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Chocolatey, fudgy, gooey, stick-to-your-teeth kind of brownies. That’s what these healthy pumpkin brownies are. Free from refined sugars, this recipe is perfect for puddings, lunchboxes, afternoon pick-me-ups and anytime treats.

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Also see: Clean eating chocolate brownies

Healthy Pumpkin Brownies

Brownies are a big deal in my house. We love them, and Clean eating doesn’t make that any less true.

I very quickly fund a way to make Clean chocolate brownies when we started on this food journey, and they’ve long been a staple here. But…in the interests of adding more nutrition and goodness and yumminess wherever I can, I’ve also been more recently making these Pumpkin brownies.

And I was as surprised as anyone, but I have to tell you, it turns out Pumpkin makes a pretty awesome brownie!

I use tinned Pumpkin for this. While you could of course use fresh pumpkin roasted and pureed, it adds a lot of time onto making these, so I stick to tinned, which is fine.

A word of warning though: Make sure you check the label of the tinned pumpkin you’re using. The only ingredient should pumpkin. Nothing else at all. There’s a few around that are called Pumpkin pie filling, and these usually have added sugars which we don’t want.

Thankfully, it’s fairly easy to find a Clean tin of pumpkin, or if you can’t where you live, try Amazon. This farmers market tinned pumpkin is a good one.

One thing I find often when making recipes that don’t use refined sugar, is that they can become dry without it. It’s usually easy to rectify by using other ingredients and for this I’ve used ground almonds instead of regular flour, as the almond flour really helps keep the brownie gooey.

Maple syrup sweetens the whole thing, although I’ve kept this to the minimum needed and used a few dates to boost sweetness while adding some extra nutrients. The cocoa gives this a really rich, scrummy, fudgey flavor.

I like to throw some choc chips on the top of this as it goes into the oven. I like the look of them and they add a little extra texture. I don’t out them into the mixture though, so there’s really very few of them. Feel free to leave these out if you prefer.

How To Eat Brownies

Well, as is most common here and as much as I hate to admit it, is that we eat these straight from the plate or tin without a passing glance to what might be a better way to eat them.

There’s many ways to eat a brownie though, so either eat them in all their glory alone or have them with like this:

• With custard – this is otherwise known as a pudding brownie. Warm it up and make it even gooey-er and add some hot custard
• With ice cream – as above but the ice cream version!
• Whipped or thin cream

How To Store Brownies After Baking

After baking, these can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days. If you’re making this ahead and want to wait until the day you’re going to serve it before cutting it, then simply take the whole brownie and wrap it gently in parchment paper. I’d give it a couple of layers to make sure it’s really protected from the air and stop it drying out.

If you’re going to be eating these as and when, you can skip wrapping it and instead just store it in an airtight container.

The only exception to this for me is if the brownies are going to go into lunchboxes the following day. In this case, I put those pieces into the fridge the night before.

You don’t need me to tell you lunchboxes can get a bit warm come lunchtime, so having these cold to start with allows them to reach room temperature by lunchtime so they’re perfect for when snack time hits!

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Do Brownies Need To Be Refrigerated?

I don’t refrigerate these. I think the room temperature allows the flavor to develop more, and these are at their best when they’re fudgy and gooey. You can however, pop these in the fridge if you prefer to. They’ll become a little firmer and obviously be cold, but you can certainly have them in the fridge if you want without ruining them.

If you want them a bit warmer to eat, stick them in the microwave for 30 seconds before you eat them.

How Long Are Brownies Good For?

Once you’ve stored these, your brownies will be good for up to 3 days. To be honest, they’re always gone before the 3 day mark anyway. I wouldn’t advise keeping them longer than 3 days, although if you have left overs at this point, wrap them individually and you can pop them in the freezer for up to 4 weeks.

To defrost brownies, leave them to thaw for a few hours and pop them in the microwave for a minute to bring the temperature back up.

How To Cut Brownies Without Them Falling Apart

After these have cooked these brownies you need to let them cool down, almost to completely cold, before you attempt to cut them. While the brownie’s hot or even warm, the inside is to gooey to get a clean cut. Once this is cold, you can use a sharp knife to cut your brownie and it won’t fall apart.

Trouble Shooting

Still having trouble cutting the brownie? Pop it into the fridge for an hour or two to chill it before cutting it. You could also wrap this in parchment paper and put it in the freezer for 30 mins if you’re short on time. It’ll come back up to room temperature really fast after you’ve cut it.

More Clean Eating Snack Recipes

• Healthy flapjacks for kids
• Healthy biscuits for kids
• No bake nutty oat bites
• Peanut butter oatmeal bars

How To Make Healthy Pumpkin Brownies

Ingredients

• 1 Tin Pureed Pumpkin
• ½ Cup Dates Pitted
• ¼ Cup Maple syrup
• ¼ Cup Organic cocoa
• 2 Cups Almond flour
• 1 tsp Baking powder
• 2 Large Eggs
• 2 tbsp Coconut oil
• 1 Small handful Choc chips Optional
• 2 tbsp Boiling water To soften dates

Instructions

• Heat your oven to 190° and line a 9inch brownie pan with parchment paper
• Add the boiling water to the dates in a bowl and leave to soften for a few minutes. Then blend into a paste
• In a large bowl, add the pumpkin, date mix, maple syrup, coconut oil, and eggs and mix to combine
• Add the almond flour, cocoa and baking powder and fold into the wet ingredients, making sure not to over mix
• Scatter the choc chips on top if using
• Transfer the mixture to the prepared brownie tin and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre come out clean.

Healthy Pumpkin Brownie Recipe