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    Home » Recipes » Healthy Desserts

    Healthy (Yet Fudgy!) Carrot Brownies

    Published: Oct 16, 2017 by Lauren · This post may contain affiliate links · 15 Comments

    Jump to Recipe  ↓

    These healthy brownies have the same texture as ones made with copious amounts of fat and sugar! 

    Brownies made with carrot

    You read right, carrot brownies.

    The fam and I are preparing to make our sixth and (hopefully) final move this week, and my stress level could not be much higher.

    Per Murphy's law, this also comes about on a week that the girls are both in school and have parent-teacher conferences. If that's not enough, the impish tot that calls himself my son is at peak 'terrible'. Sheesh, brownie me now, please.

    Healthy low sugar brownies

    I've been reworking a few brownie recipes, trying to lower the sugar, maintain texture, and have it actually taste good. A few have come out decent, but none have really wow-ed me until this one.

    I actually began testing this recipe over the summer when squashes were plentiful, and I had zucchini brownie aspirations. One day, however, I started pondering additions that would not only add moisture, but also a natural sweetness.

    Enter, the humble carrot.

    Fudgy carrot brownies made with oat flour

    It not only adds the two above components, but it's also relatively low in starch (starch = carbs + sugar).

    After many (enjoyable) trials, this here is the final recipe that all in the house agreed was the w-i-n-n-e-r!

    Print Recipe
    4.34 from 3 votes

    Healthy Carrot Brownies

    These healthy brownies have the same texture as ones made with copious amounts of fat and sugar!
    Prep Time10 mins
    Cook Time16 mins
    Total Time26 mins
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: Brownies
    Servings: 9 brownies
    Calories: 118kcal

    Ingredients

    • ½ cup oat flour
    • ½ cup whole spelt flour
    • ⅓ cup cocoa powder
    • ¼ tsp baking soda
    • ¼ tsp sea salt
    • ¾ cup milk of your choice
    • 2 Tbsp oil (coconut, grapeseed, olive, and avocado all work!)
    • 2 Tbsp applesauce
    • 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
    • 1 Tbsp coconut sugar
    • 1 Tbsp brown rice syrup
    • 1 medium carrot finely grated
    • ¼ cup chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips

    Instructions

    • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
    • Mix the flours, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together in a small bowl.
    • In a larger bowl, mix the remaining ingredients (save the chocolate chips for the top).
    • Add the dry mix to the large bowl and mix everything until well combined.
    • Pour the batter into a well-oiled 8 x 8-inch baking dish.
    • Sprinkle the top with the reserved chocolate.
    • Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean. DON'T overbake, or they will become dry.
    • Cool, cut, and serve!

    Notes

    Nutrition facts based on using regular sugar, unsweetened almond milk, and olive oil. WW SmartPoints: 5

    Nutrition

    Sugar: 6g | Fiber: 1.8g | Calories: 118kcal | Fat: 5.3g | Protein: 2.2g | Carbohydrates: 15.7g

    Notes:

    I recommend tasting your carrot to be sure it's nice and sweet. I've had some real duds!

    I like to use my Homemade Coconut Milk in this recipe.

    In place of coconut sugar, you can use any granulated sweetener you like.

    For the brown rice syrup, maple syrup or honey should work as replacements, but I haven't tried them myself.

    My little helper...

    ...and goofy taste-tester!

    She'll thank me for that one when she's 16!

    Low sugar vegan brownies


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    Filed Under: Healthy Desserts

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Ash

      October 01, 2020 at 11:15 pm

      Im not sure why it was quite bitter and not much sweetness. Is it supposed to be this way? Thanks.

      Reply
      • Lauren

        October 02, 2020 at 1:46 pm

        Hi there, yes, these are lower sugar brownies. Not sure if you've baked a regular brownie recipe before, but they tend to have upwards of 1/2 - 1 cup of sugar. To make these a bit sweeter, you can add some stevia, otherwise, I'd suggest looking for a regular brownie recipe.

        Reply
    2. Prableen

      July 27, 2020 at 5:47 pm

      Substitute for apple sauce?

      Reply
      • Lauren

        July 27, 2020 at 7:23 pm

        You could try mashed banana, but it will add a banana flavor.

        Reply
    3. Sha

      October 26, 2017 at 5:13 am

      Hi Lauren,

      Roughly how big is a medium carrot? Like an estimate of how many cups a medium grated carrot yields might help. Carrots over here comes in many sizes, some are long and thick, long and thing, short and stubby... so...

      Reply
      • Lauren

        October 26, 2017 at 6:42 pm

        Hi Sha,

        Sorry for the late reply, the carrot should yield about 3/4 cup of (loosely packed) grated carrot. 🙂

        Reply
        • Sha

          October 26, 2017 at 7:14 pm

          Thanks Lauren and no need to apologize as the reply was pretty quick. I, on the other hand, need to say sorry for multiple typos on my ques above and clicking submit before checking haha. Can't wait to try the recipe! Thanks for sharing 😊

          Reply
    4. michelle

      October 21, 2017 at 10:06 pm

      these are brilliant!! my box grater doesn't do a fine shred and i did not have granulated sweetener, but neither detracted from the final product which is so delicious. my boyfriend is a fan too (and the brownies seem to have all disappeared!) ...so i'm definitely gonna be making these regularly 😀 thank you again for your work.

      Reply
      • Lauren

        October 23, 2017 at 1:57 pm

        Thanks Michelle, I'm so happy you like them!

        Reply
    5. Emma Phillips

      October 20, 2017 at 5:33 pm

      Looking amazing!

      Reply
    6. Meeta bhatia

      October 19, 2017 at 9:13 am

      Very nice recipe.... Can I replace brown rice syrup with honey or maple syrup?

      Reply
      • Lauren

        October 21, 2017 at 12:05 pm

        That should work! 🙂

        Reply
    7. Tammy

      October 19, 2017 at 7:42 am

      Me and my kids love these! Thanks for the awesome recipe!

      Reply
    8. Nancy

      October 16, 2017 at 8:33 am

      Spelt contains gluten which I can't have. Can I sub it?

      Reply
      • Lauren

        October 16, 2017 at 10:09 am

        Hi Nancy,

        I'm not gluten-free, so I don't test those options, but it seems an all-purpose GF blend might work!

        Reply

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    Hi there, I'm Lauren Goslin, and I've been a food blogger for over ten years. My goal with this blog is to show you healthy, lower sugar recipes that my family and I enjoy.

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