Sweet Potato Brownies Recipe

Ever crave a batch of brownies, but want to make them a bit healthier? By adding in vegetables or beans, brownies actually can be more nutritious and extra tasty. Sounds crazy, right? But have you tried black bean brownies? They are actually delicious. If the brownies are any bit healthier, it means we can eat more, right? We sure think so.

Recipe developer and registered dietitian nutritionist, Kristen Carli, MS, RD, brings us this recipe for sweet potato brownies. That's right! Cooked sweet potato puree hides in this recipe, making it great for picky kids and adults. The addition of sweet potato adds not only some extra nutrition, but also helps to create a gooey texture that is key to any great brownie recipe.

Keep reading for our step-by-step guide on how to make these delicious sweet potato brownies at home. You will have a new favorite veggie-packed dessert.

To make these gooey sweet potato brownies, we first need to gather our ingredients. For this recipe, we need one sweet potato, peanut butter, vanilla extract, flour, granulated sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, baking soda, and mini chocolate chips. You'll notice that this recipe does not call for eggs, butter, or oil. Instead, we are using peanut butter here as the source of fat and binding agent to keep these brownies together. As a result, they are extra gooey and full of peanut butter flavor.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. We need mashed sweet potato or sweet potato puree for this batter, so we need to start by cooking our sweet potato. Our favorite way to cook a sweet potato is in the microwave because it is so quick. Place the sweet potato in a small bowl. Poke it several times with a fork, then zap it in the microwave for 5-8 minutes, depending on the size of your sweet potato. Remove it from the microwave, cut it in half, and scoop out the flesh. Using a fork, mash up the flesh to have your mashed sweet potato ready to use.

Add your mashed sweet potato, the vanilla extract, and the peanut butter to the bowl of a stand mixer. Turn on the mixer and mix until the ingredients are combined. While baking recipes usually call for granulated sugar to be mixed in as a part of the wet ingredients, we are waiting to add the sugars to the dry ingredients. Just mix up the sweet potato, vanilla, and peanut butter and set this bowl aside.

Now, in a large bowl, add your remaining dry ingredients, except for the mini chocolate chips. Add the flour, sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, and baking soda. Using a whisk, mix the dry ingredients until they are well-incorporated. Be sure to mix these ingredients well so the baking soda is distributed throughout. With such a small amount of baking soda, this can be challenging. Stir until you see consistency in color in the dry ingredients.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Use the stand mixer to combine these ingredients into a thick batter. Then, add the mini chocolate chips. Using a spoon, mix the chocolate chips into the batter until they are evenly distributed. Add the batter to a prepared 8x8-inch baking dish that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Using the back of a spoon, spread this batter evenly. Place the baking dish in the oven and bake until the brownies are done, about 20 minutes. Allow the brownies to cool, then serve.