Chocolate Raspberry Brownies
This Friday is Valentines Day, so I thought I would post something chocolatey and delicious for the occasion…
My husband loves chocolate brownie, the Jamie Oliver one with lots of butter, dark chocolate, sugar and eggs. My husband also has a history of high cholesterol!
So rather than ‘killing him with kindness,’ I decided to make a healthy brownie
One that’s low in saturated fat and high in fibre
Best of all it still tastes really good
It has a gorgeous squidgy, almost mousse-like texture….
Here’s what I did
– used a banana and apple puree in place of butter
– cut down the sugar content by adding dates
– used ground linseeds (high fibre) in place of eggs
– used ground nuts in place of flour which also lowered the GI and add some healthy fats, since walnuts are a good source of omega 3 fats, as are linseeds
– raw cacao powder (high in antioxidants) provides a deep chocolatey flavour
It sounds like a long list of ingredients, but by using the food processor to mix it all together, it really is quite quick and easy to make.
For a Valentine’s theme I cut a heart shape out of paper and used it as a stencil to make the icing sugar heart on top and decorated with fresh raspberries from our garden….yum!
Most importantly, my husband said it was really delicious 🙂
check out the goey, squidgy, mousse-like texture….
- ⅔ cup (70g) walnuts
- ⅓ cup (50g) pumpkin seeds
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons ground linseeds
- ¼ cup your choice of milk
- ½ cup raw cocoa powder
- 3 tablespoons hot water
- ⅓ cup apple sauce
- 1 very ripe banana
- 5 pitted (95g) medjool dates
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ⅔ - 1 cup frozen raspberries
- Preheat oven to 170 degrees and line an 8-inch, square baking pan with baking paper
- Start by blending walnuts and pumpkin seeds until finely ground (takes approx. 7 seconds in thermomix on speed 8). Remove from food processor, add baking powder and set aside.
- Add ground linseeds and soy milk to food processor and blend for a few seconds. Leave to rest while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- Mix cacao powder with hot water, then add in apple sauce to make a smooth paste, then add banana.
- Add dates, sugar, cacao mix and vanilla to the food processor and blend for 10 seconds (speed 5 for thermomix) or until well combined.
- Add ground walnut mix to the food processor and blend for 5 seconds (speed 5 for thermomix) or until mixed through.
- Spread mixture into prepared baking dish.
- Dot with frozen raspberries then gently press into mix.
- Using a knife, smooth over the top to cover the raspberries.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until when pressed gently, it springs back.
Per Serve: 402kJ or 95 calories; P 2.6g Fat 5.5g SFat 0.6g CHO 8.5g Fibre 2.4g
these look beautiful and very yummy!
Thanks 🙂 They are VERY yummy!
I made this yesterday with cashew nuts because i didn’t have walnuts and it was amazing. very easy and best of all my husband loved it too 😉
Hi Kara – oh thanks so much for letting me know that cashews work well too. And I love to hear your husband enjoyed eating such a healthy brownie! Caroline 🙂