Make the sweet potato puree by peeling the sweet potato and chopping into chunks. Boil until tender, around 20 minutes. Mash with a fork or for a smoother texture use a blender. Set aside to cool, or put in the fridge to cool faster
Put the finely chopped dried dates into a bowl and cover with the boiling water. Set aside to cool, the dates will soak up the water and plump up
Pre-heat your oven to 160C Fan/180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 and grease and line 8 inch square tin
Melt the coconut oil in a pan on a low heat. In a bowl whisk together the coconut oil with the maple syrup
Then whisk in the eggs and vanilla extract
Whisk or stir in the sweet potato puree and the date and water mixture
Whisk in the plain flour, baking powder and cocoa powder
Pour the mixture into the tin, try and level out the top as much as you can, and bake for 30 minutes
Leave to cool fully. Melt the dark chocolate and drizzle all over the brownies to decorate
Store in the fridge for 5 days, or you can freeze them and defrost as needed
Video
Notes
Make sure all your ingredients (particularly the eggs) are at room temperature before you start baking.
For the best flavour, make sure to use a good quality vanilla extract and not an essence.
If you don't have maple syrup you can use agave nectar or honey intead.
You can use fresh dates instead of dried if you prefer, you can omit the boiling water as you won't need to soak them.
The drizzle of dark chocolate on top is optional, but I highly recommend it!
Although I provide cup measurements, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients out using digital kitchen scales. It is the most accurate way to measure ingredients and will ensure the best results. Digital scales are very low cost and can be purchased for around £12 ($16.50) .
For teaspoon (tsp) and tablespoon (tbsp) measurements, please use measuring spoons and not the type of spoons you eat with. Again this will ensure accuracy and provide the best results.