Healthy Vegan Beetroot Brownies, with Raspberry Topping

I'm trying a vegan-ish cleanse for the next few weeks and I want everyone one to know! As part of my prep for my cleanse I have been researching and experimenting with new recipes, free from gluten, refined sugar and dairy among many other things! I have been keen to try these beetroot brownies for so long and I am delighted with how they turned out. They have such an earthy flavour, but still taste like a treat. The sweet / healthy balance is great and they are full of goodness! An easy win! Perfect if you are hosting guests or even if you are looking for a healthy alternative for a kids party. This little recipe has made its way firmly into my recipe book, I'll be whipping this one up time and time again.

Vegan Beetroot Brownies

Difficulty: Anyone can master this

Time: 60 minutes

Servings: 16 Brownies

Equipment: Baking Tray, Mixing Bowl, Food processor or blender Wooden spoon, Spatula,

Ingredients:

For the Brownie

• 2 small Beetroot Boiled (do not use pickled beetroots!)

• 350 grams pitted dates

• 60 grams smooth nut butter (any nut butter will do except peanut butter) My preference is Almond butter

• 120 ml unsweetened almond milk

• 200 grams ground almonds

• 75 grams Cocao powder (You can use Organic Green and Blacks Cocoa powder if you cant get your hands on any cocao powder)

• 2 Teaspoons of baking powder

• 1 Teaspoon of salt

• Coconut Oil (for greasing your baking tray)

• Optional: 50 grams of cacao nibs (if you prefer you can use dark chocolate chips instead but make sure they are over 75/80% cocoa

• Optional: A handful of crushed walnut halves to add a bit of crunch to the texture - I personally like the contrast of the tiny bit of crunch with the fudgey brownie texture but this is entirely personal preference

• Optional: Coconut sugar - I would just have this on standby encase you want to add a teaspoon or two to the batter, if you feel it is slightly on the bitter side. It is not essential again just personal preference.

For the topping (optional)

• Half a punnet of Fresh Raspberries (or 80 grams) enough raspberries for at least one per brownie

• OR A sprinkle of dried raspberries

Method:

• Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C

• Wash the raspberries and set them to the side

• Peel, slice and boil the beetroot until soft then poke with a fork to ensure it soft enough for blending into the mixture. Nobody will thank you for chunks of beetroot in their brownie!

• In a Magimix/ food processor or blender, add the dates, nut butter, boiled and diced beetroot and almond (or plant based milk)

• Mix until you have a completely smooth batter

• Add the mix into a glass mixing bowl and add in the remaining ingredients - Salt, Baking Powder, , Ground Almonds and Cocao Powder and mix together.

• At this point add in the handful of Cacoa Nibs and the crushed walnuts (if you wish) then stir until evenly spread throughout the batter. T

• Tip: if you are adding the walnuts make sure they are crunched up enough into smaller little chunks. You can use a rolling pin to bash them a little if you need

• Taste the batter to see if you are happy with the taste - if it is too bitter for your liking add in a couple of teaspoons of the coconut sugar and mix some more.

• When you are happy with the consistency of the mixture, transfer into a greased baking tray- you can use coconut oil for greasing or instead use baking parchment / paper or both to avoid the mixture sticking.

• Tip: if the mixture is looking a bit dry before you transfer it to the baking tray you can always add a dash more of your plant based milk. Remember we want these brownies to be moist and fudgey.

• If you are decorating your brownies now is the time to add the raspberry topping. Try and even out as we will be cutting these into squares.

• Put the mixture in the oven for approx 20 minutes and remove - the brownies should looked slightly cracked on top but still gooey in the middle - poke them with a knife to test for fudgeyness. You don't want to dry them out so be careful not to over cook. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

• Once cool, slice into even squares (4 rows of 4) and remove from the baking tray

• Eat fresh or once cool, add to the fridge. The brownies should keep fresh for a few days if refrigerated (but you also don't want them to get too hard in the fridge)

• Enjoy your healthy creations!

#veganbrownies #veganrecipes #recipes #vegan #brownies #baking #healthybaking