Beet Brownies (Daring Bakers' Challenge)

Whew! It has been a crazy month. My school work finally caught up with me and instead of spending my time experimenting with recipes in the kitchen, I have spent my time working with the same techniques over and over. But spring break is finally here and just in time for this month's Daring Bakers' Challenge.

Ruth from Makey-Cakey was our March 2013 Daring Bakers' Challenge host. She encouraged us all to get experimental in the kitchen and sneak some hidden veggies into our baking, with surprising and delicious results!

Unlike a lot of bakers, I tend to enjoy savory food more than sweet and was excited by the chance to try and mesh the two together. Originally, I was tempted to make a tomato cake -- something I have been wanting to attempt for a long time -- but I resisted since technically tomatoes are fruits and not vegetables. Its a seed thing. My next thought was to use a vegetable that I don't normally enjoy eating in savory dishes and see if I could make it delicious in a baked good. I decided on the beet.

Beets are weird looking. Kind of like ugly relatives of radishes. I have always avoided them in food. I am not sure if it is the way they look raw, their strange earthy flavor or their propensity to turn everything they are mixed with hot pink. Either way, I have never worked with them in the kitchen and wasn't quite sure where to begin when turning them into a dessert.

After scouring the blogisphere for inspiration, I settled on using a beet puree as the moistening component in chocolate brownies. Due to the innate earthiness of the beet, I thought that pairing it with chocolate would help enhance this flavor without overpowering it. Despite my dislike of beets, I still wanted the flavor to be present in the brownies.

As I said, I have never cooked with beets and was unsure what to expect when working with them. The first thing I learned was that the inside of beets are a very beautiful red color. I quickly learned next that the beautiful red color also stains your hands, your cutting board and your microwave (more on that in a second). I also learned that despite their similarity to a potato in texture, they do not cook like potatoes. Ignoring everyone's advise online to boil the beets on the stove, I thought that I could expedite the process by nuking them (like a potato) in the microwave. Apparently, unlike a potato, the dry heat of the microwave leaks the moisture out of the beet while shriveling up the actual flesh of the vegetable. The result was a mushy mess of beet pulp and a microwave that is now slightly pink (despite a lot of scrubbing).

Getting past my initial frustrations with the vegetable, the beet puree actually worked very nicely in the brownie batter. It even gave it a really nice, red hue. I added some walnuts to the brownie mix because I am one of those weird people that enjoy nuts in their brownies. I had also intended to add a teaspoon of cinnamon to the batter to give it another layer of flavor but completely forgot. Oh well, next time!

I could hardly wait for the brownies to come out of the oven to see if I had successfully turned one of my least favorite vegetables into something I loved. The end result was a yummy, moist, slightly less sweet chocolate brownie. The only clue that they contained a secret vegetable was their slightly reddish hue. Though I thought these brownies were delicious, I was slightly disappointed that the earthiness unique to the beet didn't shine through. Next time I might try increasing the amount of beet puree used or possibly add in some chunks of beet. I also think that I might add a cream cheese frosting to boost their sweetness a little. Despite their healthy secret, they are still a dessert after all!

Live. Love. Bake.

Beet Brownies 
Adapted from Vegetarianized.com's Dark Chocolate Beet Brownies. Yields about 24 brownies.

Ingredients

8 ounces raw red beet
8 ounces butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups cocoa powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 Tb. vanilla
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup walnuts, divided 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a jelly roll pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper (see note).
2. Wash beets thoroughly. Peel and cut them into smaller chunks. In a small pot, add the beets and cover them with water. Bring water to a boil and then reduce heat to medium. Cook beats about 25-30 minutes or until they are very soft. Timing will depend on the size you cut your beets into. Drain and let cool.
3. Once beets have cooled, puree using an immersion blender or food processor until smooth. The puree will still be kind of grainy looking but all the large chunks should be gone. Set aside.
4. In a medium pot, melt butter over low heat. Add both the brown sugar and granulated sugar to the butter and increase the heat to medium-low. Stir frequently until the sugar is dissolved, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat.
5. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, beat eggs on medium speed for about 2 minutes. Add cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and vanilla. Mix until incorporated fully.
6. Add pureed beets and butter-sugar mixture to the cocoa mixture and mix until incorporate. 
7. Reduce the speed to low and add flour, scraping the sides as necessary. 
8. Once flour is incorporate, mix in 1/2 cup of walnuts by hand.
9. Pour batter into prepared pan and use the back of your spoon to spread out the batter evenly. Scatter the remaining 1/4 cup of walnuts on top of the batter.
10. Bake for 6 minutes and then rotate pan 180 degrees. Bake for an additional 6-8 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean or with just a few crumbs. Cool brownies in pan completely before turning out onto a cooling rack. 

Note: You can use 9x9 or 9x13 baking pans depending on the thickness of brownie that you desire. Cooking time will increase.