Brownies… that humble, gooey, chocolatey divine peace of heaven that pretty much everyone loves!!! But so much can actually go wrong with them… I have an amazing perfect chocolate brownie here on my blog that i absolutely SWEAR by… And so I’ve never changed that… however, I felt like playing around recently… there’s always loads of hype and popularity about gluten free baking, using veggies in desserts, and so I though, what the heck.. let me go with this hype and see where it takes me! ,)
These actually turned out to be REALLY good.. they had the GOO factor, they had that deep cocoa quality… and without being too sweet, they were just right!! So all in all, the whole gluten-free veggie thing worked with these..
i opted for the cooked beetroot you get in vaccum packed packages… they’re very good quality and saves you the trouble of peeling and getting red blood stains all over everything… plus they’re easy to puree too…
You will notice that the batter seems rather grainy, that’s because of the almond powder… don’t worry too much about it, it all comes together in the baking… also, don’t be in a hurry to take the baked brownie out of the tray as it will crack and break… so wait while for it to cool down then remove it carefully, picking up the parchment paper and placing it on a rack to further cool..
i promise you these are almost life changing in the brownie world… I love them and can’t believe just how good they are, really! Make them, they’re too easy and a huge crowd pleaser!:)
- 250g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
- 100g butter, plus a little extra for greasing the tin
- 250g cooked beetroot, drained
- 3 eggs
- 220gr light brown sugar
- 150g ground almonds
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper powder (optional and up to 1 tsp according to taste)
- Preheat the oven to 180°C. Prepare a rectangular baking tin by greasing all over with a little butter or spray with cooking spray. Line with baking paper, leaving extra at either side to help you lift the cooked brownie out of the tin.
- Break up the chocolate into squares and put into a heatproof bowl along with the butter. Set over a pan of barely simmering water and allow to gently melt, stirring to mix together as it does so.
- Tip the beetroot into a food processor and process to a puree, pausing the motor to scrape down the sides if necessary. Add the melted chocolate and butter and the eggs and whizz again until combined. You can also just transfer everythig to a large bowl and beat it all using a hand mixer. Again, scrape the sides down, then add the sugar, ground almonds, cocoa, baking powder and chilli powder (if using) and process until you have a smooth batter. It won’t be super smooth so don’t worry.
- Pour into the prepared baking tin and bake for about 30-35 minutes until the top is set and the brownie is starting to pull a little away from the sides of the tin. A toothpick inserted into the centre will come out fairly clean but stick a touch sticky – don’t worry if it still seems a little soft as it will firm up on cooling and these brownie bites are designed to be quite squidgy and moist. Remove from the oven, place on a cooling rack and allow to go cold in the tin.
recipe adapted from lovebeetroot.co.uk
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