Vegan hazelnut brownies

Ingredients

Makes one 23 x 23 cm tray

• 1 medium sized sweet potato, 230g roasted - weigh out once cooked

• 350g medjool dates

• 4 tbsp almond butter

• 2 tbsp coconut oil

• 7 tbsp maple syrup or honey

• 9 tbsp raw cacao powder

• 100g hazelnuts, toasted and bashed roughly with the end of a rolling pin

• 100g dark chocolate

  Method

• Preheat the oven to 180ºc and line a cm tin with parchment.

• Put the sweet potato on a tray and roast for approx 30-40 minutes until soft and squishy right through.

• Next put about 1/4 of the dates, coconut oil, maple syrup and almond butter in a food processor and start to blitz, after 30 seconds add the rest of the dates one at a time. Doing this slowly means your processor won’t get clogged up.

• Then add the sweet potato, blend again until really smooth and spoon in the cacao continuing to blitz.

• Once the mixture is smooth, stir in the hazelnuts and scrape into the baking tray. Bake for 20 minutes on the middle shelf.

• Once cooled, melt the dark chocolate in the microwave - I do 1 min on 600W and repeat 2-3 times, stirring in between. Then pour over the brownie base and set in the fridge for 20-30 min.

Tip

• I like to keep these in the fridge so they stay firm

This is my new favourite healthy treat - I’m currently working my way through the entire tray! But, unlike ‘normal’ brownies, they keep really well in the fridge, so I don’t have to eat them all in 2 days. I reckon they’ll last about 2 weeks as they stay just as squishy as when they were first baked.

The other great thing about these brownies is that they’re full of nutrients, they’re not ‘empty’ calories. I’ve used almonds, dates, sweet potato, raw cacao and hazelnuts - so they’re packed with protein and fibre. You could literally eat one pre or post workout to give yourself an energy boost. Personally I like one with a cuppa in the afternoon and then another cheeky slice after dinner!