I never cared much for beets, but the older I get the more I like them. I'll take them three ways. #1. Roasted to the point you hardly know they are beets. #2 Fried or baked as chips and #3. Baked into brownies. The third ways is the best, and this brownie recipe, which calls for ½ cup cup of pureed leftover beets, is a good one.
To get started, I used this recipe, but halved the ingredients and adjusted the recipe for an 8 inch square pan. The brownies come together pretty quickly, and pureeing the beets is messy, but kind of fun.
Not Too Cakey
The first time I made these brownies I was a little bit worried, as their appearance suggested they might be too cakey. I gave them a few hours to cool, then gathered everyone in the kitchen for a taste test. Luckily, I was wrong about the texture. While cakey in appearance, they were dense and light at the same time. As for chocolate, they were intensely chocolate-y. I was glad I'd added all those chocolate chips because the light texture of the crumb and the chips was a nice contrast.
Flavor of Beets in Brownies
But what about the beets? The first time I tried them I could taste the beets, but the texture was so good I didn't mind. Todd got a big taste of beet and thought the brownies were gross. Fuzz, who seems to like beets, said "Awesome!".
A few hours later all three of us tried the brownies again and the beet flavor had dissipated to the point it wasn't really noticeable. So putting beets in brownies is worth a try if you just happen to have some beets around. Given how much I loved the texture, I'm going to make these again with pureed prunes. Also, this recipe is not gluten-free but I'm sure it would work very well with something like Cup4Cup or another 1:1 gluten-free flour blend.
Recipe
Beet Brownies
Ingredients
- Leftover cooked beets enough to measure ½ cup when pureed
- 4 ounce unsalted butter (1 stick) (114 grams)
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar (75 grams)
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (75 grams)
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder I used natural but others used Dutch
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
- 2 large leggs
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (95 grams)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup dark chocolate chips don't omit
- Optional Garnish: Powdered Sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8 inch square metal pan with nonstick foil.
- Puree the beets (add a little water if they are dry) and measure out ½ cup of puree. Set aside.
- In a small to medium size saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add both sugars and stir until mixture is shiny, then stir in the cocoa powder. Remove from heat and stir in the ½ cup beet puree. Let cool slightly, then add the vanilla.
- In a small bowl using a hand-held electric mixer, beat the eggs until they are light and fluffy. With a rubber scraper, gradually stir the beaten eggs into the saucepan with the chocolate mixture.
- Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt, and stir flour mixture into the chocolate mixture. Check to make sure the chocolate mixture is not so warm that it will melt the chocolate chips, then stir in the chocolate chips. Scrape mixture into prepared pan and bake on center rack for 27 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out with moist crumbs.
- Let cool for about an hour at room temperature, then transfer to the refrigerator to finish cooling. Lift from pan and cut into squares. Garnish with powdered sugar if desired.
Gayle says
I made a chocolate beet cake years ago and challenged my coworkers to guess the secret ingredient (aka beets). Only one person got it correct. Some answers were way out there. Much to my surprise, it was delicious. Think I just found my next office challenge. Thanks again for sharing.
Sonya says
That's the only way I like beets, too :). The cake sounds great!
Sue says
Interesting. It seems like beet chocolate cake was a thing a few years ago.
I have the same feeling about beets as you do but if I had extra beets around I'd give these a try.