Now I know that there is a huge debate raging here about copyright and Jessica Seinfeld’s Deceptively Delicious book and Missy Lapine’s Sneaky Chef book and whilst its interesting, I’m more interested in the recipes than the controversy. Not that I’m not interested in Hollywood or literary gossip mind you, I am of course being an avid “trash mag” connoisseur, but my stomach beckons a little more.
After seeing Jessica on Oprah, I was intrigued by the recipes. I’ve noticed that whenever Oprah does a food show, she tries the food but doesn’t really go for it preferring to sample little bits rather than indulge. In this case, perhaps because the recipes are low fat and healthy, she was literally wolfing the food down throughout the whole show accompanying her degustation with amorous groans of pleasure. Her audience’s reaction too was similar in nature with a lot of head nodding so I knew I had to try these things for myself.
The odd thing about brownies is that they have a lot of eggs, butter and chocolate to help keep them moist. In this recipe, there’s hardly any, just 2 large egg whites and 2 tablespoons of butter so my skepticism was high. It became even higher when pureeing the spinach. I love spinach and cheese but plain spinach is not appealing at all. Plain spinach in a brownie is even less so. I remained skeptical until I tasted the final raw batter before it was about to be put into the oven. It was rather chocolately and no matter how hard I tried, had no spinach taste at all.
After baking, I found that they didn’t rise a great deal at all and whilst my baking pan was almost exactly 8inches (20cms) by 8inches (20cms) as specified, the brownies were a little flat. That was a bit disappointing. And if you’re expecting a typical luscious brownie with crispy top and moist chewy centre, you may be disappointed. I found that, as she said, with my first bite of a warm one, there was the slightest hint of “something” although it thankfully didn’t scream “spinach!!” to me. After letting it cool as suggested I started on a new brownie. Phew, no spinach taste. By the third or fourth bite, when I realised I was eating an extremely healthy version of a brownie but it was rich and chocolately I find they aren’t so bad after all. In fact, they were rather good. And by the end of my first cool brownie, I’m reaching for another…
Brownies (with Carrot and Spinach) from Deceptively Delicious
These brownies fool everyone! You won’t believe how scrumptious they are (or how good they are for you) until you make them yourself. Just don’t serve them warm—it’s not until they’re completely cool that the spinach flavor totally disappears.
INGREDIENTS
Not your typical brownie ingredients
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 3 oz/90g semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
- 1/2 cup carrot puree*
- 1/2 cup spinach puree*
- 1/2 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 Tbsp. trans-fat-free soft tub margarine spread
- 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 2 large egg whites
- 3/4 cup oat flour or plain flour (I’d recommend using Self Raising flour as they don’t rise much otherwise with the small amount of baking powder)
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
Preheat the oven to 350°/180c degrees. Coat an 8″ x 8″ (20cm x 20cm) baking pan with cooking spray or line with baking paper.Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or over a very low flame (or in microwave)
In a large bowl, combine the melted chocolate, vegetable purees, sugar, cocoa powder, margarine and vanilla and whisk until smooth and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes (it will look rather awful at this stage but do persevere)
Whisk in egg whites. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt with a wooden spoon.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely in the pan before cutting into 12 bars.
P.S. I made this a second time and used Self Raising flour in addition to the baking powder and they rose beautifully and were even better than the first batch.
Created by Jessica Seinfeld
From the book Deceptively Delicious
Makes 12 brownies
How to puree spinach
PREP
No prep at all for baby spinach. For mature spinach, fold leaves in half lengthwise with the stem outside, then strip the stem off the leaf.
COOK
Steam for 30 to 40 seconds, or cook in a skillet with 1 tablespoon of water for about 90 seconds, or just until wilted.
PUREE
In a food processor or blender for about 2 minutes, until smooth and creamy.
How to puree carrots
PREP
Peel, trim the ends and cut into 3-inch chunks.
COOK
Steam for 10 to 12 minutes.
PUREE
In a food processor or blender for about 2 minutes, with a few teaspoons of water if needed for a smooth texture.
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33 Comments | Add your own
Hi!
Thanks for the recipe. I bought 3 bunches of spinach for 60 cents from Flemington mkt, so this recipe is definitely handy!
Can you taste the spinach? Might be a good way to trick my husband into eating vegetables, LOL!
Hi Tian-Cool! Definitely give this recipe a try with your spinach, its definitely worth a taste! Let me know what you think, I’d love to hear your opinion on them
Hi Kathy-definitely a good way for him to eat his spinach and once they’re cold, you don’t taste the spinach at all. My husband actually said that they were his favourite brownies which is quite funny. I must admit I prefer “real” brownies but health-wise these are great.
hey… this reminds me of another type of brownies with green foliage in them as well…
I know I’ve totally been following the goss on this book too. Did you read the article in the New York Times about Jessica Seinfeld?
Glad to hear that you think these work. Still, I don’t think I’ll make spinach brownies a favorite recipe. Maybe when we have bambinos.
I have a question. How do you transpose your signature onto your photos? What program do you use?
Hi Jimmy-haha I think with those you can definitely taste the greenery!
Hi Pieds Des Anges (Kyl)-Oooh no I haven’t read it yet, I’ll go and have a look for it. My sister told me about it so thanks for reminding me. I just use Adobe image ready or Photoshop to write my name at the bottom of the pics
cool! i saw her on Oprah the other day and was wondering about these brownies… might give it a go myself soon
Hi tracey-The brownies were the things that I saw on Oprah that really intrigued me. That and the beet chocolate cake and the chickpea cookies!
this sounds like a calorific bargain, and i like my bargains!
i will buy u the book so u can make it for me when i come back. i want to have some chickpea cookies!
Hi blythe- yes a calorific bargain is exactly what it is! I am dying to try the chocolate and chickpea cookies too
I am a culinary professional, and we are needing to prepare a plethora of healthy dishes in our kitchen right now. We tried 3 of these recipes. We found that with all recipes containing spinach from this book, it is best to purée them very well. For a low-fat brownie with vegetables, this was an allright recipe.
Hi liz T-Yes the spinach does need to be finely pureed. Otherwise, you’re just waiting to get “found out”. I don’t think you can go in expecting the gooey goodness of a regular brownie, the regular ones are sooo full of sugar, butter and eggs, moreso than any other cake type of item.
I want to make these for my vegetable-hating, brownie-loving nine-year old. Please tell us how much self-rising flour you used.
Hi Mike-You could replace the 3/4 cup of plain flour entirely with 3/4 cup of self raising flour and just omit the extra baking powder. Good luck!
these are a fave “treat” at our house! its the only way i can get my boys to eat spinach and carrot! they even call them spinach brownies but have no idea they have spinach in them!lol(they are 6 and 4)yum yum yum!!!!
Hi tina-Haha that’s great! I remember I thought spinach was slimy when I was a kid and never ate it but now I love the stuff. How cute that they call them spinach brownies but don’t know that they have spinach in them!
This looks like a good first step for this guy I just saw on the abc: http://singapore.bbclifestyle.com/eataholics2/episodes.html#e2
a phobia of fruit and veg, so much so that he can’t even look at, touch, or say the words; instead referring to fruit and veg as “stuff”. Eating a cocktail of takeaways, ready meals and processed foods. Ew.
Hi sydfoodie-Oh no, that’s terrible! I’d hate to be married to or dating someone like that. I’d feel like their mum trying to get them to eat the veges or something
OK…Margarine? Are you serious? She’s lost all credibility in my book.
I dont own a blender or food processor, do any of you think that baby food spinach and carrots will work as well?
Hi Mary-She specifies a trans fat free margarine, not just a regular margarine.
Hi Loretta-I’m not really familiar with baby food but if it’s just pureed spinach and carrots I don’t see why not
Has anybody tried replacing the margarine with applesauce or pureed prune? It seems an obvious substitution, but I’m not sure how it would work with so much other puree.
I just made these (with the self-raising flour). I cheated a little and put two tablespoons of butter instead of low fat margarine but they taste pretty good for something relatively healthy (more cake like than dense, chewy brownie). Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Sandy-I’m not sure but it should work as it has egg and flour to bind it but if you do try it please let us know how it is!
Hi Candy-Wonderful! That’s a more than acceptable substitution I think
You’re welcome!
how many ounces of raw carrots and raw spinach puree down to 1/2 cup each?
I just made these last night. It was my first baking experience and I must say…. WOW! They turned out absolutely wonderful, there is no hint of any vegetable taste and they have a wonderful cakey consistency. I used Self-Rising Flour, butter instead of margarine and Sugar in the Raw instead of traditional brown sugar. To counteract the “grainy” quality of the sugar in the raw, I blended the butter, sugar and vanilla first and then added in the rest of the wet ingredients. All in all… Thank you so much for posting this wonderful recipe. I never thought I’d be able to make a dessert that tastes good and is guilt free!
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