[schema type=”recipe” name=”Sugar Free, Gluten Free, Chocolate and Courgette Brownies” author=”Rachel Howard” pubdate=”2016-05-22″ image=”http://www.sundaybaking.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Brownie-2-1024×683.jpg” description=”A super rich chocolate brownie made with courgette. ” prepmins=”10″ cookmins=”35″ yield=”16″ ]
I know……the description of these make them sound pretty un-appetising. But I can promise you that they are just as moreish as a regular brownie!
Carrot cake is a regular thing that no one questions, so what’s so different about courgette? I had a few people try to guess the ‘secret’ ingredient in these super moist brownies and not one person got it right.
All you can taste is the super rich gooey chocolate! Yes, you can tell they are low on the sugar front, but that’s not a bad thing at all!
Recipe adapted from I Quit Sugar. I’m a big fan of Sarah’s recipes as they don’t use lots of sweeteners (Some sweeteners contain an even higher fructose ratio than sucrose. Agave for example can contain up to 90% fructose!) to sweeten the bakes. Instead, one of her ‘go to’ sugar substitutes is Rice Malt Syrup (Rice malt syrup is made from fermented cooked rice. It’s a blend of complex carbohydrates, maltose and glucose. Sarah rates it because it’s fructose-free and slow releasing, so in her words…’it doesn’t dump on the liver like fructose does’.)
[callout title=Ingredients]
- coconut oil, butter or ghee, for greasing.
- 1 large courgette
- 170g almond (or any nut) butter (my favourite is meridan)
- 1 egg
- 25g raw cacao powder
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder
- 85g rice malt syrup
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 100 g dark (85% cacao) chocolate, roughly chopped
- Raw cacao nibs (optional)
[/callout]
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC and grease a 23-cm square brownie tin using coconut oil or butter.
- Grate the courgette into a large bowl
- Add all the remaining ingredients to the bowl and mix thoroughly
- Pour into the greased brownie tin and smooth out
- Bake for 35 – 40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean
- Leave to cool in the tin before removing a slicing into 16 squares
These brownies are so quick and easy to make. And if you are currently on a low sugar diet you are likely to have everything you need already in the house. And they are also ideal to freeze!
I love these and will make them again. My mum suggested adding some walnuts which would also work really well.
If you’re anything like me though, I would suggest freezing a portion straight away, otherwise you will end up eating all of it at once! And although it’s low on the fructose front, it does contain quite a bit of chocolate so if you’re trying to be good it’s not great to eat too much at once!
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