Dark Chocolate Beet Brownies

These brownies were never really meant to be part of a blog post.  The photos were an afterthought- taken in the last remaining minutes of afternoon light in between moments of stirring the risotto for dinner- more because I've gotten in the habit of photographing my food "just because" than with any real intent on sharing them.  It's funny how things happen, though, isn't it?  Because here they are in full view for the world to see....Despite the fact that I reassured my neighbor that the recipe wasn't going to show up in her inbox the day after I shared a brownie from my first batch with her. Sorry Jackie. I lied!

Okay, so it wasn't really a lie if I honestly had no intentions on writing out the recipe for all of you lovely friends to see, right? 

Thank you. 

I feel better.

I suppose my motivation for sharing comes from a compliment I got from the two sweet girls who run my CSA pickup.  One had seen my impromptu sharing of batch #1 of these brownies on Facebook and had asked about it at pickup a couple of days ago.  It turns out they wanted to share my blog address with the other folks who pick up their boxes here in town.  I am (and was, and will continue to be) flattered by the praise that Jennifer and Julianna gave me that morning and again in their email to the other CSA members. 

It really means a lot to me that my photos, food and stories are meaningful to anyone else besides my own little self.  And it was all because of a quick Instagram shot of these brownies.  You just never know, do you?  So thank you ladies for your kind words and for your smiles and warm greetings every Tuesday morning.  These brownies are for you.

Dark Chocolate Beet Brownies
Makes 16 brownies.  Adapted from this recipe in Sacramento Magazine by Adrienne Capps who writes the blog Vegetarianized.
For the printable recipe, click here.

Believe it or not, it's actually very difficult to find a good beet brownie recipe.  There are zillions of brownie recipes that use applesauce or even black beans as a substitute for all or part of the fat and just as many recipes for cakes that take advantage of the flavor and moisture that beets provide.  But brownies featuring beets are few and far between.  The recipe I found and ended up adapting was healthy but not so ridiculously healthy that I still felt in my comfort zone with it.  I did end up swapping out the butter for oil, making the cocoa darker and richer and losing and egg for a bit more fudginess.  In my second go-round with the brownies I tried using melted dark chocolate when I realized I didn't have enough cocoa, but the texture suffered for it.  So I'm sharing the recipe the way I originally fell in love with it.

2 large beets, peeled
3 large eggs
2/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup cocoa powder (Hershey's makes a dark chocolate cocoa powder that I like to use in these brownies)
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher or sea salt
1 cup chocolate chips, at least 60% cocao

In a medium saucepan, cover the beets with water by an inch.  Place the pot over medium high heat and bring the water to a boil.  Reduce the heat to medium and simmer the beets until they are soft enough to easily be pierced through the center with a knife, about 25 minutes.  Drain the beets and puree them.  You may need to add a tablespoon or two of water to the beets to get them to puree smoothly, Add only what you need.  Set the beet puree aside to cool.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, oil,  and sugars.  Add the vanilla extract and beet puree and whisk to fully combine.  Mix the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt into the wet ingredients.  Stir in the chocolate chips. 

Pour the batter into a 9x13 inch baking pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray or lined with foil or parchment.  Bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out clean but still moist.  Cool the brownies completely before cutting.  They will keep in an airtight container for 3 days.