The Best Brownie Recipe – Nut, Grain, Dairy and Sugar free

I’ve done it. After more-than-I-care-to-admit-healthy-recipe-fails, I’ve nailed it. I’ve been trying to cut out grains for a long time, and while I had the savory side of things sorted, I just craved, craved the cake-y-ness that grains impart. I’ve tried nuts (and I do love a nut) but they are more dense, not as light and fluffy as I needed. This recipe has me so excited, not unlike the excitement of giving birth (I may be only slightly exaggerating here)Not only have I made something that is being demolished before my eyes, not only is it nut, grain, sugar and dairy free, but it is about 90% vegetables. A vegetable my children hate. In fact, they hate it so much that over the years when I’ve made it in twohundredandninetytwo different incarnations: mashed, baked, fried, in every combination, noses have been turned up at it (picky, cruel children) Ha! children! Ha!

This was the recipe that I started off with. It was nice, very nice indeed. But not precisely what I was looking for, and, I’m not mad about honey in baking (any goodness is destroyed at high temperatures) So, I ate and baked, fiddled with ingredients and quantities and ate and dreamed of concoctions.

And came up with this. Moist and fudge-y but not cloying or “wet”. So wheat-cake-like it’s laughable, and just the right amount of sweetness. It is also infinitely changeable: I’m going to try use carrots next and perhaps pumpkin, all which I think would work well. I’ve made it using butter (so not dairy free) and a chocolate topping (dairy and sugar) and also made it without: it remains, well, fabulous!! Don’t omit the avocado, it makes it silky smooth; and do use a food processor to create that fudge like texture.

I’ve noted all transgressions off the dairy, nut, grain and sugar path below in the recipe; feel free to experiment (and please let me know how you get on!)

The Nest’s Best Brownie Recipe

3 cups (400g) of grated sweet potato
1 avocado
1/2 cup (110g) melted coconut oil [or butter: I will be honest, I prefer butter, and butter is so good for you]
2 medium eggs
1/2 cup cacao or cocoa powder
1/2 cup maple syrup (or coconut sugar)
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of coconut flour [or a grain flour; but if you do, double quantities to 4 tablespoons as coconut flour soaks up a lot more moisture]

Topping:
1/2 cup cocoa powder
6 tablespoons organic coconut oil (melted/liquid)
1 tablespoon maple syrup

Or

100g chocolate (I used 51% cocoa solids)
60g butter

Method:

Preheat the oven to 185’C / 365’F (Make sure the oven is hot) Line a square 9″ tin with grease proof paper.

Grate the sweet potato on the coarse grater (I know, I know, I could do this in the food processor, but I couldn’t find the attachment and, as I was in the middle of a Brownie Epiphany, I just did it with the hand grater)

Put the sweet potato into the food processor with the avocado and eggs and blitz until slushy. Pour in the oil [or butter], add in the cacao or cocoa and maple syrup. Add in the baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and vanilla, and finally the coconut flour. The mixture should be quite sloppy, almost liquid-pourable.

Pour it into the tin, smoothing out the top and put it into the oven for 30 minutes until firm.

For the topping: In a small saucepan over a low heat, melt the ingredients until melted and pour over the top and let set before cutting into squares.

Devour and savour, feeling justifiably smug in your awesomeness, hee hee

• Brownie recipe,
• dairy free,
• grain free,
• nut free,
• Paleo,
• sugar free