Beetroot chocolate brownies recipe

This squidgy, fudgy beetroot chocolate brownies recipe has a surprise healthy ingredient – beetroot! So you can feel a little less guilty about indulging your sweet tooth.

Ingredients (Makes 16 brownies)

250g dark chocolate (70 per cent cocoa solids)

100g butter, plus a little extra for greasing the tin

250g cooked beetroot, drained

3 eggs

250g light brown sugar

150g ground almonds

2tbsp cocoa powder

1tsp baking powder

1tsp vanilla extract

1tsp cayenne pepper powder (optional, and up to 1tsp according to taste)

Icing sugar to dust

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C or 180°C (if using a fan oven). Prepare a 23cm square baking tin by greasing all over with a little butter. Line with a wide strip of baking paper, leaving two ‘tails’ at either side to help you lift the cooked brownie out of the tin.

Break up the chocolate into squares and put into a heatproof bowl along with the butter. Set over a pan of barely simmering water and allow to gently melt, stirring to mix together as it does so.

Tip the beetroot into a food processor and process to a puree, pausing the motor to scrape down the sides if necessary. Add the melted chocolate and butter and the eggs and whizz again until combined. Again, scrape the sides down, then add the sugar, ground almonds, cocoa, baking powder and chilli powder (if using) and process until you have a smooth batter.

Pour into the prepared baking tin and bake for about 30-35 minutes until the top is set and the brownie is starting to pull a little away from the sides of the tin. A skew inserted into the centre will come out fairly clean but a touch sticky. Don’t worry if it still seems a little soft, as it will firm up on cooling and these brownie bites are designed to be quite squidgy and moist. Remove from the oven, place on a cooling rack and allow to go cold in the tin.

Using the baking paper tails, ease the brownie from the tin and cut into 16 squares. Dust the surface with a little icing sugar.

Recipe courtesy of lovebeetroot.co.uk