Gluten-Free Beet Brownies

Gluten-Free Beetroot Brownies... I am always intrigued with different sorts of recipes... recipes that have something out of the ordinary included... such as an ingredient or a technique that's not usually expected. So when I picked up the mail the other day, I noticed our local natural food store flyer advertising the weekly sales... inside the flyer, there were also a couple of recipes. 

As you can guess, one of the recipes in the flyer was for beet brownies. I just had to make it. Why, the recipe was gluten-free as well... requiring minimal ingredients... not to mention that it looked super simple to make. Oh, and I love beets:). Just never used them in a dessert.

These brownies are real chocolaty... and while they are called brownies, they have more of a cake-like texture... but still maintaining a very moist and fudgy interior  I can easily see them doubling up as cupcakes, frosted with a natural whipped coconut frosting.  However, I think my husband wouldn't mind them with a scoop or 2 of ice cream. But since we have no ice cream in the house, he has been enjoying them straight out of the freezer:). Hope you enjoy...

Note: While the pictures show 2 beets, recipe uses only 1 beet... I was boiling another to make a savory beet salad :) ... therefore, the 2 beets in the pictures. However, you can easily double the recipe and bake in a 13x9 pan.

Tip: Feel free to top brownies with additional chunks of chocolate, chopped nuts... or adding other flavors to the batter, coffee, orange zest, etc. 

You will need: adapted from Natural Grocers

1 medium beet, cooked till soft, (about 1 cup pureed)

1⁄2 cup honey

2 TBS coconut oil

1 TBS vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 cup almond flour

1⁄2 cup cacao powder ( I used Hersheys' dark)

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of sea salt

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 
• Line an 8x8 inch pan with parchment paper- can lightly grease paper.

1. Boil beet until easily pierced with a fork. ( I pressured cooked mine  for about 25 minutes or so).

2. Allow beet to cool before roughly chopping it and transferring it to a blender.

3. To the chopped beet, add the honey, coconut oil, and vanilla extract. Blend well until mixture is pureed finely... about a minute or so.

4. Stop blender and add the eggs and blend again until smooth... another 30 seconds or so.

5. In a large bowl, sift together the almond flour, cacao powder, baking powder and salt. 

6. Pour the beet mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well. 

7. Pour batter in prepared into 8x8 pan and level it out.

8. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out free of crumbs. Mine baked for 35 minutes.

9. Let cool completely before cutting. I especially like to cut and serve them after they have chilled in the fridge... somehow the flavors get better in the chilling process.