Hello Momma! Welcome to Foodie Friday.. where my natural sweet tooth comes to play.
Something you’ll find out about me through this blog is my absolute love for chocolate and desserts! I have been craving brownies lately, I don’t know why, I don’t know when it began, but it was all I could think about. So I finally buckled down, set aside some time, probably around midnight on a weeknight (because I would pick the worst time to start a new project) and I got to recipe testing. Now, I am a huge dessert person, and I usually make desserts for any party I attend, so I have general knowledge around the sugary, chocolatey, extremely yummy recipes. I have made it my goal to convert some of these favourites into a healthier version, so I can enjoy them with a little less guilt. When I was pregnant, I tried to be careful about what I consumed simply because I had a little bean relying on me to make good choices. So, these healthy recipes allow me to indulge more often. It is all about balance, baby! I also like converting these recipes because I want to have them around the house for my children as they grow up. I want to make sure I am providing them with healthy snacks that they will still enjoy. I know that no matter what, they’re going to want sugar and sweet snacks, but I hope that my knowledge and skills will help to balance those cravings and still make healthy treats fun!
Overall, most of these healthy recipes are a work in progress. I feel the more you fiddle with them, the more you can get out of it, so I am not 100% on this recipe. But, overall, the brownies are gooooood and definitely satisfy my chocolate craving. My husband wasn’t too convinced with my first batch, but then I added the frosting and he was convinced. I have a lot of food sensitivities, so I try to keep a lot of those irritants out of my recipes. However, I have recently incorporated some greek yogurt into my diet and have been surviving, so I included it in this one, for added moisture. Also, I recommend keeping these in the fridge for storage. Just out of the fridge, they are less cakey, and have more of a fudge texture. If you prefer a cake texture, leave it out of the fridge for a few hours and they will be very soft, crumbly, but extremely cakey, and DELICIOUS!! So, storage of these bad boys depends on what you’re going for and what you prefer. Both are yummy to me.
Cash Creations: “Healthified” Brownies
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time out of your life: 45 mins
- Bake those brownies in a 8×8 pan
Brownie Ingredients:
- 1 Cup of Melted Dark Chocolate (can be chips or chopped and I used 70% in this recipe)
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1 cup Greek yogurt (2% fat)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/3 cup coconut palm sugar
- 3/4 cup oat flour
- 1/4 cup rich cacao powder
- 1/2 cup of mini dark chocolate chips (70% if you can find them)
Brownie Icing:
- One cooked & cut up sweet potato (about one cup)
- 1/2 cup cacao powder
- 1/4 maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon of greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup almond milk
- 2 tablespoons of almond butter
Here’s how you do it…
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Line your 8 x 8 pan parchment paper and spray the sides with non-stick spray (if you can get coconut oil spray, that is what I use).
- Heat up some water on the stove using a double boiler. Include your dark chocolate and your coconut oil and stir until it is completely smooth. Remove from heat. (modified version would be to combine and put in the microwave until it is melted)
- Allow the mixture to cool a bit prior to adding anything else.
- Once cooled, add in your greek yogurt and stir to combine.
- Next, add your maple syrup, stirring to combine.
- Stir in the vanilla, salt, baking soda, and coconut sugar.
- Once all is combined, you can stir in your rich cacao powder and the oat flour. (If you don’t have oat flour on hand, you can food process oats to a fine texture and measure out the correct amount from that).
- Pour in the mini dark chocolate chips, folding over the mixture to incorporate them.
- Spoon your mixture into your 8 x 8 pan. Don’t be surprised if it is very thick, this is totally normal! Use a spatula to smooth out the top, for a clean finish.
- When you’re ready, bake the brownies in the oven for 28-30 minutes. I always check with a toothpick, as well.
- Once it is ready, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool on a wire rack.
*I prefer waiting until the next day to frost, and letting it refrigerated over night. But if you’re pressed for time and want to get right in there, allow it to cool and go for it!
*If you can, prep your cooked sweet potato ahead of time by removing the skin, cutting it up into cubes and putting it in a baking pan with a tablespoon of water. I find that helps to make them softer, faster. I usually bake them around 400 degrees for about 45 minutes, moving them around every 15 minutes or so. With a fork, check to see if they’re soft and when they are, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool.
Brownie Icing:
- In a blender, put your cooked sweet potato and blend until smooth.
- Put in your almond milk, greek yogurt, maple syrup and blend until smooth.
- Throw in the cacao powder and blend!
- Add in the almond butter (my favourite) and blend.
- I like to scrape down the sides every so often to make sure everything is combining nicely. I am a huge fan of sweet potato icing and I just kind of wing it each time. If it doesn’t taste quite right, I usually adjust the maple syrup or cacao.
- Once it is all blended and resembles pudding, you can ice the cooled brownies.
- *Optional* you can add some fun sprinkles for a hint of colour to top off these yummy brownies.
- Cut up in squares and store in an air tight container in the fridge for three days. I actually couldn’t eat them fast enough because my husband wasn’t home so I tossed them into the freezer to keep for a bit longer. They were still bomb!! Just take one out and allow it to defrost.
** Warning** This recipe will likely result in left-over frosting…. I mean.. not the worst thing in the world… I just ended up eating it as pudding… no big deal. But you have been warned.
Lisha xo
