Beetroot. An ingredient I love to use in savoury meals – and I’ve been reaaally curious to try using it in a brownie recipe for quite a while. But at the same time it’s not for everyone, and I wanted to create a brownie that would have a good chocolate-y vibe as well. Because let’s face it, healthier versions of treats like brownies and cookies are all good in my opinion (although of course ain’t nothing wrong with the traditional versions occasionally too!), but if they don’t match up for taste, it ain’t worth it!

So this recipe combines beetroot and red kidney beans for a plant powered snack! I’ve added a double whammy of chocolate by using cacao powder AND some chocolate protein powder. I love to use That Protein (NOT sponsored, NOT an ad, just good vibes for these guys) because their chocolate brown rice powders have a great authentic flavour, plus no harm getting in a little extra plant protein too! And of course, I had to add some dark chocolate chips in the form of cacao nibs. Finally, the icing on the cake was throwing in walnut chunks – healthy fats and a cheeky crunch for the win! So, let’s get baking guys!

Recipe (Makes 16 brownies)

Ingredients

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp cacao powder
• 2 heaped tbsp Chocolate Protein Powder (I used That Protein Chirpy Choca Mocha Brown Rice Protein)
• 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 1 egg (to make a vegan version, sub this for 1 flax egg – 1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water)
• 1/2 cup cooked beetroot (sliced or whole)
• 1 400g tin of red kidney beans (or black beans)
• 1 cup of quick cook oats (to be blended into oat flour)
• 100ml of milk of choice (I used Coconut Milk)
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
• Topping: 1 handful of cacao nibs or dark chocolate chips
• Optional: 1 tbsp sweetener of choice (e.g. honey, maple syrup, etc)

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C (fan oven).
2. Blend the oats into flour using your food processor or blender (I used my Nutribullet).
3. Once blended, chuck the oat flour into a mixing bowl, and add the rest of your dry ingredients (baking powder, cacao, protein powder, cinnamon), and mix well. Leave the walnuts and cacao nibs/chocolate chips aside for the moment.
4. Add your wet ingredients to the food processor/blender (milk, egg, beetroot, beans, coconut oil, sweetener) and keep the power on until fully blended.
5. Pour the wet mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients, and using a large spoon (and a bit of arm action!), stir until everything is nicely smooth.
6. Add the chopped walnuts, and using the spoon, fold them into your brownie batter.
7. Line a baking tin with greaseproof paper, or do what I do – line a tin with tinfoil and grease the inside of it with some melted coconut or olive oil. You just want to stop your batter from sticking!
8. Pour the brownie mix into the baking tin, and smooth it out with the back of a spoon so it’s evenly spread.
9. Sprinkle the cacao nibs/chocolate chips on top.
10. Bake in the oven for 30 – 35 minutes – if a toothpick comes out clean at that 30 minutes, you’re good to go!
11. Leave to cool for 10-15 minutes before slicing!

Enjoy guys! I’d love to know what you think of these – beetroot isn’t for everyone, but I think the chocolate-y flavour of these really came through 🙂 Tag me if you try them out – @theirishbalance on Instagram or Twitter!

Ciara 🙂 x