Carrot and Spinach Brownies

This recipe comes from Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld and sneaks carrots, sweet potatoes, broccoli, peas and spinach into chocolate brownies!

Ingredients:

• nonstick cooking spray
• 3 oz semi-sweet chocolate (I used semi-sweet choc chips)
• 1/2 cup carrot puree ("orange")
• 1/2 cup spinach puree ("green")
• 1/2 cup brown sugar firmly packed
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 large egg whites
• 3/4cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Coat an 8x8 baking pan with cooking spray.
2. Melt the chocolate in a double broiler or over a very low flame (I just microwaved it!)
3. In a large bowl, combine the melted chocolate, vegetable purees, sugar, cocoa powder, margarine and vanilla and whisk until smooth and creamy (1-2 min)
4. Whisk in egg whites. Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt with a wooden spoon.
5. Pour the batter into the pan and bake 35-40 minutes. Cool COMPLETELY in pan before cutting into bars. (to freeze I wrapped each bar in cling wrap then put in a freezer safe bag, to thaw I microwave for about 20 seconds)

Results:

• TIP: I read that it's very important not to eat any of them until they are completely cooled as you'll be able to taste the spinach!
• Toddler: Kye LOVES these! He liked them right away and I give him 1/2 a bar as a dessert. I love that it counts as a dessert but is much healthier than his typical dessert (which is a cracker). 
• Adult: Both Zach and I tried these. I thought they were a bit dry but I couldn't tell it was "healthy" at all. Zach said it tasted like a health food bar so while it wasn't gross it surely couldn't replace a regular brownie in his book!