Dark Chocolate Beet Brownies

Makes 16 servings

Ingredients

• 8 ounces raw red beets, peeled and quartered
• 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar
• ¾ granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 ¼ cups unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¾ cup flour
• 2/3 cup coarsely chopped bittersweet (70% cocoa) chocolate
• ¼ cup powdered sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Place peeled and quartered beets on a 10-by-10-inch square of foil. Bring foil over beets to loosely encase them. Place foil packet on a baking sheet pan. Roast in preheated oven 30 minutes or until a paring knife easily goes through a beet piece. Remove from oven and open foil. Cool 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.
3. Prepare a 9-inch-square baking pan. To make removal of the cooked brownies easier, line the pan with parchment paper. Cut two 14-by-9-inch pieces of parchment paper. Place one piece evenly in the pan with excess paper going over two sides of pan. Place other piece of paper in pan going the other direction. Coat parchment lightly with vegetable oil spray.
4. Coarsely chop the roasted beets in a food processor. You will have about 1 cup of beets.
5. Place butter in bowl of an electric mixer. Beat 2 minutes, scraping down bowl several times. With mixer on medium speed, add both sugars. Beat 2 minutes. On low speed, add beets, eggs, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, vanilla and flour. Add chocolate pieces and beat briefly to combine.
6. Scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into middle of brownies comes out clean.
7. Remove from oven and cool 20 minutes. Remove brownies by lifting up the parchment paper and placing paper and brownies on a cutting board. Cut brownies into 16 pieces and dust lightly with powdered sugar.

Recipe by Chef Terri Milligan