Sweet potato chocolate brownies have been around for a little while, the most famous being Deliciously Ella’s version. There are now numerous variations ranging from completely vegan and sweetened with dates, to versions with eggs sweetened with coconut sugar or rice syrup.

Sweet potatoes are abundant in vitamins, minerals and nutrients, and are especially known for their carotenoids beta-carotene and lycopene which have some powerful anti-cancerous properties. Sweet potatoes are also phytoestrogenic which means they help remove unwanted environmental oestrogens, and they also promote productive bacteria in the gut. Even though they’re sweet tasting, the main sugar in sweet potatoes is sucrose which is made up of half fructose and half glucose. Glucose is essential for many important functions in our bodies, and while fructose is best avoided, sweet potatoes only contain around 0.7g of fructose per 100g. This equates to 3.5g in total in this recipe and is considered to be far outweighed by all the sweet potatoes other health promoting properties.

My ultimate goal with this recipe was to create a sublime tasting chocolate brownie that’s completely sugar free and ideally sweetened solely with sweet potatoes (or kumara as we call them in NZ). I’ve been playing around with sweet potato brownie recipes on and off for quite a while, and so far this recipe which has half a cup of rice syrup is the closest I’ve come to a brownie that tastes amazing AND is acceptable on the low fructose scale.

As covered in my previous post for nutty chocolate truffles here, rice syrup is a fructose free sweetener that has a very low GI, which means it can often be a well tolerated choice for people on low or no sugar diets.

These sweet potato chocolate brownies are dense and fudgey, and have a rich chocolate flavour thanks to a full cup of raw cacao powder. They’re dairy and grain free, containing coconut oil and ground almonds, however they do contain eggs as a binding agent which also act as a raising agent. I’ve added a little spice by way of cinnamon and cardamon, but feel free to omit these if they’re not to your liking.

As usual these brownies are super easy to make. Literally throw a couple of whole sweet potatos into the oven to bake for 30 minutes or so, then it’s simply a case of combining all the ingredients in a food processor and pouring into a brownie pan. They only take about half an hour to bake in the oven and the hardest part is waiting for them to cool! Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Chocolate Brownies

Makes: small 18 x 30cm brownie pan or approximately 12 generous pieces
Prep time: 15 minutes   Bake time: 35 minutes + 30-45 minutes to bake the sweet potato

2 cups (500g) cooked orange sweet potato (approximately 2)
1 cup (95g) raw cacao powder
3/4 cup (150g) coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup (125g) almond milk
1/2 cup (150g) rice syrup
2 eggs
4 Tbsp ground almonds
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cardamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch Himalayan pink salt

To cook the sweet potato, preheat the oven to 200ºC fan bake. Wash the sweet potatoes to remove any surface dirt, prick a few times with a fork and place on a lined oven tray in the centre of the oven. Bake for approximately 30-45 minutes depending on size. When you can easily slide a knife into their centres, they’re done. Remove them from the oven and allow to cool. The skins will literally steam themselves off and when cool enough to handle you should be able to easily peel the skins off with your hands.

Turn the oven down to 180ºC fan bake. Place all the ingredients into a food processor and blend until well combined and smooth.

Line a small brownie pan (18cm x 30cm or 20cm x 20cm) with baking paper and pour the brownie mixture in. Smooth the top with a spatula then place in the centre of the oven to bake for approximately 35 minutes. The brownie is done when a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool before removing from the tin and cutting into squares. Store the brownie in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to 2 months. This brownie is delicious eaten straight from the fridge, at room temperature or heated with a dollop of your favourite yoghurt or ice cream.

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