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Home » Recipes » Holiday Recipes » Thanksgiving Recipes » Homemade Brownies Recipe: Sweet Potato Brownies

Homemade Brownies Recipe: Sweet Potato Brownies

By meredith on May 27, 2014 · 3 Comments

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homemade sweet potato brownies recipe

Sweet Potato Brownies Recipe

When my husband and I started our family, we made a commitment to creating healthier options from the kitchen: homemade foods made with wholesome ingredients and lots of nutrition. However, we also didn’t want to deprive our children of delicious sweets and lots of flavors. That’s when I began to learn the art of adapting food. The key to adapting is not to have an “all or nothing” attitude. In other words, you don’t have to substitute an entire ingredient in order to make the food healthier. Break it down into portions. For example, if your favorite muffin recipe calls for 1 cup of butter and your family is trying to decrease their fat intake, you can substitute half of the one cup with one ‘on-the-go’ toddler fruit pouch, which is approx. ½ cup. There are so many ideas out there – whole wheat flour for half the white, fat-free greek yogurt mixed in with the cream…and so on.

Most often, our family adapts recipes to make them have less sugar. Again, I’m not going to substitute the entire amount of sugar, just a portion. What will fill the empty spot, you say? But of course, sweet vegetables! There are a number of inexpensive vegetables available at the grocery store with natural high sugar content….beets, corn, squash, carrots, pumpkin and sweet potatoes. Soften them, and add them into your recipe. It’s that easy.

Today I’m going to show you how to add sweet potatoes to homemade sweet potato brownies. The original recipe called for 1 ¼ cups sugar. I adapted the recipe to include 1 cup cooked sweet potatoes + ½ cup sugar + 2 T. pure maple syrup. There is plenty of sweetness to carry through the brownie, but now your dessert has potassium and vitamin A. When you adopt an ingredient within a recipe to make it healthier and it doesn’t affect the flavor, that’s success!

Come on into my kitchen!

Sweet Potato Brownies Homemade Ingredient

Here are the ingredients. Most of them you probably have on hand – the only weirdo is coconut oil, but you can use any other oil in its place. We like to use coconut oil in recipes that only call for a small amount of oil as you can’t taste the coconut flavor, but get the health benefits like medium chain triglycerides 🙂

roasting sweet potatoes to make brownies

Start off by peeling and chopping 1 cup of raw sweet potatoes. The potatoes should be heaping since there will be unused air space in the cup.

using sweet potatoes instead of sugar in dessert

Now, you will want to cook them until soft. You can boil them, microwave them in a bowl of water or (my preferred method), you can bake them in a hot oven. Grease your pan with olive oil, spread out the potatoes and bake them in a 425-degree oven for 20 minutes.

ingredients to make sweet potato brownies

Meanwhile, combine your dry ingredients in a bowl… 1 cup flour, ½ cup cocoa powder, 1 tsp. baking powder and dash salt

using teaspoons for brownies

If you are like me, you want to know exactly how much a dash is. I used to think it was a sprinkle, but actually, a dash = ⅛ tsp. In this picture, I’m showing a ¼ teaspoon measuring spoon and a dash measuring spoon, exactly half the size of the ¼ teaspoon. I could have easily said ⅛ tsp. salt, but “dash” sounds so culinary! 🙂

sweet potato brownie dry ingredients

Use a whisk to blend the dry ingredients together and prevent those pesky lumps!

wet ingredients for sweet potato brownies

In your mixer bowl, add the ½ cup sugar, egg, 1 tsp. vanilla, 4 T of oil {coconut, vegetable or canola}and 2 T. pure maple syrup. If you don’t have maple syrup, honey works fine, but that hint of maple goes great with the sweet potato!

how to make sweet potato brownies at home

Beat on high for 30 seconds with your whisk attachment until frothy. If you don’t have a stand-up or hand mixer, you can do this by hand and get a great workout!

roasing sweet potatoes for use in dessert instead of sugar

Now ready for the secret ingredient. When your potatoes are done, you should be able to easily stick a fork through it – nice and soft.

steps to make homemade brownies

Add the hot, cooked potatoes right into the mixing bowl.  Beat on high for 1 minute until the batter turns a lovely orange and there are just little bits of sweet potato evidence. Don’t worry; they will disappear when we add the dry!

using a kitchen aid mixer to make brwonies

Now, with the mixer on slow, add your dry ingredients.

how to make homemade brownies

Beat on high until the batter resembles boxed brownie mix – thick and creamy. You are free to add chocolate chips or nuts (like my favorite brownies) if your family enjoys that!

healthy brownies made with sweet potatoes

Spread the batter into a greased 8×8 square pan and put into a preheated 350-degree oven.

sweet potato brownies

Check the sweet potato brownies at 15 minutes with a toothpick or cake tester in the middle of the pan. If the toothpick comes out with bits of  moist brownie on it,  go ahead and take them out.  They will cook the rest of way in the pan. You don’t want to overcook them! If the toothpick comes out with wet batter, you will need another minute or two.

Allow them to cool and cut into 12 brownies. You don’t have to, but these brownies will last longer if you store them in the refrigerator.

moist homemade sweet potato brownies

There you have it! I guarantee you that nobody will notice the cup of sweet potatoes in there. These are absolutely delicious with a rich and very moist cake like texture. If you prefer your brownies on the more fudgy side, simply decrease the flour to ¾ cup. Either way, what a success!

Oh, and one unique thing about these sweet potato brownies is that they are the perfect dessert to make ahead. The flavors really meld after a day and they are even better!

Enjoy!

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moist homemade sweet potato brownies

Homemade Brownies Recipe Made With Sweet Potatoes

★★★★★ 5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Meredith
  • Prep Time: 40 min
  • Cook Time: 15 min
  • Total Time: 55 minutes
  • Yield: 12 1x
  • Category: Dessert
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Description

Moist homemade sweet potato brownies seasoned with cocoa powder and maple syrup.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 cup cooked sweet potatoes
  • 1 cup flour**
  • ½ cup cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • dash salt {⅛ t.}
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 4 T. oil {coconut, vegetable or canola}
  • 2 T. pure maple syrup or honey
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • **Decrease flour to ¾ cup if you prefer more fudge-like brownies.

Instructions

  1. Peel and chop 1 heaping cup of raw sweet potatoes.
  2. Boil, microwave or bake the potatoes until soft.
  3. Meanwhile, combine the flour, ½ cup cocoa powder, 1 tsp. baking powder and dash salt into a large bowl. Whisk them together to prevent lumps.
  4. In a mixer bowl, combine ½ cup sugar, egg, 1 tsp. vanilla, 4 T of oil {coconut, vegetable or canola}, and 2 T. maple syrup.
  5. Beat on high for 30 seconds with your whisk attachment until frothy.
  6. Add the hot, cooked potatoes right into the mixing bowl.
  7. Beat on high for 1 minute until the batter turns a lovely orange and there are just little bits of sweet potato.
  8. Now, with the mixer on slow, add your dry ingredients and beat on high another minute until thick and creamy. Feel free to add chocolate chips or nuts!
  9. Spread the batter into a greased 8×8 square pan and put in a preheated 350-degree oven.
  10. Brownies are done when toothpick or cake tester comes out with bits of moist brownie on it. {Check at 15 min}
  11. Allow them to cool and cut into 12 brownies. Best if stored in the refrigerator.

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Meredith is a pastor’s wife and stay-at-home mom living in NW Ohio. She loves to adapt recipes to her family’s eclectic tastes and is learning to provide nourishment for any bellies who walk through the door at a moment’s notice. If not in the kitchen, you’ll find Meredith in front of her sewing machine or spend quality time with her home and church families. Life goes by so fast!

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About meredith

Meredith is a pastor’s wife and stay-at-home mom living in NW Ohio and is the author and photographer of many recipes on Cleverly Simple. She loves to adapt recipes to her family’s eclectic tastes and is learning to provide nourishment for any bellies who walk through the door at a moment’s notice.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jennifer

    January 19, 2019 at 12:01 pm

    We loved it!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Meredith

      January 20, 2019 at 8:54 pm

      Glad you liked them Jennifer!

      Reply
  2. The Future Mrs. Vines

    February 17, 2016 at 8:42 pm

    Ooh! Good idea to use sweet potatoes. I love your thoughts on the art of adapting food. It’s on point and it really helps folks who are looking for “healthier” recipes know that it’s okay to substitute only SOME healthier ingredients to preserve the taste, then if desired work towards more.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

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Lynette Rice head shotHi, I’m Lynette. My desire is to help women who feel uninspired weave time honored recipes into their routines to create a sense of simplicity. Most of my recipes come from the treasured recipe box passed down from my great-grandma, grandmother and mother. And I want to share them with you.  Learn more.

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