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These vegan Sweet Potato Brownies are so rich and fudgy that I’m not sure anyone will believe you when you tell them there’s sweet potato inside. They taste as good as my popular Avocado Brownies, but this version is egg-free!
Sweet potatoes are definitely not the “norm” in a brownie recipe, but they help act as an egg substitute (similar to flax eggs) in this recipe.
They bind the brownies while keeping them moist and rich in texture.
How to Make Vegan Sweet Potato Brownies
To make sweet potato brownies, start with pre-cooked sweet potatoes. You can bake them, pressure cook them (try Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes to avoid heating your kitchen), or steam them until tender.
For the fastest method, peel and cut them into 1-inch cubes, then steam for 10 minutes, or until a fork can easily pierce them.
You’ll use a fork to mash the sweet potatoes into a puree, then measure that for this recipe.
You can save any leftover cooked sweet potato for use in my Sweet Potato Smoothie, Sweet Potato Muffins, or in something more savory like my Sweet Potato Queso.
Once the sweet potato is cooked and measured, you’ll just stir the rest of the ingredients together in a large bowl! Pour the batter into a pan, decorate with few extra chocolate chips, if you like.
Then bake until the edges of the pan start to look dry and the center of the pan has puffed up, about 35 to 40 minutes.
These brownies are very fudgy, so it’s normal for them to stick to your knife as you cut them. If you prefer a less-fudgy brownie, I recommend adding 1/4 cup more flour to this recipe to help cut-down on the sticky factor.
I personally like desserts with a slightly under-baked texture, so if you’re like me, try them as-written below.
Frequently Asked Questions
These taste remarkably like “real” brownies but slightly less-sweet than a boxed brownie mix because they call for low-glycemic coconut sugar. If you replace that with white sugar or brown sugar, they will taste even more like the real thing. You can taste the slightest hint of sweet potato when these are warm from the oven, but as they cool I think it becomes more undetectable.
If you can’t finish this whole batch of sweet potato brownies in one week, you can freeze the leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 months. I would let them thaw overnight in the fridge before you want to serve them again.
Looking for more sweet potato recipes? Try Sweet Potato Smoothie, gluten-free muffins, or sweet potato & lentil curry for more ideas.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup sweet potato puree
- ½ cup creamy almond butter (use raw almond butter for best flavor)
- ½ cup cacao powder
- 1 cup coconut sugar
- ⅓ cup gluten-free flour mix* (I used King Arthur's all-purpose mix)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips (use a dairy-free brand to keep these vegan)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a 9-inch square pan with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine the mashed sweet potato, almond butter, cacao powder, coconut sugar, flour, baking powder, vanilla extract, and salt. Stir well, until a relatively smooth batter is formed. (You can do this in a food processor, if you prefer.)
- Fold in the chocolate chips, if using. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and use a spatula to smooth the top. Bake at 350ºF until the edges look dry and the center of the brownies have puffed up, about 35 to 40 minutes.
- Let the brownies cool completely before slicing, or they will be too soft. Cut them into 16 small squares, and store the leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. I think they taste even better when you serve them cold from the fridge the next day! Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Additional Recipe Notes:
- I have not tested this recipe with a traditional flour, but I imagine it might work if that’s what you keep on hand. If you try it, please leave a comment below letting me know how it works out!
- For a sugar-free brownie, try my Date Brownies, which are 100% fruit-sweetened. (They seriously fool my kids– and they are picky!)
- For a nut-free brownie, you might want to try using coconut butter instead of almond butter, or you can use sunflower seed butter, too. Just keep in mind that any changes you make will change the flavor slightly.
If you try this recipe, please leave a comment below letting me know how you like it! And if you make any modifications, I’d love to hear how that works out for you, too. I can only test so many options in my own kitchen, so we can ALL benefit from hearing about your experience, too.
These are super yummy! You definitely can’t that they are gluten free. I love feeding them to my kids knowing they have healthy ingredients like sweet potatoes and almond butter. Thank you for a healthy recipe that doesn’t taste healthy!
This is such a great recipe!! The brownies are super fudgy and chocolatey. You can’t even tell that they are made with sweet potato. I used oat flour and sunflower seed butter in place of almond butter since I have a nut allergy. Everything else I kept the same. Came out delicious after baking for 38 mins. I probably could have pulled them out a few mins earlier but I wanted to be sure they were sturdier, rather than mushy. So yummy!
I’ve tried countless of sweet potatoes brownie recipes andthis is closest to the traditional brownie recipes without all the sugar and fat. I used regular white flour, half the amount of sugar and hazelnut butter and still turned out fantastic.
Made these and my kids were very impressed! Use wheat flour also, worked out well.
I loved them so much I made them 2 times in a week. I created a Mexican hot chocolate flavor the second time by adding cinnamon and cayenne pepper.
So fudgy! Even my son loved them.
I used all purpose flour and it turned out great!
I made this recipe today, then realized I have made it twice before and my husband did not care for it…called it “under-baked”. It is very moist. So, I quickly added an egg white, making it Not vegan any longer. The egg white helped give it some lift. He is eating these brownies now. I always look to Megan’s site for healthy snacks that contain real food and not too much sugar and she always has something good to try.
I’ve made this recipe twice. The second time I used sunflower seed butter to be nut free. Both were delicious and so easy! Will be making these over and over again!! Thanks for the recipe!
I used black sesame tahini (regular tahini would work too!) in place of almond butter and a combination of oat flour and cassava flour instead of gf baking flour and half the amount of coconut sugar and they turned out perfectly! Also added a splash of unsweetened almond milk as the batter was a little bit dry when mixing. I think this recipe is really forgiving and you can easily sub in certain ingredients and still get an amazing result. Great recipe!