Vegan Beetroot Brownies with Chocolate Avocado Frosting
Fudgy and decadent vegan beetroot brownies with a smooth avocado chocolate mousse frosting. Approved by vegans and non-vegans alike, just like my chocolate beetroot cake!
Why you’ll love this recipe
These vegan beetroot brownies are pretty deceiving! Even though they contain beetroot and avocado, they are:
- Rich and fudgy
- Decadent
- Indulgent
These beetroot brownies are also refined sugar-free, don’t have butter or eggs, just like my sweet potato brownies, black bean brownies and no-bake brownies.
Ingredients to make vegan beetroot brownies
This recipe uses simple ingredients including:
Notes about the ingredients
Beetroot puree made simply from cooking fresh beetroot and blending them into a puree.
Vegan dark chocolate makes these brownies EXTRA fudgy and decadent! They also help the brownies set a little. You may use vegan chocolate chips or bar chocolate that has been chopped up.
Coconut sugar, granulated cane sugar or brown sugar will work too.
Ground flax or chia seeds are our partial egg replacer and help the ingredients stick together. Without this, the brownies are crumbly.
The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Why should we add beetroot to brownies?
Beetroot is a healthy and nutritious vegetable but also has a few DELICIOUS benefits!
- The fibre and moisture content of beets makes these brownies extra fudgy and melt-in-your-mouth. Adding fruit to cake (such as in banana bread) makes the cake more dense. This is exactly what we want for brownies!
- The beetroot gives the brownies a beautiful red hue which is reminiscent of red velvet baked treats!
I haven’t tried substituting the beetroot for other vegetables, but I imagine pumpkin and black beans would work. Let me know if you try other vegetables!
Will the brownies taste like beetroot?
You may or may not taste the beetroot, depending on the flavor of your other ingredients, the freshness of your beetroot and your personal tastes!
If you use strong-tasting chocolate and puree the beetroot very finely, it’s less likely you will taste the beetroot.
If you DO taste the beetroot, it’s very subtle! My partner isn’t a huge fan of beetroot but he loves these brownies!
I’ve served these brownies to non-vegans multiple times and they don’t always notice there is beetroot in them. My beetroot brownies are often slightly red, so they just assume I added food coloring to them, haha!
How to make beetroot brownies
This is an easy one-bowl recipe. You don’t even have to prepare a special ‘flax egg’ for the recipe!
Simply add all your dry ingredients to a medium bowl and mix until there are no more big lumps. Add all your wet ingredients and mix until combined.
Tip: if you haven’t pureed your beetroot yet, you can add it to a food processor with the rest of your wet ingredients (chocolate, oil and milk) and process it until smooth. Then you can add the beet mixture to your flour mixture!
Will the frosting taste like avocados?
No! Similar to the beetroot in the brownies, if you add enough sweetener and cocoa powder to the avocado frosting, you’re on your way to bliss.
If you’ve never had avocado mousse/avocado frosting before, just imagine the creaminess of avocado with the irresistible taste of chocolate. Combine those elements and BAM!
For the frosting, I used:
- A ripe avocado. If your avocado has some brown spots and a little too ripe, it definitely still will work well!
- Cocoa powder
- Medjool dates, pitted
- Maple syrup or any other liquid sweetener
Making the vegan avocado mousse frosting
You can use dried dates instead of Medjool dates but just make sure you soak them in water beforehand so they become soft!
To make the avocado frosting, simply add all the ingredients to a small food processor and blitzed it. Alternatively, you can add the ingredients to a medium bowl and blend them with a hand blender.
If your frosting is too thick to blend, I’d strongly recommend adding a little liquid to help your food processor or blender. You can use plant-based milk, some of the excess beetroot water from boiling it, or just water.
However, add the liquid a little at a time as you still want a thick spreadable frosting, not a chocolate drink!
Depending on the quality of your Medjool dates, you may have some tiny chunks of dates throughout the frosting. If so, add some liquid and keep on blending.
If you have time, allow the frosting to sit for 1 hour as this will force the pieces of dates to soften. When you blend it again, it’ll be easier!
I hope you enjoy this recipe!
More wholesome vegan chocolate desserts
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Beetroot Brownies with a Chocolate Avocado Frosting
Ingredients
Brownie Dry ingredients
- 1 ⅔ cup (210g) all-purpose plain flour, spelt or wholemeal flour
- 1 cup (160g) coconut sugar, to taste
- ¼ cup (25g) cocoa or raw cacao powder
- 1 tablespoon (12g) ground chia or flax seeds
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch of salt, optional
Brownie Wet ingredients
- ~1 cup (200g) beetroot puree, about 1 medium beetroot, note 1
- ¾ cup (165g) melted vegan chocolate
- ¼ cup (65g) neutral flavored oil
- 3 tablespoons (45g) dairy-free milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
Chocolate Avocado frosting
- 1 medium avocado, skin and seed removed
- ¼ cup (25g) cocoa or raw cacao powder
- 4 medjool dates, pitted
- 1-4 tablespoons maple syrup, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a 8 or 9 inch (20 or 23 cm) square baking pan with baking paper.
Preparing the brownies:
- Add all the dry ingredients to a medium-size bowl and mix until there are no lumps. Add all the wet ingredients to the bowl and mix until combined. The batter should be quite thick.
- Pour or scoop the brownie batter into your prepared pan. Use a spoon or spatula to smooth the surface.
- Bake the brownies in the oven for 15-20 minutes (shorter if you like them fudgy, longer if you like them more crispy). The brownies are ready when the surface is dry to the touch. If you insert a skewer into the brownies, there should be some crumbs on the skewer.
- Allow the brownies to cool in the baking pan. They will set more over time.
Avocado frosting:
- Add all ingredients to a food processor and puree until it is as smooth as possible. If desired, add more cocoa powder or sweetener to taste.
Decorating and serving the brownies:
- When the brownies are cool, top with the avocado chocolate frosting. Use a sharp knife to cut the brownies into portions.
- The unfrosted brownies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days. Store the frosted brownies in an airtight container in the fridge for 5 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Notes
- To make beetroot puree from scratch: Peel and chop 1-2 whole beetroots. Add the beetroot(s) to a small pot of boiling water and boil for 5-10 minutes or until tender. Drain the beetroot(s) and reserve some of the water. Add the beetroot(s) to a food processor and process it until it’s as smooth as possible. If your beetroot isn’t breaking down, add 1-2 tablespoons of the reserved water (or the dairy-free milk from the ingredients list) and puree again.
This post was originally published in June 2015 and updated a few times since then.
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.
Hiya Anthea 🙂
These are our favourite, but I don’t have enough rapeseed oil to last me until our next shop, so wonder how you think melted vegan butter would work in its place?
Thanking you always!
Hey! Oh I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed these before :). Yes, melted vegan butter will work well too. Enjoy!
Thank you so much for the speedy reply 🙂 have a lovely day x
So yummy! My friend is vegan but he kinda cheats some time so the only one substitute I did was an egg instead of chia seeds because I didn’t have a way to grind mine up. Frosting and brownies itself were sooo good!
So glad that you enjoyed these brownies! Thanks for your feedback, Fatime 🙂
Did you change the recipe? I thought you soaked the flax meal in water and also had unsweetened applesauce. I made it twice and it was a big hit. Note it looks different.
Hi Glenda, no I’ve never changed this recipe – I recall one reader had success with using applesauce instead of oil, but I actually never soak flax seeds in water beforehand.
Hello, I have done these brownies, the taste is so good but the consistency is a bit crumbly, is not like the one at the photo at all. How can make it more consistent?
Thank you! 🙂
Hi Bea, these brownies are normally not crumbly – did you use the ground chia or flax seeds? They help bind the ingredients. Otherwise, if you overmeasured the flour, reduced the sugar, used less beetroot, or chocolate, that can cause the brownies to be more crumbly. I hope that helps!
Hi there,
Would these still be tasty enough without the vegan chocolate? I’m trying to reduce the amount of sugar in them plus I don’t have any on hand at the moment
Hi Charlotte, I haven’t tested it without chocolate but I suspect it’ll become very cake like and not very flavorful. Maybe try my chocolate zucchini bread (you can omit the chocolate chips) or chocolate banana bread? I hope that helps!
Hi Anthea, my food processor has just died, so thought I’d make the beetroot puree with my blender. It’s super smooth, though. No lumps at all. Do you think the puree needs a bit of texture to help hold things together? Thanks.
Hi Lucy, sorry for the late reply! Some texture in the beetroot puree is absolutely fine! Hope that helps 🙂
Has anyone tried making these with protein powder in lieu of some of the cacao powder or flour?
Going to give it a try and will let you know how it goes!
Hello, I like how the brownies you made retain a red colouring after baking. Do you think this is still achievable when completely wholemeal flours are used?
My other question was regarding the sweetener in the brownie part of the recipe – can a liquid sweetener such as rice bran syrup be swapped for the 160g coconut sugar, or would this ruin the recipe?
Thank you.
Hi Michelle, yes I think the red colour will still show if you use wholemeal flours. It might be a more dull red but it should still show.
With the sweetener, I have had one reader who used a liquid sweetener in this recipe successfully (they used less than 160g) but I haven’t tried it myself so can’t vouch for results. I suspect that it would make the brownies more dense.
I hope that helps!
Hello Anthea,
Thank you so much. I just put this into the oven and am excited to see how it will turn out 🙂
Based on what you mentioned above, I used half a cup of brown rice syrup (I believe that to be 140~150g, but can’t remember now sorry), and the two tablespoons of brown sugar I had left in my cupboard.
The brownie won’t be tasted until tomorrow though, as it will be for a birthday celebration. Will definitely come back and leave a review.
The brownie turned out great, my family who prefer more “conventional” desserts enjoyed it. For my own tastes it had a perfect amount of sweetness 🙂 My friend who tried it thought that without the frosting it would be too beetroot-y, earthy…I think that’s due to my recipe alteration, though, because I used brown rice syrup instead of coconut sugar.
Aw, it’s amazing that your family enjoyed these brownies too! Yes you’re right – brown rice syrup as a milder taste than coconut sugar so the beetroot taste may be a little stronger but I’m sure they would’ve been delicious either way! Thanks so much for your feedback!
I usually love this recipe (exactly how it is)…however I made this today for the 4th time and had some dairy free yogurt that I needed to use so used this as per the suggestion of using either light-tasting vegetable oil, such as sunflower or rapeseed, dairy-free yoghurt or applesauce …I usually use coconut oil and the recipe is perfect.. So I used coconut yogurt today and unfortunately the brownies have turned out rubbery and inedible. Im annoyed since I’ve wasted time and expensive ingredients making these and only wish I had stuck to using coconut oil. If you make this definitely don’t use yogurt for an alternative to oil.
Hi Elle, I’m glad you’ve enjoyed these brownies a few times!
I’m so sorry that the yogurt option didn’t work for you. It’s worked for a few of my other readers so I wonder if different brands of yogurt changes the texture of the brownies?! Nevertheless, thanks for taking the time to leave your feedback!
I loved this! It was easy to follow and it tasted SO good. Mine came out really fudgey and went down a treat in my house!
I’m not too keen on beetroot, but this recipe seemed to have the right amount of ingredients so that I could barely taste the veg in it!
I have been wanting to bake healthy brownies for a while now, I am so glad I found this recipe!
I have only just started my plant based journey and so I wanted something yummy where I didn’t feel as though I was being restrictive! These were very yummy and fudgey. The recipe was straight forward to make and I will be making a lot more recipes from this blog 🙂