Sneaky - like a ninja!

These past couple weeks have been a whirlwind of sinful baked goods, delicious diners out, and girls nights filled with fruity cocktails. So needless to say, I’ve been feeling rather… spherical recently (I think that’s an apt word!) That’s why this week I decided to bake something a little healthier. 

My usual go-to for healthy baked goods is either low-fat zucchini and berry muffins, or cookies so small you can eat one and burn off the calories chewing. However, after my recent indulgences, I wanted something that was going to satisfy my new found love of rich foods and not taste 'healthy'. So I needed to be sneaky - I needed to trick myself ninja-style!

I remember seeing on TV chefs substituting fat in recipes with purees. Instead of butter, people were using butternut squash; or spinach and beet helped increase the nutritional content of decadent desserts. I was a little sceptical though, the purees they were putting in weren’t bland – beets and spinach especially can have strong flavours – so wouldn’t you taste them? But if these flavours could be masked, maybe they would turn out alright.

So I debated between two brownie recipes: one from the Sneaky Chef cookbook and the other from the Deceptively Delicious cookbook. The first uses a blueberry and spinach puree and whole wheat flour, and the other carrot and spinach purees. The consensus among coworkers was that the blueberry and spinach ones would probably be better, so I went with that! Here’s the recipe:

Ninja Brownies (I renamed them from Brainy Brownies – I like my name better)

Adapted from the Sneaky Chef Cookbook - Makes about 30 1” squares.

Purple Puree

1 ½ cups raw baby spinach

¾ cups frozen blueberries (thawed slightly)

¼ tsp lemon juice

1 tbsp water

Flour Blend

1/8 cup and 1 tbsp all purpose flour

1/8 cup and 1 tbsp whole wheat flour

Brownie

6 tbsp butter

¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup brown sugar

½ cup Purple puree (the recipe above gives about 1/2 - 2/3 cups)

¼ cup + 2 tbsp Flour blend

¼ cup rolled oats, ground in a food processor

1 tbsp cocoa powder

½ cup chocolate chips (I used a mix of white and semi-sweet)

Directions

To make Purple Puree

1. Combine spinach, berries, lemon juice and ½ tbsp water in food processor. If needed, add another ½ tbsp water to smooth out puree (I had to).

To make Flour Blend

2. Combine flours in another small bowl.

To make Brownies

3. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and spray the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking pan with PAM (or butter it).
4. Melt the butter and 3/4 cup of chocolate chips in the microwave, heating for 15 seconds at a time, until completely melted. Allow mixture to cool. In another bowl combine eggs, vanilla, sugar and puree. Combine the chocolate mixture with the puree mixture.
5. In another bowl, combine flour blend, cocoa, and ground oats. Combine this with the chocolate/puree mixture and blend thoroughly. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared dish.
6. Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before cutting.

I did end up changing the recipe slightly – as usual! The original recipe called for ½ cup granulated sugar, but I substituted in less brown sugar. I was afraid the puree would have a strong flavour so I hoped the brown sugar (which has more flavour) might hide the flavour better. The flour blend originally called for equal parts all purpose flour, whole wheat flour and wheat germ, but I didn’t have wheat germ so I just did half and half of the flours. Finally, just to make sure this recipe didn’t completely fail, I added chocolate chips. The original recipe said to use walnuts, but because of a nut allergy I couldn’t use them.

Despite the multiple steps (making the puree,blend and then the recipe itself), this was a really easy recipe to follow and I had no issues. I thought it was kind of weird that the recipe said to spray only the bottom of the pan, but the brownie pulled away from the sides of the pan with no problems. To stay with the whole ‘healthy’ theme, I cut the brownies into small 1 inch squares so I got about 30 squares total.

Now for the verdict on taste – what you’ve all been waiting for! They actually tastes pretty good! It’s a nice fudgy brownie, and you can’t tell there’s blueberry and spinach in it. While warm (since I couldn’t wait till they cooled), they do have a more complex flavour then a simple brownie, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I guess I’ll have to wait and see how they taste once they have a chance to cool, and see if anyone tomorrow can pick out the flavours.

I know these can’t really be considered a ‘healthy’ food, especially since I added chocolate chips, but if I absolutely had to indulge in something sweet or rich, I much prefer this option. The lower fat and sugar content, increased nutritional value and small size are a good compromise between indulging and being healthy. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my short life, it’s that you can’t deprive yourself. If you like sweets, treat yourself every once in a while! Just be a ninja – sneak in healthier options!

Now, if only I could make other ‘healthy’ foods taste this delightful…