Yep – it’s almost my birthday. Ugh and yay? I mean the older you get the more you don’t care about your birthdays as much. The only rule I have for birthdays is you don’t work on it. It is your only day to do absolutely nothing and have no guilt. To go shopping and deserve it. To sleep in and enjoy it. To just be you and have fun. Last year was the first one I worked in years and that was only because I was moving the next week. Not this year though. Peace out job! Another important birthday rule I have? You get to pick your dinner and dessert. Not someone else. Why would I want a BBQ when I don’t eat meat? I don’t care what someone else wants, I am selfish and it’s my day. So yes – it’s all about me. And this me wants brownies for her birthday! Vegan and gluten-free Sweet Potato Birthday Brownies to be exact!

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Do people really enjoy their birthdays as they get older? I wish my birthdays consisted of amazing travel and adventures – I mean it’s a holiday weekend every year since it falls at Labor Day so I should go and do something! But it never happens. The only thing I do is buy myself a new purse – not a bad thing, since I LOVE purses. And since I normally live alone I also need to make myself a treat … not necessarily cheaper or healthier, but funner. Getting to create something badly healthy. Because when you call something brownies, they have to be bad for you right? Well these bad brownies were awesome, and surprisingly everyone loved them! What?!? Not something that happens that often when I bake a non-cookie. Even one of my more vocal critics said it was good but just not sweet enough – hey – all I heard was that it was good 🙂 The amazingly sweet chocolate chunks melted in the warm sweet potatoes before I got it in the oven – and let me say, that it was so tough to put it in the oven. I love hot mashed sweet potatoes covered in cinnamon, but add some sugar and chocolate? Heaven!

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Start by peeling (a terrible but worthy duty for this) your potatoes then chopping into chunks and boiling until very fork tender, then drain. In a small bowl mix almond meal, coconut flour, cocoa powder, and spices then set aside. Once potatoes are cooked and drained dump them back into the pot then add the extract, syrup, and coconut sugar and mash away until smooth. Dump in the dry ingredients and mix it up, then dump in the chunks and mix. They will begin to melt immediately – feel free to taste and enjoy … yum! Dump into a baking dish – all I could find was a pie dish, so my brownies turned out round. Smooth flat then bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Let sit in the pan about 20 minutes then carefully take out and let sit. Cut and serve. This is amazing hot, but also really good at room temp or cold. Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Birthday Brownies,

2 (2 1/2 C) Large Sweet Potatoes, peeled
1/4 C 100% Pure Maple Syrup
1/4 C Coconut Sugar
1 Tbsp Chocolate Extract
2/3 C Almond Meal
1/2 C Coconut Flour
1/3 C Trader Joe’s Cocoa Powder
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp Nutmeg
1 C Enjoy Life Chocolate Chunks

1. Wash, peel, and boil potatoes until mushy then drain.
2. Set oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking dish with parchment paper.
3. In a small dish dump dates and hot water and microwave 2 minutes. Let dates sit until skin until cooled then peel skins off and dump water.
4. Dump potatoes and dates into a food processor and add in the extract and maple syrup. Process until smooth.
5. In a medium-size bowl add the dry ingredients and mix well.
6. Dump in the potato mixture and combine.
7. Pour into baking dish and smooth out with the spoon.
8. Bake 30-45 minutes.
9. Let sit in pan 20-30 minutes.
10. Take out and set on cooling rack about 10 more minutes then peel off paper.
11. Enjoy!