Beets & Brownies
July 21st, 2008
Carol put the idea of beet brownies in my head when she mentioned her CSA beets were headed for dessert. I was intrigued!
I had a small bunch of beets from my farm share that I never roasted last week, plus a box of Duncan Hines brownie mix at the back of my pantry, and I figured it would be a fun experiment to combine the two. This Chocolate Beet Brownie seems to be the go-to recipe if you want to try baking them from scratch, and is similar to the one Carol sent me.
I boiled the beets and let them cool before removing the tops, tips, and skins. I pureed them in my food processor until they were nearly smooth (the consistency of applesauce) and wound up with a full cup of puree. Then I added the beets to the brownie mix, omitting the 1/4 c. water and 1/2 c. oil specified on the box (but I did add the two eggs). Then I followed the baking instructions.
The result is a deep ruby-colored chocolate brownie that definitely tastes like it has beets in it. Sweet, but earthy with the chocolate flavor only in the background. It’s moist and pleasantly firm, though the beets (or lack of oil?) seemed to make the brownie a tiny bit rubbery. The boys did eat them, though G. left a bite over and there were no requests for seconds.
I’d probably only make them again if I already had pureed beets in my fridge and an urgent need to bake something chocolate. So, probably never.
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I'm Dara, the chick in the kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two boys, ages 2 and 4, and husband. Trying to feed my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Reach me at .
5 Comments Add your own
1. Lauren | July 21st, 2008 at 3:31 pm
The color makes them look delicious - but sometimes the expectation is not what the mouth tastes. oh well - better luck next time.
BTW how did you get the photo to look so good? The stark white contrast is fabulous!
No secret — they’re just on a white plate! — Dara
2. Carol | July 21st, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Now I don’t know if it’s worth making the brownies, or if I should try the beet chocolate cake in my recipe binder…
3. Carrie | July 21st, 2008 at 5:32 pm
I tried this beet cake recipe (in muffin cups) with my CSA beets last week and had fairly good results. I do like this Chocolate Zucchini Bread I tried though.
4. Pure Sugar » Blog A&hellip | July 22nd, 2008 at 1:59 pm
[...] to try baking with them. I was a bit apprehensive after Dara didn’t have great success with beet brownies… I wondered if perhaps it really was just not possible to incorporate a root vegetable into a [...]
5. chickinthekitchen.com &ra&hellip | July 23rd, 2008 at 5:23 pm
[...] mix, young chard, a bunch each of onions and beets (that will not be going into brownies, but maybe cake?, basil, cilantro, three yellow squash, two cucumbers, four ears of corn (much [...]
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