Hidden Veggie Brownies: Chocolate Ninja Brownies Recipe (Thermomix)

This is by far my most popular and famous recipe! I rebranded them to Ninja Brownies after a mum made them and decided the recipe had ninja powers with its stealth-hidden vegetables and fiber!

And they are impressive, with almost three quarters of a kilo of veggies in them, and four sources of fiber.

When it comes to 'hiding' vegetables in food, it's important not to trick your kids. Don't serve them zoodles and tell them its noodles. Don't serve them cauliflower and tell them its rice. It makes picky eaters even more suspicious and can really break their fragile trust in food.  I work with extreme picky eaters and I know that many of these kids struggle to have a friendly relationship with vegetables. These brownies are designed to help bridge the gap between finding vegetables repulsive and making friends with them. If you want to make these brownies and not tell your kids what's in them, I won't judge you for that!  I know how some kids can get. But the recipe is an awesome opportunity to get your kid/s interacting and engaging with foods that they perhaps would normally push away. 

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Chocolate Ninja Brownies (Thermomix Recipe)

Prep Time: 5-10min

Cook Time: 30-35min

Makes: x1 full Brownie tray, approx 24 little squares

What You'll Need:

• Chopping board

• Kid-safe knife (and a knife for yourself to use)

• Thermomix

• Brownie / slice tray (~28x18cm / ~11x7in)

• Baking paper

Ingredients

400g zucchini (~1 large zucchini)

100g carrot (~1 carrot)

150g sweet potato (~½ a sweet potato)

4 medjool dates

100g neutral flavoured oil (of choice, if using coconut oil or butter make sure it's softened)

2 tsp vanilla essence 

180g raw sugar 

270g GF self raising flour* (or wheat flour if not needing to be gluten free)

50g cocoa powder 

Handful dairy free choc chips (optional, & just use regular choc chips if doesn't have to be DF)

*If you don’t have self raising flour, you can make your own; add 2 cups all purpose flour, along with 3 tspn baking powder & 1 tspn fine salt.

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160ºC fan-forced & line a brownie pan with baking paper.

2. Help your kid to peel the sweet potato and wash the carrot and zucchini (no need to peel carrot or zucchini).

3. Help your child to roughly chop the zucchini, carrot, sweet potato & dates. 

4. Put the carrot and sweet potato into the Thermomix bowl and pulse 1-2 times, scrape down sides of bowl. 

5. Add zucchini, dates, oil, essence and sugar. Blitz for 30sec, speed 7. Scrape down sides of bowl half way through.

6. Add flour & cocoa, blitz for 30sec speed 5. Scrape down sides of bowl and repeat if needed. 

7. Add in choc chips (if using) and mix on reverse, 10 seconds speed 4. 

8. Bake for 35-40min (a toothpick in the middle should come out sticky / not entirely clean). 

9. If you can - allow to cool & then serve. But you know the rule with brownies! Eat straight from the pan, while still gooey and hot!! Once cooled, keep in an airtight container and room temperature for about 3 days (if it lasts that long!), or keep in the fridge for longer. Suitable for freezing. 

No Thermomix? No worries! Check out the food processor version here.

Try these hidden veggie chocolate brownies out with your little one and let us know what you think!