Fudgy Vegan Paleo Beetroot Brownies made with almond flour, tapioca flour and flax eggs. A healthy brownie recipe packed with nutrients!
Never have I ever felt this way about beets.
These brownies. You will never look at beets the same way again.
GAH, they are so fudgy!
Here’s what you need to know about these beetroot brownies: they are…paleo, vegan, sugar-free, dairy-free, beet-infused, high protein, made in a blender for crying out loud, chewy, fudgy, rich, decadent, moist, orgasmic.
I’d hate to say you can’t taste the beets…but you can’t taste the beets. I know. It makes you cry real tears.
You know how pasta is a million times better the next day? The same is true with these brownies. Don’t get me wrong – fresh out of the oven, these brownies taste like angels have anointed your taste buds with all the holy spirits, but when you leave them in the refrigerator over night, they’re like all Sylvester Stallone movies exploded in your mouth. But, gently.
Some serious notes about this recipe:
1.) They are super fudgy…like they practically are fudge…In point of fact, I almost named the recipe, “Beet Fudge”, but I resisted because the recipe includes almond meal, and it just seem strange to call something fudge when there are floury ingredients involved. Ya feel?
2.) The brownies won’t test clean when you stick a fork in them, because: fudge. Let them rest for a long time (30 minutes-ish) before cutting into them in order to give them a chance to set up. You don’t need to worry about these being “under-cooked,” because they’re vegan…as in no eggs…as in you won’t get sick…so no excuses, drink the batter.
3.) Upon freezing these sonsofbeehives, they turn into fudgesicles. I shit you not. Legit fudge popsicles. You may as well make a triple batch of the beetroot brownies and “test” them when they’re a.) hot b.) chilled c.) frozen.
4.) Channing Tatum approves.
Best consumed in marathon fashion while marathon watching Blacklist.
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Get your fudge on!
Fudgy Paleo Beetroot Brownies
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons ground flax seed
- 6 tablespoons water
- 4 small beets roasted and chopped (about 1-¼ cups pureed)
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 1/4 cup full fat coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- ¾ cup raw cacao powder
- ¼ cup tapioca starch*
- 3/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1 ¼ cups almond meal/flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F, and lightly oil an 8” x 8” baking dish.
- In a small bowl, stir together the water and flax meal (this process makes two vegan flax “eggs”). Allow it to sit and thicken for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the chopped roasted beets to a blender. Blend for a few seconds to chop/puree the beets.
- Add the flax mixture (“eggs”) and the remaining ingredients to the blender. Blend very well until completely smooth.
- Pour the brownie batter into the prepared baking dish and smooth it evenly. Place on the center wrack of the oven and bake for 45 to 55 minutes.
- Allow brownies to cool 30 minutes before slicing into them. Store in the refrigerator or freezer.
I had beetroot that I needed to use and fancied something different from the norm so gave these a go. They are SO good 😀 Although think I may have overdid it on the beetroot as quite red looking and earthy (my fault) but still really delicious.
Do you have the nutritional breakdown for this recipe by any chance? I’ve just started a vegan low carb / high protein + training programme, so am hoping I can still sneak a few of these bad boys in! 🙂
Thanks so much for the sweet note, Hazel!! I’m so glad you enjoyed the brownies! xo
This looks fantastic. Gonna try it this weekend. I think I gonna take some suggestion from the comments too.
Hello! Thanks for the great recipe! Is it possible to replace the tapioca starch with coconut flour? And what about the flax eggs? I do not see any eggs in the recipe above? Thank you so much! Eva
Hi Eva, You’re very welcome! Coconut flour is kind of a finicky flour, but I suspect you may be able to get away with it. The tapioca flour makes the brownies bind together and gives them a sort of smooth texture, whereas coconut flour isn’t quite as awesome at binding and the texture is a bit grainy. That said, I think a substitution may work. I would try just 1 tablespoon of coconut flour and see what that does in the batter. If the batter doesn’t seem thick enough, you could add say 1 to 2 tsp more.
In terms of the flax eggs, if you would like to replace them with 2 regular eggs, you can definitely do so. Just note that the texture of the brownies will no longer be fugdy – they will be a bit flaky/cakey. If you are indeed looking for a fudge brownie, I would stick with the flax method 😉 Hope you enjoy!!
Hi! I really want to try this recipe but I have a question before doing so…. will the beets stain my blender? I’m not sure if it’s a stupid question or not but I want to make sure!! Thank you!
Hi Marie! That’s not a dumb question at all! I made the brownies in a blender that had a plastic caraf, and the batter didn’t stain it. I’d hate to say it 100% will not stain it, but based on my experience, I’d say you’re good to go 😀 Hope you enjoy!
4 cup small beetroot – that would be how many small beetroot? Or in weight? Rather difficult to measure it when you’re in a supermarket trying to figure out how many beetroot makes 4 cups. Cheers.
Also, is the starch necessary or can I totally leave it out?
Hi Dianshan, my apologies – the way the recipe read was confusing. It should be 4 small beets, which when pureed turns into about 1-1/4 cups pureed beet. I made changes to the recipe to make it more clear! I wouldn’t recommend leaving out the tapioca starch, as the brownie will likely not hold together as well. Hope this helps!
These looked SO good! And were pretty easy to throw together, tried to keep to your recipe apart from using xylitol except for coconut sugar, cause that’s all the cupboards had. Question – is it normal for it to sink after coming out of the oven? It was smelling really strong & browned quick on the top (is this normal) so I took it out (15-10mins earlier than the entire 45mins as said), but then it sunk. Toothpick is coming out clean, and it looks alright, put it in the fridge just in case. What do you think?
Hi,
I made this recently and both my hubby and I loved it. We are travelling on a long haul next week. I am thinking of packing this for the airplane. How long does this babies stay good at room temperature? Or should freezing it first and thawing it at room temperature on the day we fly is better idea?
Hi Maple! The brownies will stay fresh for about 5 days at room temperature (provided you don’t live in a super humid area ;), but I’d recommend storing them in the refrigerator or in the freezer if you’re keeping them for more than a few days. If you store them in the freezer, cut them first, wrap them in plastic wrap, and then stick the whole thing in a zip lock bag. You can take them out of the freezer a few hours before your flight! I’m so glad you like the brownies and hope they make great snacks on your trip! xo
I made these today. I used butter instead of coconut oil and light muscavado sugar instead of coconut sugar. They were a bit soft after taking them out of the oven and cooling. Going to chill them in the fridge, I think they will firm up and be quite chewy/dense. Tasted pretty good pre fridge though????
My apologies I now realized that I skipped the sugar from your recipe. It needed that sweetness but I got it from the strawberries.
I made these today and they were so easy to make! totally enjoy the experience. The cacao was quite bitter to my liking so I had my brownies with some sliced strawberries and they were perfect. I don’t use sweeteners but the sliced strawberries really made a big difference. Was yours bitter? I wonder if it was the cacao brand I used.
OMG these look to die for! I may have to make these very soon!
Hey! I am really eager to try these! I am wondering what I could substitute the coconut sugar, coconut oil, and coconut milk for. I thing cashew milk would work for the coconut milk sub as it has a lot of fats in it. Could I use honey or maple for the coconut sugar? And I’m not sure about the oil… I usually use sunflower oil. Any ideas? I just discovered your blog by the way. I love it! Thanks for sharing all these awesome recipes!
These are not sweet at all I actually mashed them up and added some raw honey and cooked them a again to save them.Also how is Corn Flour Paleo.
Hi Kerrin, are you referring to the correct recipe? These brownies are very sweet, and there is no corn flour listed in the recipe. How much coconut sugar did you use?
O….My…Gosh….Julia, as a hypoglycemic, I would have to call these –offically– “food porn” They look sooooo wicked…. like “fifty shades of chocolately/beet/heaven…..yesssssss…….
But, sadly for me, I didn’t realize they had coconut sugar in them till I was totally committed!!
Pleazzzz tell me, is there a substitute for the sugar? Like maybe Swerve or eryithritol/stevia plus maybe 1/3 cup Torani SF syrup? Most importantly, does the sugar serve a specific purpose that low carb sweeteners couldn’t ? In other words, would my subs work?
Help!!! I really want to make these, but for health reasons, I’m on a lowcarb/anti-candida diet
for about the next 20 years or so… :-))
BTW, you have a wicked sense of humor, and quite a developed writing style–ever think of
“picking up the pen”? I love paranormal romance, like Nalini Singh (author), and I think your writing would be great! Thanks so much, Leigh
Hi Leigh! Thank you so much for all your sweet words! I’ve actually always wanted to write a novel but have zero clue what I would do for plot…maybe one of these days! If it ever happens, I’ll send ya an email 😉
The coconut sugar does counterbalance some of the liquid in the recipe, so replacing it with a liquid sweetener may throw off the wet-to-dry ratio a touch. My guess is you could sweeten the recipe with any of the sweeteners you mentioned (or xylitol? I’ve heard of some people using it as a sugar-free replacement), but maybe add more almond meal (try 1-1/2 cups and see what the consistency looks like?) and/or cut back a tad on the coconut milk. That way the portion of dry-to-wet ingredients will even out. I wish I had an exact method for you but I’ll definitely let you know if I make the recipe again with an alternate sweetener. Also please let me know if you try it with a different sweetener!!
Thank you so much again for your thoughtful comment! I love receiving feedback like yours -it always puts a smile on my face!!
Cheers xoxox
Hi Julia!
Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my question–you’ve given me lots to consider here!
If you wouldn’t mind, could I post it to Low Carb Friends forum? They have people who’ve baked for decades with alternative sweeteners, you know? And of course, I will credit you with the recipe, and that would be good for your blog’s PR!! :-))
I’m just not that “seasoned” a baker to figure it out, but I’m sure there’s someone
at LCF that could. And I will post back the answer, of course.
Just sayin’ there LOTS of books on plots –for instance “The Plot Whisperer”, and also many on how to write a book in a month or something, lol!
Talk to you soon,
Leigh
Intend to eat these marathon-style while watching Dancing with the Stars tonight. My husband hates beets, so I’m planning on sneakily forgetting to mention the ingredients…
LOL hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think of the brownies!
Replacement for almond meal? I am allergic to all nuts and peanuts 🙁
Hi Kathryn, You can try using rice flour – the texture may turn out to be fluffier, which could be amazing! I haven’t tested the recipe with any other flours, so I’m not sure how it will work out, but let me know if you give it a whirl using something other than almond flour!!
Thank you! I am going to give it a try this weekend.
Just googled beet brownies and ur recipe came out near the top. Wanted to find a healthy chocolate bar for a charity Chocolate Festival. Yours looks sooo good. Will let u know how well they were received!!