Beet Brownies (Dairy Free)

These beet brownies are made with roasted beets, a combination of dark chocolate and cocoa powder, dates as well as coconut oil for added flavour. They are moist and chocolatey, not too sweet and made without dairy. Easy to make and delicious the next day, too!

These beet brownies are a delicious way of including more vegetables in your diet and getting your family to eat more beets (see also beet chocolate muffins). The beet flavour is well hidden and even my own children who have learned to suspect everything coming out of the kitchen to contain something 'healthy' couldn't tell they were eating beets. They simply enjoyed their brownies!

My dairy free beet brownies are made with coconut oil, which makes a fantastic pairing with both the beets as well as the chocolate, adding a hint of coconut flavour. The chocolate flavour is a combination of dark chocolate (which adds richness and improves the flavour) and cocoa powder, which also replaces some of the flour.

These brownies with beets have a soft texture at first but will become denser (but not stodgy) as they cool. They are a little cakey, but richer, though not quite like classic fudgy brownies (due to the high amount of moisture from the beets). If you keep them refrigerated they'll become fudgier.

Beet brownies ingredients and substitutions

• Beets:

Use raw, unpeeled beets. This recipe will not work with ready-cooked beets from the grocery store. See my preparation tips below.

• Chocolate:

I recommend 60-70% cocoa content. You can use either chocolate chips or regular dark chocolate (the benefit of using chocolate chips is that they melt evenly). Use dairy free chocolate if required.

• Cocoa powder: or use cacao, instead.

• Dates:

They add natural sweetness, improve the flavour as well as texture. I tested several versions of this recipe, using different amounts of dates, and finally settled on a combination of dates and sugar. I found that using just dates made these brownies a little too rich - the dates almost overpowered not just the beets but also the chocolate.

• Coconut oil: you can use vegetable oil instead, if preferred.
• All purpose/plain flour.
• Baking powder: not typically used in brownies, but because of the moisture from the beets a small amount of baking powder keeps them from becoming too dense.
• Sugar.
• Eggs.
• Vanilla extract.

How to prepare beets for brownies

There are various ways of cooking beets, such as boiling or roasting, with or without the peel. For this beet brownie cake I chose to bake the beets, unpeeled, for maximum flavour as well as to ensure the brownies have the right amount of moisture (boiling the beets would make them too moist). See Instructions below for details.

If using small beets bake them whole. You can halve larger beets and bake them cut side down on top of parchment paper.

Step-by-step recipe instructions

1. Prepare beets: Preheat the oven to 375F/190C/gas mark 5. Place the beets on top of a small baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in the centre of the oven for about 50 minutes or until tender (but not too soft). Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

TIP: You can bake the beets in advance and once cooled refrigerate overnight. 

2. Preheat the oven to 350 F/180C/gas mark 4. Lightly grease and line a 9/11'' (23/28cm) pan with parchment paper. Set aside.

3. Melt chocolate: Place the chocolate and coconut oil in a clean, dry glass bowl and microwave until almost completely melted then stir until the chocolate pieces are no longer visible. Stir in the sugar and set aside to cool.

4. Prepare beet mixture: Peel the beets. Puree until smooth then measure out the right amount (or vice versa, if using a scale). Add the dates and puree again. Set aside.

5. Add eggs: Whisk in the eggs and vanilla extract.

6. Add chocolate mixture: Gradually pour in the chocolate mixture whisking in until thoroughly incorporated.

7. Make dry mixture: Combine the flour, baking powder and cocoa and stir using a whisk.

8. Assemble: Sift the flour mixture over the batter (in 3 goes) and stir in using a whisk. Do not overstir the batter.

9. Bake: Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the centre of the oven for 40 minutes.

10. Cool: Remove from the oven and set aside to cool completely in the pan.

Serving suggestions

You can enjoy these beet and chocolate brownies just as they are (they taste great with a glass of milk) but you can also dust them with cocoa powder or powdered sugar before cutting. Alternatively drizzle a little melted chocolate over the tops (as I have done).

You can also cut them into smaller pieces and enjoy as beet brownie bites.

Top tips for making beet chocolate brownies

• Ready-cooked beets should not be used in this recipe (they are likely to have less flavour and more moisture than beets baked at home).
• The beets can be baked ahead and, once cooled, refrigerated (covered) overnight. Puree the beets when you are ready to make the recipe.
• It's important to sift the dry ingredients (see Instructions).
• Do not overmix the batter, stir just to combine.
• Your beet brownie squares will become fudgier if you refrigerate them.
• Freeze for up to 3 months.
• I recommend using rubber gloves when handling beets.

More chocolate bakes with vegetables to try next

• Sweet Potato Brownies with Pecans
• Dairy Free Pumpkin Brownies
• Avocado Double Chocolate Muffins

See also these other easy desserts!

Recipe

Keep in touch!

If you make these beet coconut brownies I'd love to know how they turned out for you. Let me know in the comments below, thanks:)

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