Sweet Potato Brownies (DF/GF)

I was already a black bean brownie convert (or at least when you're looking for that brownie taste without the traditional boxed brownie calories/fat) so I guess it's not that much of a stretch to consider sweet potato brownies. 

These are chocolatey, chewy and really rich (think you don't need to eat an entire pan to get your fill.) Plus they're gluten, dairy AND grain-free so they fit for pretty much any diet. Wrong to use the word "diet" when talking about brownies? ;) 

Sweet Potato Brownies

Ingredients:
Wet ingredients:
2 Tbls ground flax seed
1/4 c. warm water
10 oz. canned sweet potato puree
1/2 c. nut butter
1/4 c. maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Dry ingredients:
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. cacao powder
1-2 scoops collagen peptides (optional - if you don't have on hand, swap in vanilla protein powder)
1 tsp. baking powder

Add-ins:
1/3 c. dark chocolate chips
1/3 c. chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 8x8 baking dish.

2. Mix flax seed with water and let stand for a few minutes. (NOTE: If you don't have flax on hand or aren't dairy-free, feel free to swap out the flax/water and sub in 2 eggs.)

3. Mix together all wet ingredients, adding in the flax/water combo and mix to combine. 

4. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix to combine.

5. Fold in dark chocolate chips and any other optional add-ins and pour into the baking dish.

6. Bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Brownies keep for 5-7 days (if they last that long) otherwise you can cut them up and freeze them individually.