Chocolate Banana Brownies

These Chocolate Banana Brownies are sweet, rich, and fudgy. Made with just 7 basic ingredients, this is a simple healthy brownie recipe that is so easy it only needs a fork, spoon, a couple of bowls and a baking tin.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Australian

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

Total Time 40

Servings brownies

Calories 307kcal

Author Kim

Ingredients

12 Medjool Dates seeds removed/room temperature
2 medium Ripe Bananas 400 grams, approx (See note 1)
⅔ cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder, 70 grams
1 ½ cups Almond meal/Ground Almonds, 180 grams
¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 60 ml
¼ cup Maple Syrup, 60 ml
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

Instructions

Preheat oven: Preheat fan oven to 160 degrees C / 320 degrees F. Line a 20cm square baking tin with baking/parchment paper on base and sides, using a little spray oil to help it stick.
Prep Bananas: Peal the bananas and break into chunks. Add to a bowl, and mash with a fork until smooth and creamy.
Prep Dates: Break each of the dates into two pieces, add to a large bowl. Cover with hot tap water and soak for 5 minutes. Drain water off completely, and squeeze the water out of the dates. Use a fork to mash dates to create a paste.
Add All the ingredients: In a large bowl, add the almond meal, cocoa powder, oil, syrup, vanilla extract, mashed banana and date paste. Mix together with a spoon until well combined. Spoon out the mixture into the lined baking tin, smoothing out the top
Bake: Bake for 30 minutes at 160 degrees C / 320 degrees F. Once cooked, it should be just firm around the edges. Remove from oven and let brownies rest in the tin until cooled.
Slice: Life Brownie out of tin and onto a large cutting board. Cut into 9 squares using a sharp knife. Keep brownies in an air tight container in the fridge for 5 days.

Notes

Bananas: The ripeness of the bananas will affect the sweetness of the brownies when they are cooked.
- Very ripe bananas will result in sweet brownies with a strong banana flavour.
- Less ripe bananas will yield a less sweet brownie with less banana flavour.
- A general rule of thumb is that the more spotty they are the sweeter they are and the stronger the banana flavour.
- Also....the riper your bananas the easier they will be to mash as they’ll be softer.
Dates: Medjool dates are a must for this recipe as they are big, juicy and sweet. The skins also break down better to form the paste.
Cocoa Powder: Unsweetened cocoa powder is the way to go, and I tend to find it in the healthy food aisle. Regular drinking chocolate would be way too sweet.
Almond Meal: This is the basis of the recipe. You’ll find Almond meal in the baking aisle of supermarkets. Its coarser than Almond Flour and gives these brownies great texture. You can also blitz almonds in a high powder food processor to get almond meal.
Olive Oil: Extra virgin olive oil is best as its milder in flavour than regular olive oil. Alternatively you could sub with vegetable oil, grapeseed oil or coconut oil.
Maple Syrup: Regular maple syrup or sugar free maple syrup work in this recipe. I love to use Lakanto Maple Syrup - a naturally sweetened maple syrup, lower in calories than regular syrup.
Vanilla Essence: adds a great hit of additional flavour.
Add Ins: ¼ cup chocolate chips, sprinkling of granulated nuts on top, stir through ½ cup macadamias or hazelnuts into the mixture before putting into the tin to bake
Storage: Store in an air tight container in the fridge for 5 days. I don’t recommend keeping them on the bench. Much nicer in the fridge.
Freezing: Cut into slices, and place baking/parchment paper between slices. Store in freezer safe container for 4 weeks. To defrost, put into the fridge overnight.

Nutrition