Chocolate eggplant brownies

Strange as it may sound, the eggplant works brilliantly with the dark, flavonoid-rich chocolate. Truly yummy.

Strange as it may sound, there is eggplant in this dark chocolate brownie. Definitely don't knock it 'til you try it. Credit: Simon & Schuster

• makes

  12

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  35 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 medium eggplant (200 g), peeled and diced
• 150 g dark chocolate (minimum 70 per cent cocoa solids), broken into pieces
• 60 g coconut oil
• 60 g soft pitted dates, diced
• ½ tsp salt
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 80 g almond meal (ground almonds)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 170°C. Steam the eggplant for 15 min­utes until it’s soft (or microwave it in less time). Put it in a medium-sized mixing bowl and stir in the chocolate and coconut oil. The warm eggplant will melt the chocolate and oil. Add the chopped dates and salt. Using a hand blender or a food processor, blitz the mixture until it’s smooth. By now it should be cool enough to add the eggs and baking powder. Blitz again for another minute or so, then mix in the ground almonds. Spread the mixture onto a medium-sized baking tray lined with greaseproof paper and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes. It is cooked when a knife comes out clean.

Serve the brownies with raspberry chia jam and/or full-fat live organic Greek yoghurt.

Note

• Alternatively, to make cupcakes, divide the mix­ture into a 12-hole cupcake tray lined with paper cases, and bake for about 15-20 minutes.

Recipe from The Clever Guts Diet by Dr Michael Mosley with Tanya Borowski and Dr Clare Bailey. (Simon & Schuster Australia, pb, $29.99).  Read Michael Mosley's tips on cocoa and other surprising foods that are good for your gut here. 

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.