Beets have a dirty little secret.  Shhh….they’re great with chocolate!  When you get in a beet rut and you’ve exhausted all the roasting/boiling/broiling options, then it’s time to grind them up and make some brownies.  When you serve these tasty treats, nobody’s going to say “ewwww, you put beets in my brownies!”  Instead you’ll get comments like “mmmmm…this is tasty.  What is that delicious spice?”  In answer you can just smile politely and say “Darling, I’ll be taking that secret to my grave.”

I’ll provide my beet brownie recipe below, but really you can add pureed beets to your favorite brownie recipe with very little impact to the overall product.  This recipe sans beets is more of a fudgy brownie, but with beets it turns ever so slightly closer to the cakey side.  The flavor is still chocolatey, but deeper and more interesting.

Chocolate Chip Beet Brownies

1 large beet, peeled and roughly chopped

1/2 c unsalted butter

12 oz chocolate chips, divided

1 1/2 c sugar

4 eggs

1 t vanilla extract

3/4 c flour

1/2 t salt

Place the beet pieces in a saucepan and cover with unsalted water.  Bring the beets to a boil and cook until the beets are tender.  Drain the beets and transfer to a food processor.  Process to a smooth puree.  Yield should be between 3/4 and 1 cup of puree.

In a double boiler, melt the butter and 8 oz of the chocolate chips, stirring until smooth.  Let chocolate mixture cool for 10-15 minutes.  Stir in sugar.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Add vanilla and pureed beet, stirring completely.  Sift in flour and salt.  Fold in remaining 4 oz chocolate chips.  Pour batter into a greased pan – I used a mini muffin pan to make brownie bites, but a 9×9 will work just as well.  Bake in a 350 degree oven until a toothpick comes out with only a few crumbs.  This was about 15 minutes for brownie bites, but could be about 30-40 minutes for a square pan.  Let cool completely before cutting.