Can you believe it, it's a brownie on a nutrition website which doesn't contain sweet potato?! Joking aside, if you're enamored of sweet potato brownies then who I am to judge you, but personally potato in dessert has never done it for me (can't get my head round Thanksgiving sweet potato pie either...). Nothing beats a proper brownie in my eyes, although I also really like these date brownies as a mad keen fan of the mighty medjool date.
These brownies contain pretty much everything normal brownies do, but are dairy free, with olive oil, mylk, and dates replacing the eggs and butter you'd usually find in a brownie. The result is something half way between sticky toffee pudding and brownie, which I have successfully fed to both dairy-free and dairy-eating friends before. As for the halva and tahini, sesame is one of my favourite flavours to bake with, but you could easily swap this out for nuts, white chocolate, or peanut butter. The nutty depth of sesame in either tahini or halva form cuts through other sweet flavours to add a bit more depth.
Big thanks to my little sister Cesca (in fact both taller than me, and a better cook), whose recipe this is.
What's the A to V?
Dates are high in fibre, and sources of potassium, manganese, and copper. While chocolate is of course a good source of magnesium, the sesame in this recipe is probably the most nutrient dense ingredient here. Sesame seeds (which both tahini and halva are made from) are rich sources of vitamin B5, B7 (biotin) and calcium.
Ingredients (For 1 tray of brownies):
150g of chocolate (I usually use a mix of dark and milk)
170g of self-raising flour
5 tbsp's of olive oil
3-5 heaped tbsp's of cocoa powder/raw cacao
100g sugar
8-10 ripe dates (medjool are nicest), deseeded and roughly chopped
1 tbsp vanilla essence
230 ml oat or almond milk
Pinch of sea salt
Optional - 75g of halva
5 tsp's of tahini
Method
Break your chocolate into a small glass bowl, and place in a saucepan filled with about 2 inches of water. Heat the hob to boil the water and melt your chocolate, making sure to stir regularly to make sure you have a nice smooth consistency.
Sieve your cocoa powder and flour twice. This bit is important - don't skip the second sieving! It stops the brownie mixture from being too dense and lumpy. Then place all your dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl (flour, cocoa, salt).
In a blender, blitz your dates and vanilla essence together until they form a smooth, paste like consistency.
Add your date mixture, olive oil, milk and sugar to the large mixing bowl and mix well. This will take a good 3 to 5 minutes, and you may need to use a fork at this stage to make sure your final batter mix isn't too lumpy. Fold in half of your halva, and drizzle 3 tsps of tahini in towards the end.
Spread into a tray, and finish by sprinkling/drizzling your remaining halva and tahini over the top. Bake in the oven for 15-25 minutes at 180 degrees, until a knife stuck into the centre comes out with just a few crumbs attached (ie. not covered in raw batter).
Don't be alarmed if they're taking longer than regular brownies do. This is normal! Just be sure to check on the mix every couple of minutes after you reach the 15 minute mark to make sure they don't overcook. Remove and leave to cool before slicing into squares.