These Vegan Brownies Are a (Sort of) Healthy Take on the Classic Dessert

Happy new year, folks! How are those healthy-eating goals tracking for you so far? (Honestly, don’t beat yourself up if you’re struggling – I think we all are.)

As you may have seen by now, there’s a lot of chatter online about the benefits of signing up for Veganuary – both for health and environmental reasons. Whether or not that’s your jam (it’s worth considering more plant-based meals, though), healthy eating is always something worth chatting about and I, for one, am particularly interested when “healthy” choices mean I still get to indulge in a sweet treat. So imagine my delight when I learnt that KitchenAid’s in-house chef had figured out a way to make brownies (somewhat) healthier?

If you’re a sweet tooth who’s hoping to ramp up their healthy eating habits this year, check out the following vegan brownie recipe, shared by KitchenAid.

Vegan Sweet Potato Brownies

What you’ll need:

• 1 cup sweet potato mash (details later)
• ⅔ cup maple syrup
• ½ cup peanut butter
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 ½ Tbsp coconut oil
• ½ cup cacao powder
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• ⅔ cup almond meal
• ½ cup chopped raw pecans (or sub walnuts, but we like pecans better)

Directions:

1. To make sweet potato mash, halve sweet potato and place on a lined baking tray. Bake at 200℃ for 20-25 minutes or until tender, let cool.
2. Reduce oven temperature to 180℃ and line a 20cm x 20cm baking pan with parchment baking paper.
3. Peel away the skin of the sweet potato and discard. Place the sweet potato into the KitchenAid 9 cup food processor bowl and process on speed 2 until smooth. Add the baking powder, maple syrup, peanut butter, vanilla extract, and coconut oil and pulse 5-6 times until combined.
4. Add almond meal cacao powder, sea salt, and baking powder pulse again until a thick, scoopable batter is achieved.
5. Transfer batter to the lined baking pan and spread using a spoon or rubber spatula. Then top with pecans.
6. Bake on the centre rack for 25-30 minutes. The brownie edges should appear slightly dry and a toothpick inserted into the centre should come out mostly clean. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan
7. Lift out of the pan and slice. Enjoy warm or room temperature.