Description
These vegan and gluten free beet brownies are made with a not-so-secret ingredient: beet pulp! They're SO fudgy, rich and delicious, especially topped with a bright pink frosting and chocolate chips. You really can't taste the beets much, but they add so much moisture (and a hidden serving of veggies!).
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 cup of beet pulp (from about 2-3 beets)*
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips, melted and cooled to room temperature
- 1 cup gluten free all purpose flour*
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1/2 cup cacao powder (unsweetened cocoa powder)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup vegan butter, softened
- 1/2 cup cane sugar
- 1/2 cup maple syrup, brought to room temp
- 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce, brought to room temp
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup nondairy milk
Frosting:
- 1/2 cup vegan butter, softened
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ tsp beet juice
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚F. Grease a 9x9 pan and line with parchment paper.
- Juice beets. Reserve some of the beet juice for the frosting. (Otherwise, enjoy it plain or in this recipe!) Set aside 1 cup of beet pulp.
- Melt chocolate chips in 30 second increments in the microwave, stirring well between each interval, until melted. Set aside to cool slightly.
- In a mixing bowl, stir together all purpose flour, almond flour, cacao powder, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in maple syrup, applesauce and vanilla and continue mixing until smooth. Slowly add in dry mixture. Once you've added about half of the dry ingredients, slowly stream in the milk. Add remaining dry mixture, then mix in beet pulp and melted chocolate until smooth. The batter will be relatively thick (see blog post for photos).
- Pour batter into pan, spread evenly and bake for 35-40 minutes on the bottom rack of oven. Remove and let cool completely.
- While the brownies are cooling, make the frosting. Cream butter until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and slowly mix in powdered sugar until thick and creamy. Add in beet juice. Wait to frost brownies until they are completely cool to the touch. Top with mini chocolate chips and enjoy!
Notes
*If you don't have a juicer, you can blend a few beets in a food processor until they form a puree, then use a cheesecloth to strain and separate the pulp from the juice. Just remember that your cheesecloth will be stained red!
*Add 1/4 tsp of xanthan gum if your gluten free flour mix doesn't contain any.
These brownies are best stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Brownie
- Calories: 351
- Sugar: 31.6 g
- Sodium: 195.5 mg
- Fat: 18.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 11.4 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 43.9 g
- Fiber: 3.2 g
- Protein: 3.2 g
- Cholesterol: 0.5 mg
