If you are dieting or simply striving to eat healthier, it can be difficult to avoid the temptation of sneaking in a cookie here and a sleeve of Oreos there. Most of these snack foods we crave, however, are empty calories with loads of sugar.

Personally, I used to avoid all desserts like the plague when I first began getting into fitness and nutrition for fear that they would slow down my fat loss goals and sabotage my efforts to get a 6-pack. This made it extremely hard to adhere to a healthy diet since I constantly felt deprived and consequently fell off plan.

I have since learned that just because you are on a diet doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to avoid everything that slightly resembles a dessert. All you need is some smart cooking strategies, some simple recipe substitutions, and a little creativity to turn a sugary death trap into a delicious AND nutritious dessert.

The following healthy brownie recipe is one of my ‘go to’ recipes that will not only satisfy your sweet-tooth, but will do so in under 30 minutes of cooking time.

sweet-potato-brownieThe Ultimate Sweet Potato Brownies

Yield: 12-16 brownies
Ingredients:
  • 3/4 cup sweet potato puree
  • 1 cup peanut or almond butter OR allergy-friendly sub
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp flour (Oat, white, or spelt flour all work, and readers have reported success with almond flour)
  • 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips + more for the top, optional
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar of choice (I used stevia)
  • 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/8 tsp salt

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Line an 8-inch pan with parchment paper or grease well.
  2. Gently heat your nut butter until easily stir-able. Then whisk it together with the sweet potato and vanilla extract in a large bowl.
  3. In a separate bowl, stir together all remaining ingredients – make sure that baking soda is evenly incorporated!
  4. Pour dry into wet (not the other way around), and smooth into the prepared pan, scooping out all traces of batter and using a second sheet of parchment to really smooth it down evenly.
  5. Bake on the center oven rack 20 minutes. It will look a little underdone, but it firms up as it cools. (If, for some reason, yours is still too gooey after cooling, loosely cover and let it sit in the fridge a few hours.)

With Love From the Trench Kitchen,

xoxoErika♥