Deliciously Ella Brownies

Happy February, y'all! As you've probably gathered by now from my previous posts I'm always on the lookout for healthy, alternative recipes to satisfy my super sweet tooth. It would seem that my entire instagram feed has recently become obsessed with @deliciouslyella and her wonderfully nutritious recipies {no but seriously, her book is brilliant} so I decided to jump on the band wagon and attempt to bake some of Deliciously Ella's sweet potato brownies.

Ok so first things first, let's get one thing straight. You can't be expecting these to taste exactly like a chocolate brownie, because that's not what they are. If you want a brownie, make some god damn brownies! But if you're looking to curb your sweet tooth with something much more healthy & filling, with the look and the incredibly gooey texture of a brownie, then these will do the trick. They're full of goodness too: dates, almonds, sweet potatoes... and a few drops of pure maple syrup. Full of fibre! So you can feel satisfied without the guilt. Hallelujah!

I've been a big fan of using vegetables in cake mixtures ever since falling in love with Red Velvet Chocolate Heartache {the most amazing recipe book by Harry Eastwood}. You can replace unhealthy fats (butter, lard, oil) and flour in cakes with root vegetables such as carrots, beetroots and sweet potatoes. Vegetables contain much healthier, natural sugars and fibres which offer great sweetness and velvety textures. Ella's sweet potato brownies are exactly that... sweet and velvety. 

So here's the recipe if you're interested:

 -2 medium to large sweet potatoes 600g)

- 2/3 of a cup of ground almonds (80g)

- 1/2 a cup of buckwheat or brown rice flour (100g)

- 14 medjool dates

- 4 tablespoons of raw cacao

- 3 tablespoons of pure maple syrup

- a pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. 

Peel the sweet potatoes, chop into large chunks and steam over a pan of boiling water for about twenty minutes, until soft.

Chuck the dates into a food processor and blend. Add the soft sweet potatoes and blend again. You'll get the thickest, sweetest mixture!

Add the rest of the ingredients and blend again so everything is mixed up nicely.

Chuck everything into a baking dish lined with baking parchment and bake for about 25 minutes. You should be able to stick a knife in and bring it out dry.

Cut into squares and leave to cool.

Enjoy each bite!

You can find out more about Deliciously Ella here on her website.

I'll definitely be making these again. High five, Ella!

Lydia xxx