Back in the mid 2000’s Jessica Seinfeld released a cookbook called Deceptively Delicious. It is targeted toward parents cooking and baking for their children so lots of child friendly things in this cookbook. Pretty much every recipe could be used to feed a family though. I mean, who doesn’t love a good Sloppy Joe or a big plate of Mac and Cheese? I purchased the book then even though it would be many years before I’d have children of my own and a possible need to hide good things in their food. I’ve since began using it for family treats. It turns out that my kids have pretty well developed palates and eat a wide variety of foods, fruit and veggies included. Honestly, they likely do better with their diets than many adults. I’m at the age now where diet is increasingly important to me for a variety of reasons and I have a major sweet tooth so I decided to work on adding more vitamins, minerals and fibre into those things instead of completely cutting them out.
I recently made the brownies with spinach and carrot purée and they were pretty amazing I must say! They definitely aren’t the decadent brownies you’d purchase at the local bake shop, laden with sugar and butter, their chewiness is definitely different than what we’ve come to expect from a brownie. BUT…..they are still pretty tasty, have a fudgy texture and are a great way to satisfy a craving while cutting down on fats, sugar and calories! Not to mention that they have 3 grams of fibre and the benefits of powerful antioxidants from the carrots and spinach.
These brownies were a huge hit in our house and I plan to make them again (and again!). If you have a garden, they are a great way to use up some of those items you may have extra of during the season. I literally just dunked the spinach in boiling water and it wilted immediately and was ready to purée. The carrots took a bit longer but chopped or sliced in small pieces, they will also cook quickly and were a cinch to purée in my Vitamix.
The only note I will add is to wait till they are completely cool before digging in. Otherwise, you will taste the spinach. Once cool though, you honestly would never know there are veggies hidden in them! Shhhhh, it’s our little secret!
Healthy Brownies
Equipment
- 8×8 Baking Pan
- Spatula
- Whisk
- Cooking Spray
- Double Boiler
Ingredients
- Cooking spray
- 3 Ounces Semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
- 1/2 Cup Carrot purée
- 1/2 Cup Spinach purée
- 1/2 Cup Firmly packed brown sugar
- 1/4 Cup Unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 Tbsp Fat free soft tub margarine spread or butter
- 2 Tsp Pure vanilla extract
- 2 Large egg whites
- 3/4 Cup Oat flour or all-purpose flour
- 1/2 Tsp Baking powder
- 1/2 Tsp Salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat an 8×8 inch baking pan with cooking spray.
- Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over low heat.
- In a large bowl, combine the melted chocolate, vegetable purées, sugar, cocoa powder, margarine and vanilla, and whisk until smooth and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Whisk in egg whites. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt with a spatula.
- Pour the batter into the pan and bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely in the pan before cutting into 12 bars.
Very interesting!