Friends, I am pretty excited about this new recipe! These brownies are so moist and fudgy, yet I didn’t use any butter nor refined sugar to make them. That must be some kind of miracle, right? The frosting is great too and will melt in your mouth, although it is so much healthier than regular buttercream frosting -and it is super easy to make too! The secret ingredient that allowed me not to use butter and to reduce the amount of sweetener in the brownies is… Sweet potato! That’s right! Which means that, on top of being pretty low in calories, these brownies are also a good source of fibers, vitamins (especially Vit. A) and minerals. They are also dairy-free and have a gluten-free option. Now, if like me you have a big child at home who doesn’t like to try out new ingredients or untraditional recipes, just do as I did: don’t tell him what’s in the brownies until after he tasted it. Or don’t tell him at all. He will never notice (and eat the whole thing so fast!) because you can’t taste the sweet potato at all!

PS: These babies will stay moist and soft for a few days so you can easily keep them in the fridge for a bit. Yay!

Makes 8-10 servings

• 1 ½ (300gr) cups cooked and mashed sweet potato -see instructions below (about one very large sweet potato or 2 medium)
• ½ to ⅔ (90-100gr) cup dark chocolate chips (if needed, make sure they are dairy-free)
• 5-7 tbsp maple syrup (depending on your taste and how sweet the potatoes are)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 eggs
• ½ cup (60gr) unsweetened cacao powder
• ½ cup (60gr) flour (for a gluten-free option, I substituted regular flour for a mix between almond meal and rice flour)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt
• Frosting: 5-10cl coconut milk + 1 cup dark chocolate chips

Prepare the mashed sweet potato: peel and cut the potato in small pieces. Cook in boiling water until soft. Drain, and mash with fork or food processor into a fine and smooth purée. While the purée is still hot, pour the chocolate chips in it and stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is blended. Add the maple syrup and vanilla extract.

In a large bowl, combine flour, cacao powder, baking powder and salt. Add the eggs and stir well. Pour the sweet potato-chocolate mixture and stir into a thick batter. You can taste it and decide if you want to add some more maple syrup (note: the frosting is sweeter than the brownie so the brownie batter doesn’t need to be extremely sweet in itself, but if you are planning on eating the brownie plain, without any frosting, then you might want to add more syrup than indicated). Pour batter into a lined or greased brownie pan, spread evenly, and bake in the preheated oven (180°C/360°F) for about 20-25′, until cooked through (although a knife inserted in the center of the cake should not come out totally clean as the cake should stay pretty moist). Cool in the pan before adding the frosting.

Frosting: use 5 to 10cl coconut milk depending on how thick you want your frosting to be, and also depending if you use the top part of the coconut milk can, which is thicker, or the bottom which is more liquid. In a small saucepan (or in the microwave), heat coconut milk, turn off heat right when it starts simmering. Pour the chocolate chips, and stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is blended. Pour frosting in a bowl, and allow to cool in the fridge until thickened but still spreadable. Spread on the brownie in a thick layer. Refrigerate the cake for about 30′ to firm up. Cut in large squares and enjoy plain or with toppings of your choice: chopped walnuts, coconut flakes, fresh fruits,…