Fudgy chocolate brownies that melt in your mouth. Sweet potato is the secret ingredient that no one will ever guess – definitely a fun game to play at the dinner table. They are plant-based so a treat for us and the planet.
Warm them up and serve them with lots of vanilla ice cream or yogurt plus a splash of peanut butter.
This recipe is inspired by the iconic brownies invented by Deliciously Ella. These brownies are her staple recipe and what has arguably made her a star of vegan cooking.
I am particularly attached to this recipe and that’s why I decided to add it to my beloved blog collection and share it with you.
The first time I tried these gooey treats was at my friend Inga’s house five years ago or so.
I know this is heresy but…get ready for this…I am not a big fan of brownies. BUM, the secret is out. I don’t care if you judge me, I am who I am! I only started eating brownies as an adult, I am still not used to their taste and as it is confession time, I’ll say it all: they always feel like a sort of uncooked cake to me. Shocking, I know!
However, when my friend told me she tried a new recipe with sweet potatoes, one of my absolute favourite things in the world + such a crazy idea, I simply had to try them!
Well, the reason why I am attached to these brownies is that they introduced me to the world of vegan baking. As a professional cake eater, I always found that world very limiting. After all, what kind of cake can you make without eggs? The honest answer is a lot of things, believe me. BUM, the secret is out.
These irresistible sweet potato brownies made me realise that there are so many ways of baking and cooking out there. All for us to explore and try (yum!).
This bake opened my eyes to vegan/plant-based cuisine. It is an incredibly varied world. After you try vegan/plant-based recipes, you won’t look at your veggies and pulses in the same way ever again. With just a few ingredients in your pantry, you will feel like a master chef.
These brownies are for me a symbol of discovery and their sweet taste is a reward for embracing new things.
I believe that the kitchen is a school of life. We will miss out so much if we dismiss the new just because we are so comfortable in our established routine.
Breaking from the tradition as well as learning from the tradition is a way to find out who we are and where we want to go.
I hope you’ll join me in experimenting in the kitchen and let the goodness of this easy bake pleasantly surprise you!
I’ve simplified the original recipe so to use food that people in the UK usually have already at home: sweet potatoes, peanut butter, and the loyal porridge oats.
Without further ado, I present you my sweet potatoes chocolate brownies!
Vegan Sweet Potato Brownies
Course: BAKINGDifficulty: Easy6
servings20
minutes40
minutesIngredients
450 g sweet potatoes
20 ml (2 tbsp) sunflower oil
50 g cocoa powder
120 ml maple syrup
50 g dates (around 6)
80 g peanut butter
5 g baking powder
A pinch of salt
200 g porridge oats (ground)
50 g dark chocolate
Method
- Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into chunks.
- Boil the sweet potato chunks until you can pierce them with a fork (the smaller the chunks, the less time it’ll take).
- Grind the porridge oats in a food processor.
- Mash the sweet potatoes in a large food processor with the pitted dates.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the food processor (except the ground oats and chocolate): oil, maple syrup, peanut butter, baking powder, and salt.
- Blend in the ingredients with the food processor – it shouldn’t take more than a minute.
- Add the ground oats and blitz.
- Chop the chocolate and gently stir through the pieces of chocolate.
- Spoon the delicious mixture in a 25×15 cm lined baking pan, even it up with a spatula, and decorate the top with the remaining chocolate.
- Bake for 40 – 45 minutes at 180 °C
- Wait at least 10 minutes before cutting the cake into squares – if you can resist!
Notes
- These brownies taste even better the day after – I strongly recommend preparing them in advance (then hide them somewhere as they are irresistible!)
- Don’t have a food processor? Don’t worry! Change the porridge oats with any flour that has already been grounded (I think grounded almonds is the best substitute, but even regular plain flour will do!). Mash the potatoes with a fork and stir in the ingredients with a spatula – preps will be a bit longer but the results will be worthy.
- Regulate the grams of sweet potatoes depending on how you like your brownies’ texture: if you want your brownies to be very fudgy add more sweet potatoes (up to 550 g) if you prefer brownies with a more cake-like consistency, go down to 400 g.
- Swap the maple syrup for any type of sugar you have at home – they’ll be delicious with date syrup, agave nectar, and light brown sugar too! Always shop your cupboard first.
What about you? Have you recently experimented with new recipes in your kitchen? Let me know in the comments below and tell me if you have tried my recipe, it’d make me so happy!
Thanks for reminding me of this wonderful recipe!! Sweet potato is always a staple in my cupboard and I cannot believe I forgot it is so useful for sweets! Rookie mistake 😀
I made these today and they are fantastic! I am wondering whether the same sweet mass (before the flour is added) could be used as a pudding/mousse, as it tastes really good.
Thanks Anna for great idea! I have baked this brownie yesterday, and first thing what me attract to do this, sweet potatoes, which I have had, because was very interesting to discover, what cake might be from potatoes, ok sweet potatoes;) True to say,I don’t like ordinary brownies very much, because they are too sweet for me always. But this Anna’s brownie was very good on taste!!!!
True to say, not always l strongly follow the recipe, and this time l did not pay attention to the size of baking tray: in 10 cm mine was bigger..and cake more thinner…( but next time l will find exactly size!) And again, l added a handful of almond nuts in to the taste, but they goes well on my mind;)
Conclusion: I should recommend this interesting brownie recipe for my colleagues !!!! Thank you, Anna, for original approach to the ordinary things !!!
Dear Renata, thank you so much for your lovely comment and trying my recipe. It really means a lot, so glad you liked it. I think the idea of adding almonds is brilliant, I will try it as well next time! Thanks so much again Renata 🙂