As someone who doesn’t go a single day without consuming some form of chocolate, brownies are one of my favorite ways to get my chocolate fix. These brownies are perfectly fudgy, chocolatey, and indulgent. And you would never know they are made with healthy ingredients!

Vegan Date Brownie Recipe Notes

These Vegan Date Brownies are naturally sweetened with dates. Allowing the dates to soak in boiling water for 10 minutes is the secret to giving these cookies an extra fudgy texture! Dates are loaded with health benefits, which is why I love using them as a sugar alternative in baking.

These Vegan Date Brownies call for oat flour, which is one of my favorite gluten-free flour alternatives. I usually make my own oat flour. You can make your own oat flour by placing oats in a blender and blending until a flour consistency is reached.

Additionally, this recipe calls for 1/2 a cup of unsweetened apple sauce. Apple sauce is used in this recipe as a vegan egg replacement. Plus, it also helps add moisture to these brownies. A good rule of thumb is that you can replace one egg with 1/4 cup of apple sauce.

If you love these brownies be sure to check out my recipe for Sweet Potato Brownies, which is one of the most popular recipes on my website!

Did you try this recipe? Feel free to share it with me on Instagram or leave a comment below! Happy baking!

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The Best Vegan Date Brownies

Course Dessert, Snack

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 22 minutes minutes

Servings 8 brownies

Ingredients

• 1 cup of dates pitted
• 3/4 cups oat flour can be made by blending whole oats in your blender or food processor until you have a flour consistency
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 salt
• 1/2 cup of unsweetened apple sauce
• 2 tablespoons of natural nut butter I use peanut butter
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
• 1/4 – 1/3 cup of chocolate chips
• Plus chocolate chips for topping

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 4×8 pan with parchment paper. Bring a small pot of water to a boil, once water is boiling remove from heat and allow dates to soak for 10 minutes until soft.
• While you are waiting for your dates to soak, add the rest of the ingredients (aside from chocolate chips) to your food processor and blend until combined. Stir in your chocolate chips.
• Drain your dates and add them to the food processor and blend until evenly combined (About 30 seconds to a minute). You may want to stop periodically and scrape the sides to ensure everything is evenly combined.
• Scoop out brownie batter into your prepared baking pan. The dough will be thick and sticky, but these brownies do not spread in the oven so try evenly spread the batter. Top with additional chocolate chips.
• Bake in preheated oven for 22-24 minutes or until the top no longer appear to be wet. Let cool for 10-15 minutes before serving and enjoy!

The post The Best Vegan Date Brownies appeared first on Splurge with Ella.

Why Add Sweet Potatoes to a Brownie Recipe?

I know that the addition of sweet potato to a brownie recipe may sound a bit odd, but hear me out. Sweet potatoes are the versatile ingredient that gives these brownies their moist and fudgy texture. Plus, they provide some natural sweetness and other nutritional benefits.

Sweet potatoes are also loaded with a ton of nutritional benefits, which makes these brownies the perfect way to sneak in your healthy carbs!

Recipe Notes

These brownies are extremely easy to make because all you need to do is process everything together in a food processor!

It is important to remember to peel and steam your sweet potato until it is completely cooked before you add everything to your food processor.

This recipe uses 1/4 cup of oat flour, as a gluten-free flour substitute, which can easily be made at home by adding oats to a blender until you have reached a flour consistency.

This recipe also calls for 1/4 cup of nut or seed butter of your choice. I always use peanut butter, because that is what I usually have on hand, and no peanut butter flavor comes through once the brownies are cooked.

If you love these Sweet Potato Brownies, be sure to check out my recipe for Vegan Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies and my Flourless Peanut Butter Blondies.

Happy Baking!

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Sweet Potato Brownies

Course Dessert

Keyword brownies, chocolate, dessert, healthy, vegan

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 9

Ingredients

• 1 cup of steamed and mashed sweet potato about one small-medium sweet potato
• 1/3 cup of cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup of oat flour can be made by blending whole oats in your food processor or blender
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup of peanut butter or nut/seed butter of your choice
• 1/4 cup of maple syrup
• 1/4 cup of MELTED coconut oil
• 3/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup of chocolate chips plus more for topping

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper.
• Ensure that your sweet potato is peeled, rinsed, and and dice the before steaming. Steam until all pieces are completely soft and cooked through before adding to your food processor.
• Add all ingredients (leaving out the chocolate chips) to your food processor and blend until completely smooth and no lumps remain. If you want a sweet brownie, add another tablespoon or two of maple syrup.
• Stir in desired amount of chocolate chips. Add batter into prepared baking pan. Top with additional chocolate chips.
• Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

The post Sweet Potato Brownies appeared first on Splurge with Ella.

This healthy and amazing Banana Bread recipe has become one of the most popular recipes that I have shared on my Instagram, and I am so excited to finally be publishing it here.

There’s nothing better than a warm slice of banana bread fresh out of the oven, and this recipe is made with 100% wholesome ingredients that you can feel good about. If you love banana bread I promise you will love this guilt-free recipe, and so will everyone else who tries it.

Why this recipe works

Vegan banana bread recipes often call for egg replacements like flax seeds or other substitutes that you may not have on hand, but this recipe sticks to the basics.

Banana happens to be one of my favorite egg replacements when making vegan desserts, which is why this recipe calls for three whole overripe bananas. Another benefit of incorporating banana into a recipe is that it acts as a natural sweetener. This is why this recipe only calls for 1/3 of a cup of maple syrup.

I decided to use coconut oil as the fat source in this banana bread because using coconut oil in cakes or breads will always ensure that they turn out moist and obtain a tender crumb.

A combination of oat flour and whole wheat flour ensure that this vegan banana bread is healthier than traditional banana bread recipes, and they give this bread an extra special flavor that I love!

Of course, I had to incorporate chocolate chips because…well who doesn’t love chocolate? Chocolate chips also help to give this banana bread another element of sweetness that is just perfect.

Pro tip:

Pro tip: if your bananas are ripe, but not overripe yet, pop them in the oven at 350 degrees until the peels turn completely black. Then remove them from the oven and allow time to cool before slicing off the peel with a knife – now you have perfectly soft and sweet bananas! Magical.

If you love banana, be sure to check out some of my favorite banana forward recipes: Blueberry Banana Muffins, Healthy Banana Oat Cookies, Blueberry Banana Baked Donuts, and my Peanut Butter Swirl Banana Nice Cream. This Banana Bread is easy to make, but even easier to eat. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do! Happy Baking!

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Vegan Banana Bread

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

• 1 cup of oat flour made by blending 1 cup of oats in the blender until four consistency
• ¾ cups of whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp of salt
• ½ tsp of cinnamon
• 1 1/3 cups of mashed banana about 3 overripe OR baked bananas
• 1/3 cup of coconut oil melted
• 1/3 cup of maple syrup plus 3-4 more tablespoons depending on desired sweetness
• ¼ cup of almond milk slightly warm so it does not solidify the coconut oil
• 1 tsp of vanilla
• 1/3-1/2 cup of chocolate chips I like to add more to the top – vegan if desired

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 and grease bread pan with coconut oil.
• Combine the first 6 dry ingredients together in a medium bowl and whisk until combined.
• Combine the mashed banana, maple syrup, melted coconut oil, almond milk, and vanilla in a small bowl and stir to combine. Add the wet ingredients into the dry and gently fold in to combine.
• Add in desired amount of chocolate chips and fold in to combine.
• Pour batter into prepared bread pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and the top springs back when touched.
• Cool bread before removing from pan and slicing. Enjoy!

The post The Best Vegan Banana Bread appeared first on Splurge with Ella.