Sweet Potato & Date Brownies

I made these for some friends who just couldn’t guess their secret ingredient; sweet potatoes are packed full of goodness being high in fiber, magnesium, iron, vitamins A, B and C – the list goes on! Coupled with the dates, they give these perfectly sweet, gooey, nutritious brownies a deliciously caramel melt-in-your-mouth like texture. A heavenly guilt-free treat…

(Makes about 24 brownies)

Ingredients:

2 cups of sweet potato (equivalent to two medium-sized sweet potatoes, mashed)

6 large dates

4 eggs

½ cup coconut oil

2/3 cup of honey or maple syrup

½ tsp of vanilla extract

6 tbsp coconut flour (can sub-in any flour such as buckwheat)

4 tbsp raw cacao

½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ground ginger (optional)

½ tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

Method:

1.     Line an 8 x 8 inch baking tray with greaseproof/baking paper and preheat your oven to 180 Celsius.

2.     Peel and chop up your sweet potatoes and boil them until tender. Set to one side to cool. Once cooled, mash up in a bowl.

3.     In a food processor (or with an electric whisk) beat the eggs, coconut oil, honey or maple syrup, and vanilla extract together, then add the sweet potato and whisk until well combined.

4.     Then one by one, add your dry ingredients to the mixture – the flour, cacao powder, baking powder, cinnamon and salt – and whisk well for up to 1 minute.

5.     Pour the batter into your lined baking tray/tin and place on a medium shelf in the oven for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, test to see if they are cooked through – remember they will continue to cook as they cool, so you can judge how gooey you’d like them. If you stick a knife in and it comes away with a few crumbs, they are ready to be removed from the oven.

6.     Leave to cool in the tray and slice them up and – ENJOY! :)