I think it’s time we come together as a society and agree that brownies should always be fudgy. I can not stand when people call a fluffy piece of cake, like you’re not fooling anyone. I find that this actually works out in my favor, because a lot of whole foods plant based recipes turn out a littler more dense, and when it comes to brownies that’s what you want!
Before making this recipe I never had eggplant brownies. It wasn’t until my littler brother (shout out Nathan!) called me up and told me I need to make eggplant brownies, because he just had some and they were amazing that I decided to finally give it a go! This should come as no surprise, because I’ll give anything a go that finds ways to sneak a vegetable into a dessert recipe. I tried it out, and well the rest is history!
What is Mesquite?
Listen, I honestly didn’t know either. It wasn’t until one day I was doing my favorite morning coffee activity: window shopping on Amazon (and Zillow lol) that I discovered Mesquite Powder. Mesquite is a protein-rich, high fiber, low glycemic sweetener, and superfood. You may have heard of mesquite in barbecue recipes, but besides that it’s fairly uncommon. It is honestly incredible though. It has a strong flavor, but in recipes like these eggplant brownies it taste divine. I love finding ingredients like this, because it opens so many doors of recipe creations to be made!
What texture do these Eggplant brownies have?
These healthy brownies are not the type of brownie you eat right out of the oven with a big scoop of ice cream (that’s my Date Sweetened Brownies). These eggplant brownies have more of a fudgy, Cosmic brownie type of texture, and they taste best chilled. I wouldn’t recommend eating them warm. I think we all need to show some love and appreciation for a good fudgy cold brownie, and especially for one that is so healthy!
Vegan Desserts with Vegetables
Like I said at the beginning, any way to sneak some extra veggies into my diet I’m game. I love recipes like this eggplant brownie recipe, because it helps me eat vegetables that I honestly wouldn’t eat otherwise (not an eggplant fan over here). I have a couple sweet treat recipes on my blog that sneak vegetables in. Some of my favorite vegetable dessert recipes are:
And more! I’m always working on new recipes, and I love a good challenge. You can count on more healthy vegetable dessert recipes coming!
Ingredients for these Healthy Eggplant Brownies:
- Eggplant
- Mesquite powder
- Vanilla extract
- Baking soda
- Ground flaxseed
- Plant based chocolate chips
- Date sugar
- Cacao powder
- Pecans – “VEGAN10” for $10 off!
- Cacao nibs – “VEGAN10” for $10 off!
- Date syrup
Eggplant Mesquite Brownies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup mesquite powder
- 1/2 cup cacao powder
- 3/4 cup date sugar
- 1 flax egg 1 tbsp ground flaxseed with 2 tbsp water
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup chopped eggplant
- 1/2 cup plant based chocolate chips
Instructions
- Begin by preheating your oven to 350. Peel and chop your eggplant and place in the steamer/pressure cooker, and steam for 10-15 minutes, until soft (you almost want it mushy.
- In a double broiler melt your chocolate chips. Once melted add to a blender with the steamed eggplant, blend until smooth.
- In a large bowl combine remaining brownie ingredients. Pour the chocolate eggplant mixture into the bowl and mix. Place mix in a brownie dish and bake for 45 minutes.
- Make the chocolate date glaze by simply combining date syrup and cacao powder.
- Once brownies have cooked, take out of the oven and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes, these are best served cold (like a cosmic brownie), I like to place mine in the fridge for an hour. Once cooled down, add glaze, cacao nibs, and pecans. Serve and enjoy!
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