I bring this brownie to work all the time and, more often than not, the brownies go, within minutes. Sometimes people are taken aback at the “beetroot” element of the brownie and I always say that this is a “healthy” brownie and I always joke that beetroot that’s in it can count towards one of your five-a-day. But there is a large element of truth in that statement because there is a considerable amount of beetroot in the recipe — and beetroot is a vegetable! I know that most people are pleasantly surprised at how good the brownies taste. I think they expect the traditional beetroot taste to hit them, but in this recipe, you can’t really taste the beetroot. If anything, the beetroot enhances the taste of the chocolate.
I tweaked a recipe that I found in a supermarket’s magazine. I added more beetroot and reduced the amount of sugar in it. The brownies come out very moist and very fudgy.
Ingredients:
- 200g dark chocolate
- 200g butter
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 250g sugar
- 200g self-raising flour
- 300g vacuum packed cooked beetroot, grated
Directions:
- Break the chocolate into sections and together with the butter, place in a heatproof dish and stand over a pan of simmering water, making sure that the bottom of the bowl didn’t touch the water. Leave to allow the chocolate and butter to melt, stirring occasionally. Once the chocolate and butter are melted, set aside and allow to cool.
- Preheat oven to 180C.
- In a bowl, mix together eggs, vanilla and sugar. Beat until the eggs are light yellow in colour. Beat in the melted chocolate until well-combined. The mixture will thicken slightly as you mix the chocolate into the egg and sugar mixture. Gently fold in the flour and beetroot..
- Spoon the mixture into a prepared pan (greased and lined with parchment paper) and bake for 40-45 minutes. It is done when a toothpick inserted comes out relatively clean. Cool in the pan for about 5 minutes and then remove from the baking tin and cool completely on a wire rack.
- Will make 16-24 squares, depending on how big you slice your squares.