I have been trying to find a good brownie recipe for years that I can eat AND tastes like an actual brownie. I used to be a junk food junkie in my previous life, so I am always looking for ways to recreate desserts I used to enjoy…but make them healthier. When I was younger we used to make those brownies from the box with the packet of peanut butter you put on top and use a knife to make it look marbled. Anyone remember those? I think they were Betty Crocker in a box…can’t remember. Anyways…I wanted to recreate those brownies!

I don’t do well with lots of honey or sugary things, so I use stevia a lot when I bake. Sometimes stevia used in baking by itself has a strange taste, so I thought I would try to make a brownie with stevia AND sweet potato. Success!! We really enjoy them. You could also try to use honey instead if you tolerate it well. These brownies also do not have eggs and can be enjoyed by people on a paleo diet, GF/DF diet, those limiting sugar or those with egg allergies. I have also substituted the sweet potato for acorn squash or butternut squash, but sweet potato is my favorite. They are pretty soft when hot, so it’s best to let them cool before cutting. I like them best refrigerated because they get fudgier…is that a word? Enjoy!!

Ingredients

• 1 cup almond flour
• 1/3 cup coconut butter (or could use almond butter)
• 1/2 cup of almond or sunflower seed butter for topping and making marbled design
• 1/3 cocoa powder (can use carob powder if can’t have cocoa)
• 1TB flax meal
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 TB vanilla
• 1 cup cooked sweet potato (about 1 small to medium sweet potato)
• ½ cup coconut milk
• ¼ cup melted coconut oil
• 3 dropperfuls of alcohol-free stevia (add last and play with amount of sweetness or try sweetener of choice)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 8×8 pan (I use Pampered Chef stoneware) with coconut oil.

First, I start to melt coconut butter and coconut oil in small sauce pan (careful not to burn). Next add all dry ingredients together and stir. Add wet ingredients including melted coconut oil/coconut butter.  I use a hand mixer to mix. Put into greased pan. Add almond butter or nut butter (needs to be soft) topping by using a spoon to create 4 parallel lines. Use a butter knife to marble or swirl the almond butter by running knife perpendicular one way and then the other way back across the brownies. Bake at 350 deg for 30 min.

Try serving with vanilla coconut milk ice cream! Enjoy!

Recipe by Brenda Walding, DPT, FDN