Healthy Red Velvet Brownies
I love Red Velvet anything. Love love loooove! Red Velvet is basically vanilla with a hint of chocolate, that is dyed a vibrant red. These Healthy Red Velvet Brownies, on the other hand, are just like any regular brownie — fudgy, moist, dense, sweet, chocolatey — only with a lovely (naturally) reddish hue.
Red Velvet Brownies. It can’t get better than that, right?
Oh wait, it just did — HEALTHY Red Velvet Brownies!
Yup, I said it, these brownies are good for you. They are 100% whole grain, free of refined sugar, gluten free, and vegan to boot. Oh, and they’re hiding a VEGETABLE.
Feel free to add a big sprinkle of mini dark chocolate chips to the batter as you make these Healthy Red Velvet Brownies. Emphasize that chocolate yo.
Chocolate lovers, REJOICE. Because there is no such thing as too much chock-oh-law-tay.
Healthy Red Velvet Brownies
Ingredients
- 120g (1 cup) Oat Flour
- 144g (¾ cup) Granulated Erythritol
- 85g (½ cup + 2 tbs) Sweet White Sorghum Flour
- 20g (¼ cup) Unsweetened Natural Cocoa Powder
- 1 tsp Double-Acting Baking Powder
- ½ tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp Xanthan Gum
- 123g (½ cup) Roasted Beet Puree (see Directions)
- 112g (½ cup) Organic Raw Cacao Butter (melted)
- ⅓ cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk (warm)
- 1 tbs Vanilla Extract
- 2 tsp Natural Butter Flavor
- 1 tsp Liquid Stevia Extract
- 2 tsp White Vinegar
- ½ cup Mini Dark Chocolate Chips (optional)
Instructions
For the Roasted Beet Puree:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Rinse and gently scrub 3 medium beets, then individually wrap them in foil.
- Place the beets on a jelly roll pan and bake for 1 hour, or until a fork pierces through the center of the beets with ease. Carefully unwrap the beets and let cool for 30 minutes.
- Scrape off the beet skins (they should peel off easily) and chop into chunks. Add the beet chunks to a food processor and purée until completely smooth.
For the Brownies:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line an 8x8" brownie pan with parchment paper both ways.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the oat flour, erythritol, sorghum flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and xanthan gum.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the beet puree, melted cacao butter, warm almond milk, vanilla extract, butter flavor and stevia extract. Dump the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients and whisk well.
- Last, whisk in the vinegar and optional mini chocolate chips.
- Scoop the mixture into the prepared pan and spread it out with an offset spatula. Bake for ~34 minutes, or until the center of the brownies spring back when tapped. Let cool, then slice and serve.
Compared to typical brownies, these brownies are lower calorie and higher fiber with no added sugar and zero cholesterol!
Mind. Blown.
Enjoy!
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With love and good eats,
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– Jess
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Indulge − no strings attached!
As a beet and chocolate and brownie lover–these look amazing. One question: I don’t have Ener-G egg replacer–roughly how many equivalent eggs, egg whites, or flax/chia eggs would the amount listed be? Thanks!
Hi Rosalie,
You can omit the egg replacer and reduce the almond milk from 1/2 cup to 1/4 cup, and you can use one whole egg instead.
Good luck! I hope you like the recipe 🙂
They look a bit underdone… Interesting though!
You can probably bake the brownies longer but I like my brownies super fuuudgy 😉
AWWWW! You updated your photo! SO pretty 🙂
Thanks A! I thought it was time to change it up a little bit <3
I just can’t get over the nutritional information, it’s astonishing! Well done for making everything so healthy!
These sound delicious, but I only have white wheat flour…do you have any hunch if these could still work? Sorry, I know pretty much nothing about gluten-free baking.
Mariana-
Hmmm… I’m not sure but you can definitely try it out! Just omit the brown rice flour and sorghum flour and replace it with 2 cups of wheat flour (preferably whole wheat pastry flour if you have it). I hope you like the brownies!
I can’t used red dyes because I am allergic. I use beet powder to make my red velvet items. It gets that deep red color without changing the taste at all.
Awww that’s too bad 🙁 I’m glad the beet powder works for you, I gotta try that out!
These look amazing! However, I can’t help but be bothered that you say they’re vegan, but then stress that the butter extract (which looks to be made from real butter) is non-optional. Sorry, that makes them non-vegan. 🙁
Butter extract IS in fact vegan, the description says it “adds real butter flavor” not “adds real butter.” Plus, I am somewhat sensitive to dairy and I don’t react to this product. You can also use another brand if you don’t feel comfortable with that certain brand.
Looks really tempting, but, it’s not actually vegan, due to the required (your expressly listed requirement, in the recipe) butter extract. The product’s description says, “This emulsion natural flavor adds real butter flavor to your baked goods & frostings.”
Butter extract IS in fact vegan, the description says it “adds real butter flavor” not “adds real butter.” Plus, I am somewhat sensitive to dairy and I don’t react to this product. You can also use another brand if you don’t feel comfortable with that certain brand.
It says it is natural butter flavor and no where does it say it claim non dairy. Can I ask on what you are basing your assumption that this product is vegan?
The product would have to notify whether or not it uses dairy, as regulated by the FDA, because if they fail to and someone has an allergic reaction then they would be looking at a lawsuit. If you do not feel comfortable using these butter extracts you can find another vegan butter extract you like, most likely online. I know vegan bakers who use butter extract. You can contact the companies themselves if you have questions on their ingredients 🙂
great recipe! they look delish!
To everyone concerned about the butter extract, Chocolate Covered Katie (a vegan for ten years) contacted Wilton to confirm that it is in fact vegan, so get out of Jessica’s butt about it, ok? :~)
Hahaha, thanks for that ;D
I actually just contacted them myself just in case, so thanks for letting me know sooner!
They look so delicious, I love this blog and brownies! I am going to have to give them a go this weekend.
Made these yesterday and a third of the pan is gone already haha.
I used 18g flax in lieu of ener-g, plain erythritol rather than vanilla-infused, 155g beets + 14g coconut oil, and added 1/4c mini dairy-free chocolate chips. This changed the nutritionals to 190kcals/9th of the pan, but hey, that is fabulous. They’re fabulous 🙂 I’m a major beet fan so I love that I can just detect a bit of beet-ness (only when they’re cold, though, when warm it’s just chocolatey goodness).
Rosalie- Yay! I’m glad you liked the recipe! I’m so glad you told me that the flax worked as an egg replacer-replacement, I wasn’t sure if that would work. The chocolate chips sounds like a great addition 😉
190 calories sure “beets” (haha? no, I’m not funny…) any other brownie out there.
I, just yesterday, found a recipe for red velvet brownie and planed to make them but this recipe beats it.
Hi, is there anything I can replace butter extract with, I can’t find it anywhere and I’m not allowed to buy it online 🙁
Jessica-
The butter extract can be replaced with extra vanilla extract but you won’t have that butter flavor that is typical to red velvet recipes. Also, the butter extract helps mask the beet flavor, so you might be able to taste the beets… not sure if that’s something anyone really wants in brownies! :/
-Jess
Just stumble upon this recipe and all of it look sooooo good! but I was wondering, if I wish to omit the beet root, will it change the taste of the brownie?
Yay I’m glad you think it looks good!
I wouldn’t recommend omitting the beet puree because the brownie batter will be too dry and won’t bake properly. I would recommend replacing the beets with unsweetened applesauce (I haven’t tried this, but I think it should work out fine). The flavor won’t change too much, the brownies just won’t be red… they’ll probably be a tan/light brown color.
Anyways, hope you like the brownies! 🙂
-Jess
Looks very unappealing with all that dye. You can’t eliminate that for the dye that tastes so terrible? Can you use some bright colored fresh or dried fruit? It would be more wholesome if you did. Just lettin’ you know.
Ruby-
The dye I used is all-natural, not synthetic. It comes from beets!
I wanted to keep the recipe authentic, so adding fruit would alter the taste and it wouldn’t end up tasting like the classic “Red Velvet.”
Though, I’m glad you tried the recipe! My homemade vanilla sugar is basically erythritol with vanilla beans in it, it’s just for more added vanilla flavor.
Also, fat is not bad for the human body, it is an essential nutrient which means its consumption is required for a healthy body, brain, cells, etc.
-Jess
I used ground dried raspberries, eliminated the oil, salt, and sugar to make these truly healthy. I used erythritol in place of the sugar. I don’t need saturated fat in any of my recipes, nor salt. All forms of fat, including flax, damage the epithelium of the vessels, which contributes to congestive heart disease. But otherwise I liked your recipe.
Thanks Jessica. Glad to hear the dye is natural and that erythritol is used. But, it sure is expensive. Nice recipe, but I follow Dr J. Mcdougall and J Fuhrman who promote health through low fat eating. Much research to back up their claims.
Thanks for the recipe. Yea, raspberry changes the taste–but it’s good.
I LOVE these. 🙂 I made my own Trim Healthy Mama adaption of them and they turned out beautifully! <3 🙂 Thanks for such great recipes, Jessica. 😉
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These brownies look UNREAL. They look like little red squares of magic! 😀 I have to try this ASAP!
They look so fudgy and delish! And the colour is gorgeous. You’ve done it again Jess! 🙂
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They look so delicious and healthy! I love that there is hidden beets in them and they actually turn the brownies red!
Hi,
I haven’t made this yet – but I’m considering making a big batch of roasted beets, so that I could use it to try a bunch of the red velvet recipes over the next little while. Any idea how long it should last in the fridge for? Thanks
I like the way you think! 😉 I make big batches of roasted beets for red velvet recipes and I’ve never regretted it! The roasted beets will last about a week in the fridge, but is also perfectly fine to freeze in case you make too much or life gets in the way of baking. The brownies should be kept at room temp for up to 3 days but can be refrigerated after that. Just be sure to warm them up before serving because they’ll get super hard in the fridge. Hope you LOVE LOVE LOVE the brownies!! 🙂
Since I don’t buy or eat beets generally, can you just use canned beets for the puree?
I suppose you can use canned beets, but the brownies won’t be as red… there’s something about fresh beets that add a ton of red color!