Who knew chocolate brownies could be so healthy?!
“You need to eat lots more veggies!” You’ve probably heard that a lot recently. In fact, you might even be saying that to your family a lot too! Sometimes in vain! That’s certainly what I keep reminding my clients to do.
During these challenging times, your veggies may help support your immune system ward off the bugs. But if you’re not use to eating heaps, it can seem quite daunting and perhaps, dare I say, boring at first? I usually use dressings and the like to jazz up my steamed or salad veggies or add different ones to a smoothie to help keep my intake high.
But my favourite way, albeit a tad decadent, is to blend sweeter veg into my gluten free chocolate brownie recipes. So I thought I’d share some of these sumptuous recipes with you. I’m kicking off with healthy chocolate beetroot brownies.
Healthy because the almond meal and eggs provide much-needed protein whilst the beetroot delivers good amounts of versatile antioxidants and folate, which is involved in so many bodily processes from energy production to balancing moods. And we all know how good chocolate is for the soul and much more! With no gluten, dairy, refined sugar or artificial additives these beat shop-bought cakes hands down.
I know I’m a bit partial, but these moist chocolate brownies are simply delicious!
Ingredients:
- 1 cup grated raw beetroot (don’t worry if you end up with a few little chunks)
- 1 cup of almond meal (you could use ground almonds)
- 1/4 cup cacao powder
- 1 tsp baking powder (gluten-free)
- 3 large eggs, separated
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1/4 cup rice syrup
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 180C.
- Line a greased 20cm square cake tin with baking paper.
- Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl.
- In another bowl, beat the egg yolks and stir in the rice syrup and coconut oil.
- Whisk the egg whites until peaks form and put to one side.
- Add the beetroot to the egg yolk mixture.
- Add the dry ingredients to the beetroot mixture.
- Then gently fold the egg whites into the mixture – try not to over-mix.
- Spread the mixture into the cake tin and level off the top with a spatula.
- Bake in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes or until the centre is cooked.
- Allow to cool for a few minutes in the tin then place on a cooling rack.
- Once cooled, cut into squares and serve up with coconut yoghurt or with a cuppa 🙂
Enjoy! If you need some tailored immune support, please feel free to get in touch.