A Lighter Way to Bake by Lorraine Pascale is published by HarperCollins at £20 (photography by Myles New).
These brownies by Lorraine Pascale are rich and fudgy – just as a brownie should be – but with a healthier twist. Replacing the sugar with dates ups the fibre content and helps avoid any refined sugar spikes.
Ingredients
- Rapeseed oil, for greasing
- 75g oats (optional, use gluten-free if required)
- 200g Medjool dates, pitted
- 125g unsalted butter, melted
- 75g unsweetened cocoa powder or Aduna Super Cacao Powder
- 5 tbsp unsweetened almond milk
- 2 medium free-range eggs
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Seeds from 1 vanilla pod
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan 160°C) / 350°F / Gas Mark 4. Grease and line an 18cm (7in) square baking tin with baking parchment and set aside.
- Put the oats in a food processor and blitz until they become a fine flour. Add the dates, butter, cocoa powder, almond milk, eggs, baking powder and vanilla seeds, and process until the mixture is smooth and fudgy.
- Spoon the brownie mixture into the prepared tin, smoothing the top evenly with the back of a spoon. Bake for 12-15 minutes until firm on top but still slightly soft in the centre – the middle should still be the tiniest bit gooey.
- Once cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool a little. Cut into nine squares and serve.
Enjoy!
Recipe by Lorraine Pascale
