Okay… you’re not going to believe me when I say this but there’s a secret ingredient in these that make them healthy AND give it some bulk. And it’s something I absolutely HATE. But a friend of mine talked me into trying it so I did. I once read a cookbook where all the recipes had veggies hidden in them so you would be able to get your kids to eat them without even knowing it. That’s what this reminded me of!
Enough suspense already… the secret ingredient is frozen OKRA! Yes… okra. GROOOOOSSSSS you say? That’s what I said too. But I swear to you… you won’t know they’re there. Well… that’s not quite true. I tried a brownie when it came hot out of the oven and I thought maybe I could taste them. But once they completely cooled, I didn’t taste them at all. And once I added the icing and put them in the fridge, they were even better. If you try them, please comment below and let me know if you like them!
Makes 16 Brownies
Ingredients for Brownies:
- 4 oz unsweetened chocolate (find the lowest carb count you can – mine was higher than I wanted so I’ll be on the search for a better choice)
- 3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks)
- 1 cup granulated sweetener (I used Swerve)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 pinches salt
- 4 Tbsp coconut flour
- 3 Tbsp ground flaxseed
- 3/4 cup frozen, chopped okra
- 3 large eggs
Ingredients for (optional) Icing:
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup confectioners sweetener (I used Swerve)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 Tbsp heavy cream
Instructions for Brownie:
- Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly coat an 8 inch square pan with cooking spray (I used coconut oil spray) OR use a silicone baking pan.
- In a pot on the stove, heat some water to a strong simmer. Place a bowl on top and place the chocolate and butter in the bowl to melt them together. I broke up the chocolate into pieces and cut the butter into squares.
- Combine the granulated sweetener, salt, coconut flour, and ground flaxseed in a large bowl.
- In a blender, combine the okra and eggs then blend until smooth. Keep blending until you get a really nice puree. Mine was slimy and somewhat stringy which really grossed me out but I kept trucking along… I had faith that it would work.
- Add the vanilla, okra puree, and melted butter & chocolate to the dry ingredients. Gently stir until just combined.
- Pour the batter into your prepared baking dish and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow to cool completely before adding optional icing. If you’re not adding icing, go ahead and eat them but I recommend letting them cool a lot before trying them.
- Storing them in the fridge will give them a wonderful fudgie texture!
Instructions for optional icing:
- I found this cream cheese icing recipe on one of my favorite websites – Wholesome Yum! Click HERE for the recipe!!
- After the brownies are completely cooled, spread the icing over the top. You will actually end up with more icing than you really need so if you want to save a few calories, half the icing recipe.
- Store them in the fridge and the icing will firm up and the brownies become very fudgie. Yummy!
Notes:
Feel free to add keto friendly chopped nuts such as pecans to the brownie mix before baking! Or top the icing with some chopped nuts.
Nutrition per brownie WITH icing: 193 calories, 4g carbs, 3g fiber, 18g fat, 3g protein
Nutrition per brownie WITHOUT icing: 79 calories, 4g carbs, 3g fiber, 5g fat, 3g protein
Please note I am not a nutritionist or a doctor. Any nutritional information discussed or disclosed in this recipe should only be seen as my amateur estimates based on the specific brands and products I used as well as the nutrition calculator I used. If nutrition is important to you, I highly encourage you to verify any data you see here with your favorite nutrition calculator and see your doctor.
Kat's Low Carb Life 