I love beets! I just thought you should all know that. It's my favorite vegetable to incorporate into any meal. Whenever I'm at the grocery store, at a loss for what to make for dinner, I always gravitate towards them. Up until recently I've used them only in savory dishes, but I've been thinking about adding them to a dessert for a while now. We all know about the famous Tiger in a Jar Beet Cake video; I'm still not sure which is more beautiful, the cake or the styling. I've had beets and goat cheese together more times than I can count, but now I am ready for beets and chocolate. Make sure you check out the list of my favorite beet filled foods under the recipe!
In case you missed my last post, January was a pretty busy month for me and Robbie (packing, moving, deciding how long we could keep our Christmas tree up). Cooking meant working with only the things that hadn't been bubble wrapped yet. Brownies seemed like an easy enough dessert to make, but as Robbie will tell you, I never let ANYTHING become too easy. In my defense, Robbie did remind me that I should try combining beets and chocolate.
When it came to brownies, texture was a source of tension in our house. My mom and I are fans of dense, fudgy brownies, but my dad and my sister preferred theirs more cake-y--why wouldn't you just bake a chocolate cake?. If you're like me, you'll love this recipe for fudgy beet brownies. If you're like my sister, you should still try this recipe; she ate one anyway.
Beet Brownies:
6 medium sized beets, stems removed
1 c of unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 c of sugar
1 tsp of salt
10 tbsp of unsalted grass-fed butter, melted
3 eggs
2 tsp of vanilla extract
1/2 c all purpose flour
4 oz of bittersweet chocolate chips
Steam the beets whole for 45 minutes. Plunge into ice cold water. When cool, peel and finely grate. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine cocoa powder, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in the butter, followed by the eggs and vanilla extract. Fold in the flour, chocolate chips, and grated beets.
Grease a 9x13 baking pan with butter. Fill the pan with batter and spread to evenly distribute. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out of the brownies cleanly.
Enjoy!
FOR MORE BEETS!:
-- Check out this recipe for golden beet and smoked paprika hummus from Food52. For at least two months, I was making this once a week.
-- If you want more beets and chocolate, try the beet hot cocoa recipe from Fox Meets Bear.
-- For South Jersey Shore locals--or tourists--stop by Greens and Grains in Northfield for their Beet & Berry smoothie.
XO
Pat!