenty of black bean brownie recipes but this is the first for sweet potatoes! I’m totally going to try it – a great way to sneak veggies in for picky eaters!
Love pinterest for food ideas! I also seem to have momentarily forgot sweet potatoes existed and now am craving one. Funny how easy it is to forget about veggies even when you love them.
Those look great! I’ve done the garbanzo bean thing in desserts but never sweet potato. And we give our toy poodle sweet potato too 🙂
Seriously I’m SO making these! I already have al the ingredients ! 🙂
YUM!! I will definitely give these a shot – also want to have my sweet-potato-hating-husband try to guess the secret ingredient! 🙂
I can’t deal with veggies in brownies, but sweet potato is a dessert item!
Yummy brownies! MY grandma used to make the most delicious beet cupcakes. I never believed there were beets in them since they were so tasty!
My sister has Jessica Seinfeld’s cookbook, Deceptively Delicious, with recipes infused with veggies. I’ve tasted some good muffins from there!
Nice! Those are amazing stats and I LOVE the idea of making sweet potato brownies! As scary as they sound I have tried bean desserts – some with success, others without (chickpea blondies still taste very chickpea-ish! I think you really need to make chocolate desserts when using funny ingredients because the cocoa powder masks a lot of flavours!) but I loved black bean brownies. Beans are still very calorie-dense though, and I just want a low-cal light treat a day, not a huge indulgence. Sweet potatoes FTW!
These look delicious! I can’t wait to make them 🙂
Oooo . . . these sound like a winner. Do you think straight-up oat flour would work?
Also, since I’m a week behind and having to modify the schedule due to travel, I did Workout 2 today, and it put me in my place. Those side planks were not happening, but I tried my best!
i was routing for your Wild Cats last night! My university is the ARCH RIVAL of South Carolina & seeing them win back to back to back was literally going to make me scream. GO WILDCATS! 😉
Ohh I love the idea of using sweet potatoes in brownies! These look absolutely delicious and it’s great that every item is a real food! Bonus that I have all of these ingredients at home! I think we both know I’ll be cooking these up asap!
I’m not into beans or cauliflower in desserts either! But sweet potatoes, in baking, are close to pumpkin in terms of the texture and the moisture they add to food, so yes, I can definitely get behind those. Glad the Pilot loved the brownies!
Um. Thank you for combining two of my favorite foods (chocolate and sweet potato) into one ridiculous recipe. I need to try this!
let me know if you do! 🙂
That recipe looks great and very basic. I bought ingredients to make some healthed up cookies via Angela (Oh She Glows) that have dried cranberries, pepitas, dark choc chips and pecans in them. I am planning on making them tonight to take on our road trip to California so we have some good snacks.
These sound amazing! I can’t wait to try making them!
I am late to the party – JUST did workout #1 and LOVED it! Getting back in the workout groove and this was perfect, thanks Gina!!!!!
OH and by basic, I mean – basic as in fairly healthy for us and not a ton of refined sugar involved. 🙂
Omg I love the little baby bullets, so cute! And the flowers are beautiful.
I’ve tried cannellini beans in a cookie recipe and it was delicious – by adding extra sugar and loads of cinnamon to disguise the bean-y aftertaste. But it’s fun to make it for people and have them try to figure out why it’s so healthy! These sound very tasty, and likely no aftertaste to cover up.
SSU 3 was no joke – and I loved it. An older woman at my gym came up to me afterwards and said “you do some pretty interesting moves. I tried to watch and follow you!”. I invited her to de-lurk next time and join in the party!
i love that!!! i hope she joins in next time 🙂
Just did workout 3, i’m dying… 😉 the flowers are beautiful and the brownies look delicious! I just ate an after-eight cheescake my sister cooked and it was deliciouuus! xxx Nadja
I live in Omaha, Nebraska and have been going to the College World Series since I was 5. We were at both championship games and my whole family cheered for Arizona to win. They were great games to watch and it was so nice to see someone defeat South Carolina!
Yumm – definitely trying out this recipe this week! I got up this morning at 5:45 before work to get in my 30 minutes of HIIT from yesterday…I was going to do it after work yesterday but the hubby wanted to take me to dinner and have wine…cant say no to that! Soo I had an unplanned rest day which was glorious! I ended up running for 15 minutes and then doing the HIIT for 30 and it KICKED MY BUTT! I am hoping to catch up and get in at least 2 rounds of Workout #3 tongiht but we shall see. If not tomorrow AM for sure! LOVE THIS SSU!!
Mmmm! I was just trying to think about what to do with the last two sweet potatoes in my fridge. Guess what I’m making tonight? 😉 They look pretty for rich for being a sweet potato dessert. We shall see!
I was hooked on that playlist when I saw the Killers and Fun.!
I love sweet potatoes so this recipe is perfect for me, what better way to eat vegetables than in brownie form?!
sounds delicious – sweet potato in a brownie ? I’m intrigued! 🙂
oh my gosh, these brownies are going on my “must try” list! they look so good!
Those sound great! Any particular reason for using alcohol-free vanilla?
Workout 3 is killer! It worked my body and my brain. Haha! I had to really think on some of the combo moves. But it was great!!
I don’t think I’ve lobutane weight yet, but it has helped me kick up the intensity of my workout. Plus I can fit into a pair of shorts that we’re too tight a few weeks ago! I’m going to keep up the hard work!
Perhaps this is a silly question, but when I clicked on the nutrition info. for the brownies, it says 10 brownies in the parentheses……..I assume that the info. though applies to one brownie correct?? And the recipe makes 10 brownies….or are 10 brownies really only 135 cals and 12 grams of sugar?!?! That would be about the best news ever if that were really true 🙂
Just finished workout 3 and it was awesome! The jump squats / shuffle backs were the hardest for me; I could definitely feel the burn!
Oh. Em. Gee. Three rounds of week 3 workout done on my lunch break and I am still having issues holding a pen/standing up straight without vibrating 30 minutes later. What an intensely beautiful workout!!
Oh yum! I love brownies so so much but normally they aren’t so so good for me 😉 (except for the soul)–I’ll definitely try to make these when I get back to living in a place with a kitchen again. I’m currently living in a hospital, so I’ve only been able to really follow the Summer Shape Up workouts and not so much the recipes–just trying to eat as clean as possible!
Did Workout 3 eaaaarly this morning–felt AWESOME to do it right when I woke up, it put me in a great mood! And I really liked the fast-pace of this one.. it was a fun and sweaty way to start the day 🙂
Thanks!!
Those brownies look delicious! I’m not into adding veggies to my desserts, thank you very much! But as you said sweet potatoes are already pretty sweet so I am sure it will taste delicious.
I’ve never really tried veggies in baked goods unless they’re supposed to be there (like carrot cake, zucchini bread, etc). I bet these are amazing though! You can’t go wrong with sweet potato. Ever. 😉
Bookmarked the brownies- hardly ever make sweets but the ingredients are right up my alley for this recipe!
Wasn’t up to doing wk out 3 due to baby being up basically from 3-6:40 am when she decided to be awake for good. BOO! So tired! Did 45 minutes low impact cardio as a sub this morning- Wk out 3 tomorrow!
Just finished SSU workout 2… I am so sweaty and it’s awesome! Thanks for the great workout!!
Sweet potatoes are amazing! I’m obsessed right now!
Workout 3 was a doosie! Although not my favorite of the 3 so far, it flew by and was by far the most butt kicking! Thanks for all you are doing for us, it is very much appreciated 🙂