This is a nice gluten and dairy-free treat that is likely to go down well with little ones as well as grown-ups. I love using sweet potato in sweet dishes because I know of a really nice sweet potato pudding in Brazil. So trust me it is not that uncommon and you will see why.
Ingredients
2 big sweet potatoes
150g almond flour
65g rice flour (or buckwheat flour)
200g chopped dates
150g raisins
4 tbsp raw chocolate powder
50g pumpkin seeds
Pinch of salt
Pierce the sweet potatoes and roast them until soft (skin should easily peel off when ready). Peel the skins and add the flesh to a food processer together with all other ingredients (you can also mix it all by hand). If necessary, add a little water to the mixture but keep it fairly stiff. With the help of a spatula, spread the mixture over a baking tray lined with parchment paper and cook in the oven for about 30 minutes or until you can stick a knife in the middle and remove it dry. When ready, remove from the oven and let it cool down for about 15 minutes before cutting. Leftovers will keep well in the fridge for about 5 days.
Now, I’ve also made a more ‘festive’ version of this and it turned out very nice indeed! You don’t have to, but if you like you can add: rind of one lemon (preferably organic), a little pinch of grated nutmeg, 85% cocoa chocolate bar ( half a bar grated – 50g), and a dash of almond liqueur (such as Amaretto or Disaronno) to the mixture. If you need it sweeter than what the recipe suggests, use 1 tbsp of black strap molasses (but no more! 🙂
Bom apetite!
NOTE: my son had some friends round the other day and I dared to offer some of my ‘funny brownies’. Aware of my ‘tinkering’ with recipes, the children asked: what’s this made of? All I said to keep it short was: this is called a brownie. Now what happened next was a pleasant surprise for me: on the table was a plate full of natural nibbles such as goji berries, pumpkin seeds, pineapple slices, nuts and banana coins. One of the children, who’s not very inclined towards healthy foods at all, decided to decorate her brownie slice with some of the colourful items and soon they all decided to follow suit. In the end, they all ate the brownies and the rest of the natural decorations after much fun. So there you go – another very handy addition that will go down well both nutritionally and from a fun point of view: nature’s sweets and decorations to stick into and pile up on top of your brownies 🙂