These sweet potato brownies are fudgy, decadent and packed with real chocolate. This healthier treat is vegan, eggless, refined sugar-free and can be made gluten-free!
Why you'll love these sweet potato brownies
RICH AND DECADENT: For the best flavor and fudgy texture, these brownies use more chocolate than other recipes.
WHOLESOME INGREDIENTS: These vegan brownies are made using fresh sweet potato, almond butter and coconut sugar. But these ingredients are balanced with real chocolate so the brownies are still tasty.
You may also like my other veggie-packed desserts, such as my beetroot brownies or chocolate avocado mousse tart!
Simple ingredients you'll need
The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the gray recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Semi-sweetened melted vegan chocolate. Use a brand of chocolate that you enjoy by itself because it's the main flavor of your brownies!
Sweet potato (steamed or boiled). Canned sweet potato puree may work but it tends to have more moisture so I recommend omitting the milk.
Runny almond butter adds richness (instead of oil) and acts as a partial binder (in place of eggs). Oil actually makes these brownies crumbly! Alternatively, any other nut butter or sunflower seed butter will work.
Coconut sugar adds depth of flavor and some moisture.
Preparing the sweet potato mixture
First, we need to prepare all of our wet ingredients including sweet potato, melted chocolate, almond butter and dairy-free milk. Here are my top tips:
- It's easiest to blend the sweet potato WITH the chocolate mixture. It can be a little difficult to blend a small amount of sweet potato in a regular-sized food processor or blender. However, combining the sweet potato with liquid ingredients makes it easier to blend.
- If your mixture is still warm, let it cool slightly. If it's still hot, and you add the mixture to the dry ingredients, your brownies might cook before they reach the oven.
Preparing and baking the brownies
To make the brownie batter, stir the dry ingredients in a bowl, add the wet ingredients and mix until combined.
Initially, the batter will look quite dry but it will eventually come together. The final batter should be thick, and fudgy (and very tasty).
The brownies don't take long to bake in the oven. They are ready when you can insert a toothpick in the center and there's no wet batter on it (a few moist crumbs are fine)!
Customizing these vegan sweet potato brownies
To make NUT-FREE brownies, simply omit the walnuts or pecans or replace them with pumpkin seeds. You can also add a swirl of sunflower seed butter to the brownies!
If you want to take these brownies to the NEXT LEVEL, sprinkle some chocolate chunks and raspberries on top!
More vegan chocolate recipes
Follow Rainbow Nourishments on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Pinterest, and subscribe via email to receive all of our latest recipes!
Sweet Potato Brownies (vegan)
Ingredients
Wet ingredients
- 1 cup (170g) roughly chopped vegan chocolate or chocolate chips
- ½ cup (125g) dairy-free milk, or brewed coffee
- ~2 cups (250g) roughly chopped sweet potato, steamed or boiled (note 1 for canned)
- ½ cup (125g) runny almond butter, (note 2 for substitutes)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
Dry ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups (220g) all-purpose plain flour, (note 3 for gluten-free)
- 1 cup (160g) coconut sugar, brown sugar, or granulated sweetener of choice
- 2 tablespoon (12g) cocoa powder, or raw cacao powder
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
To decorate (optional)
- ¼ cup (45g) roughly chopped vegan chocolate or chocolate chips
- ~3 tablespoons (20g) walnuts or pecans, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a 23 cm (9-inch) square baking pan with parchment paper.
- Add the chocolate and milk to a small saucepan over medium heat. Melt until combined. Add the cooked sweet potato and almond butter and use a stick blender to puree the mixture until as smooth as possible. You can also use a food processor or stand blender. Set aside to cool slightly.
- Add all the dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl and mix until there are no lumps. Add your chocolate mixture and mix until combined. The brownie batter should be thick and fudgy.
- Spoon the brownie batter into your baking pan and smooth the top. If desired, sprinkle extra chocolate, walnuts or pecans on top of the brownies and gently press them into the batter.
- Bake the brownies for 15-20 minutes (shorter if you like fudgy brownies, longer for cakier brownies). The brownies are ready when you can insert a toothpick into the middle and it comes out with no wet batter but a few moist crumbs (keep in mind that the brownies will set more over time)! Allow the brownies to cool in the baking pan.
- When you are ready to serve the brownies, remove them from the pan, slice and enjoy. They're delicious with a sprinkle of flakey sea salt or served warm with a scoop of vegan ice cream.
- Store leftover brownies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 day, in the fridge for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Notes
- Canned sweet potato puree may work but it tends to have a lot more moisture so I recommend omitting the milk.
- Alternatively, you can use any other nut butter (such as peanut butter) or sunflower seed butter. Tahini may be too runny or strong in flavor for these brownies, but it still may work.
- For gluten-free sweet potato brownies, use 1 ¼ cups (125g) almond flour and ⅔ cup (105g) gluten-free all-purpose flour.
Nutrition
This post was originally published in October 2019 and updated in April 2021.
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.
Julie says
THESE BROWNIES ARE INSANE!!! I've made sooooo many different vegan brownies over the years -- everything from "normal" ingredient brownies to chickpea brownies, black bean brownies, sweet potato brownies (recipes besides this one).....BUT this recipe here is quite literally THE BEST!!! I am totally hooked on these. Thank you for this 10/10 wonderful recipe!!! Super decadent, fudgy, rich, just overall literal perfection.
Anthea says
I'm soooo over the moon that you loved these brownies, Julie! And I'm super appreciative of your range of brownie experiences too! Thanks so much for the glowing review - it's really made my day ❤️❤️❤️
Giselle says
very delicious and decadent!
Anthea says
So glad to hear! Thanks for your feedback x
Faaiumalo says
I tweaked the recipe by using almond meal and coconut flour for gluten free brownies and let me tell you how moist and decadent the finish product turned out.
I also under bake it cos I like my brownies fudgey and gooey and it was just perfect. It was such an easy recipe to follow. The hardest part in my experience is not eating the whole tray in one sitting! Thank you for sharing 💕
Anthea says
Aw, reading your comment is making me hungry! I'm so glad these brownies worked with those substitutions - I need to try exactly that next time! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment x
Andrea Calhoun says
Could you use tahini in the recipe for the nut/seed butter?
Anthea says
I think it would work - I haven't tried it with tahini so let me know how you go if you do!
Andrea Calhoun says
I actually ended up using organic macadamia butter, did the gluten free option, and cacao nibs on top…AMAZING!
Laura says
Probably a silly question but is sweet potato purée just boiled sweet potato which is blended? Or is there some liquid added when you purée?
Anthea says
Not a silly question at all! It's just boiled sweet potato and blended 🙂