Sweet Potato Brownies Recipe: A Fudgy Sweet Potato Dessert

Sweet potato brownies are chocolaty brownies that use steamed sweet potatoes or sweet potato purée instead of eggs and butter. Sweet potato brownies lack the fat content of butter and eggs, similar to black bean brownies, but you can add nut butter (such as peanut butter or almond butter) or coconut oil to produce a chewy, gooey, fudge-like texture.

When it comes to whether certain desserts are healthy desserts, the answer depends on the individual. The absence of traditional baking ingredients—such as butter, eggs, and refined sugar—in vegan brownies (like sweet potato brownies) can sometimes result in lower fat and sugar content. Ultimately, however, the best brownies will always be the ones that meet your own dietary and taste preferences.

Many sweet potato brownie dessert recipes are vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, and nut-free, as well as free of refined sugars, making them good options for those who have specific dietary restrictions. It’s common for sweet potato brownie recipes to call for almond flour, chickpea flour, coconut flour, or oat flour in addition to tapioca starch.

Additionally, there are nutrients in sweet potatoes that can be desirable, depending on your nutritional needs. Sweet potatoes contain complex carbohydrates and are a source of calcium, potassium, vitamin A, and vitamin C.

Despite their name, sweet potatoes usually require the addition of a sweetener in sweet potato brownie recipes. If you’re already substituting sweet potatoes for butter and eggs in your recipe and you want to skip refined sugar, too, here are three sugar substitutes you can use for sugar-free sweet potato brownies:

1. 1. Applesauce: With a mild apple flavor, applesauce lends sweetness and nutrients in addition to moisture, which is important in the absence of eggs in a sweet potato brownies recipe.
2. 2. Coconut sugar: In recipes, coconut sugar behaves similarly to brown sugar and granulated sugar. Note that coconut sugar contains fructose, whereas granulated sugar contains sucrose. The color varies depending on where the palm fruit originated and when the producer harvested it.
3. 3. Maple syrup: A liquid sweetener with a smoky-sweet flavor, maple syrup provides a texture different from that of refined sugar in traditional brownies. Additionally, maple syrup incorporates with other ingredients differently than granulated sugar does, especially in the absence of butter.

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