The wonders of going on an elimination diet is that it get you to be creative with your bakes. I've seen recipes with sweet potatoes before and have been meaning to give them a go but didn't ever get around to it. Well, I finally did and have come up with a vegan and gluten-free recipe. I thought brownies would be the best choice to include sweet potato as it allows you to see how the mixture bakes and if it can be gooey as well as set. I think the outcome is surprisingly good. These brownies are as you would expect, cakey around the edges and soft and gooey in the middle. The one thing I would say about these is they're not as chocolatey and rich as dairy brownies given they're only cocoa based. It's the sea salt flakes which really help create the sense of richness and luxury. I've seen a lot of recipes which use blends of various gluten-free flours, I have to admit I just used Sainsbury's gluten-free plain flour and found it did the job well. In terms of the nut butter I opted to use almond which is a little pricy but I didn't want it to dominate. You could use peanut butter though if you like. As for the nuts, if you do want to sprinkle them over the top I would always recommend pecans.
Serves 18-24
Hands-on Time 15 minutes
Baking Time 60 minutes
Ingredients
1 Sweet potato, medium (approx 350g)
150g Light brown sugar
200g Nut butter
30ml Olive oil
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
60g Plain flour (gluten-free)
50g Cocoa powder
1 tsp Instant coffee powder (fine)
1 1/4 tsp Baking powder (gluten-free)
1/4 tsp Fine salt
50-100g Nuts (optional)
Sea salt flakes, pinch
Equipment
Roasting pan
Knife
Spoon
Food processor
Spatula
Baking pan, deep sided (25cmx20cm)
Baking parchment
Wire rack
Preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C (Fan)/375°F/Gas mark 5.
Pop the potato into the roasting pan and bake for 30 minutes until the centre feels soft when poked with a knife.
Remove from oven and leave until it’s cool enough to handle.
Lower the oven to 170°C/150°C (Fan)/325°F/Gas mark 3.
Halve the potato and scoop 250 grams of the flesh into the bowl of a food processor. Blend for 1 minute until you have a puree.
Add the sugar, nut butter, oil, and vanilla and blend until combined.
Finally add the flour, cocoa, coffee powder, baking powder, and fine salt, and blend again until smooth and combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl in case there are bits that aren’t incorporated.
Line a baking pan with parchment.
Tip the brownie mix into the pan and smooth out using the spatula.
Sprinkle the nuts over the top of the mixture along with a pinch of fine sea salt flakes.
Pop the pan into the oven on a middle shelf and bake for 30 minutes.
When the time is up remove from the oven and leave to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before lifting up by the paper and leaving to cool on a wire rack.
Enjoy!
