Thursday 25 August 2011

Sweet Potato Brownies

Don't stop reading yet! The name isn't exactly inspiring, but these brownies are really, really good!

This is a Dan Lepard recipe for brownies with a lower fat and sugar content than usual. Some of the butter and sugar is replaced by sweet potato purée, which helps bind the mixture, add moisture and keep the fat and sugar emulsified, as Dan explains in his Guardian column.

They aren't totally suitable for the low saturated fat diet which CT is following, but they certainly make a great treat for him, without overloading on butter. They are really aimed at someone trying to cut down their calorie intake, particularly from excessive fat and the empty calories from sugar.

This is a more fiddly recipe than usual, as I had to plan ahead and bake a sweet potato. I did this in the oven, as I wasn't sure if a microwaved potato would be the same - I assumed the potato would lose some moisture as it cooked in the oven, but might not lose as much in the m/wave. I started with a potato weighing around 400g and used about 2/3 of it in the recipe. The only change I made to the recipe was to use toasted hazelnuts instead of pecans, so that FB could eat the brownies.

After following the recipe exactly, I found it took a few minutes longer than stated to cook the tray of brownie batter -  it was liquid in the centre at 25 minutes, but by 30 minutes I was worried that it was overcooked, as it seemed so solid. So the correct end point is something to watch for closely.

The brownie was moist and dense and had just the texture that I like in a good brownie. There is no way that you would guess that it contained sweet potato, or that it was lower in fat and sugar. There were a few holes in the cooked brownie, rather than an even texture, but this doesn't spoil the flavour!

These will be made again, but only as an occasional treat for CT - he needs to stick to the oil based cakes.

13 comments:

Kate@whatkatebaked said...

Its great reading how you got on with this recipe Suelle- I too spied it in the Guardian last weekend and booked marked it. Your review sounds as though it was a really successful bake- I'll definitely be giving it a go!

Phil in the Kitchen said...

Nice idea - I could always do with some lower fat brownies. I'm sure that a few holes wouldn't bother me.

Brownieville Girl said...

Oh this one is right down my alley.

All the flavour and way less of the fat and sugar - SCORE!!!!!

Baking Addict said...

Great idea and I'm glad it tasted good. I will have to give this a go. Thanks!

Katie said...

I know this works really well. I actually did my uni dissertation about veg purees in brownies and sweet potato was the most succesful. I'd forgotten about them till now, will ahve to try this again

Anne said...

I'm really glad you posted this and it was successful, the brownies look delicious! I snagged a sweet recipe ages back involving sweet potato but hadn't dared to try it yet!

Anonymous said...

Oooh how interesting! Will have to make them :)

Jenny Eatwell said...

My hubby is ever so slightly diabetic, but loves chocolate, biscuits and cakes. These would hit two of those cravings, without as much damage as a lot of other cakes would incur. We love baked sweet potatoes, so we're onto a winner straight away. :)

Chele said...

Interesting! Clearly I am not venturing far enough into the realms of veggie brownies. I can imagine with sweet potato they would be pretty amazing!

Caroline said...

They look great - I think people are funny about veg in baked goods when they shouldn't be - I've successfully used courgette, carrot, parsnip, butternut squash, so there's no reason why it shouldn't work! Might have to give these a go!

The Caked Crusader said...

looks a great texture - I love that last photo where it looks rich and truffle-like. Yum.
I think we can all judge things by what's in them, but if we eat them and don't know the ingredients can come up with a different opinion!

Joanna @ Zeb Bakes said...

I will try them if you say they are good! I always look to you for all things brownie ! I like sweet potato and it sounds lovely. I have to say I wasn't keen on the beetroot brownies when they were in fashion, even though I love beetroot.

Choclette said...

Oh these do sound good. I really like the sound of using sweet potatoes. I expect it works a lot better than squash which can be rather watery.