While these brownies are not as chewy as traditional brownies, they are a flavorful, nutrient-dense treat made from whole foods. They are moist and nutty, with just a hint of sweetness. The sweetness comes from baked sweet potatoes and a small amount of coconut sugar. The percentage of the added sugar is actually only around eight percent of all the ingredients – just enough to bring out the flavors.
Interestingly, these brownies are not made with cacao but carob powder. Carob powder goes well with sweet potatoes. In this recipe, the overall flavor is so much better with carob compared to cacao, which is a big plus for those who are sensitive to the stimulants in cacao. From an Ayurvedic perspective, this is a great treat for fall, which is considered vata season. With its qualities of dry, cool, windy, light, and mobile, it is the time we can easily become agitated and distressed, especially since vata is the dosha that gets out of balance the easiest. Eating vata-pacifying foods, such as sweet potatoes and almonds, can help balance vata and keep us grounded and calm.
Ingredients
- 6 eggs
- ⅜ cup (131g) coconut sugar (or sucanat or date sugar)
- 2 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp sea salt (I used Himalayan pink salt)
- 3 cups (750g) sweet potatoes pureed (about 2 big or 3 medium, baked, peeled, and pureed)
- ½ cup (130g) coconut oil or ghee, melted
- 2 ¼ cups (224g) almonds, ground (or almond meal)
- ¾ cup (84g) carob powder, medium roasted
Directions
- Put eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and salt in a stand mixer and run for about 10 minutes until the batter is creamy.
- Peel the sweet potatoes once they are cool enough to handle, and puree them with a hand blender or food processor. Add puree to creamy batter, and run until smooth again.
- Melt coconut oil, add to batter, and stir until smooth.
- Sift carob powder into ground almonds and mix. Stir gently into batter.
- Line a 12.5″ x 9.5″ baking dish with parchment paper, add, batter and bake at 350°F for about 45 minutes.
Notes
- To bake the sweet potatoes, wash them, pat dry, and rub with coconut oil. Put them on parchment paper, and bake them at 400°F for about an hour, depending on the size, so that a knife goes in easily. This can be done the day before.
- These brownies taste better the next day, as the flavors blend more over time. I think this is true for many baked goods made with ground almonds. For example, this flourless orange almond cake.
- To store, keep in the fridge for up to 5 days, or freeze them. They are a treat right out of the freezer (like the aforementioned orange cake).
- This recipe is very forgiving. A bit more or less of the potato puree or egg doesn’t make a big difference.
- If the sweet potatoes were baked before, then keep them out of the fridge for a couple of hours before you make the brownies. If the sweet potatoes are too cold, they can turn the melted coconut oil back into solid clumps.
- This recipe is also very tasty with purple sweet potatoes. You will need to add more sugar (around 50 percent more), as this variety of sweet potatoes is less sweet. The resulting brownies will also be on the drier side.
