Makes 12 brownies
If there’s a better combination than chocolate and raspberries then I don’t know it. These brownies are dense and truffle-like, with lots and lots of melt-in-your-mouth raspberry flavor from both jam and whole berries. And here’s the amazing thing…they’re low in fat, high in fiber and made with whole wheat pastry flour! But don’t let that deter you, you’d never know it.
I’ve been hard at work developing healthier dessert recipes for the upcoming Forks Over Knives cookbook! I said “healthier” not “healthy” because dessert, no matter how healthy, is an indulgence. But if we’re going to indulge (and we definitely are), why not try to make those treats as nutritious as possible? Developing these treats has been a fun challenge and I’m getting a kick out of experimenting with whole grain flours, natural sweeteners and alternative sources of fat. I also like that the recipes don’t have to be too restrictive; some fats are cool to use in moderation, like nut butters, avocado and chocolate.
But back to these brownies! Valentine’s Day is coming up and you’ll surely want to make these for the one you love. Maybe you’d like to scatter brownies on the bed instead of rose petals?
A few recipe notes:
~This is one of those rare occasions where frozen fruit actually works better than fresh, so don’t worry about raspberries being out of season. The batter is very thick and I’m pretty sure that fresh raspberries would get crushed as you tried to knead them in.
~Use a naturally sweetened fruit spread if you can find one.
~For the dry sweetener, I use Sucanat, but any sugar will do.
~To get brownies as fudgy as possible, be careful not to overbake. These really benefit from chilling in the fridge for a few hours.
~To slice brownies, use a blunt knife (a butter knife or a plastic knife) and dip in water after each slice.
4 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup raspberry fruit spread
1/2 cup sugar or other dry sweetener (see note)
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup frozen raspberries
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line an 8 inch pan with parchment paper and lightly mist with non-stick cooking spray.
Melt the chocolate in either a double boiler or the microwave. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, vigorously mix together the jam, sweetener, and apple sauce. Stir in the extracts and the melted chocolate.
Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix very well until a stiff dough forms. Fold in the raspberries. Spread the mixture into the prepared pan. It will be very thick, you’ll probably need to use your hands to evenly spread the batter.
Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, they should still be soft and gooey. If a tester toothpick comes out clean, they’re overbaked. Remove from oven and let cool completely. These taste especially good and fudgy after being refrigerated for a few hours.
Thank you. Thank you so, so much.
Oh my, this is so going on my ‘things to make next’ list. It looks a-mazing. It is also true, raspberries and chocolate is hard to beat as a combination!
quite literally running to the store to get the ingredients for this right now.
I love your raspberry chocolate recipes. The blondies in VWAV I’ve probably made more times than any other baking recipe ever, though occasionally with some variations (e.g. blackberry and nougat chips, rhubarb and strawberry). The raspberry chocolate blackout cake is awesome. We even made it our wedding cake and a fairly foodie-ish guest commented it was the best chocolate cake he had ever had! I also liked the blueberry chocolate brownies in ‘con, though not as much as those two.
So, with all the praise aside, you can be sure I’ll be trying these. Perhaps for V day if I’m feeling super cheesy (don’t usually celebrate it), or for some other occasion. There are all kinds of “official” cupcake days and Twinkie days and whatnot, so there should definitely be a chocolate raspberry day.
When I clicked on this link over from FB, I was hoping to find that you had become a magician and created a brownie recipe with no sugar. But there’s just no way around it, if you want to have a sweet treat, you’re gonna end up eating sugar, in some form or another. This is just a fact of life. There is no magic substitution. 🙂
I use Swerve sweetener, it’s made from the one naturally derived sugar alcohol and a naturally sweet fiber. It doesn’t upset my stomach and tastes great.
wendy: That’s not entirely true. You can create pretty good baked goods with e.g. stevia. Of course, they won’t be _this_ good, but they can still be very tasty. (With desserts that aren’t baked it’s possible to get even better results without sugar.)
Thanks! Must go to store for raspberries….
You should have seen how big my eyes got when I saw this recipe!
These look fantastic!! 😀 I have some coconut brownies sitting on my counter right now but these are certainly next!
Oh wow!! Thank you so, so much!!!! 🙂
What would you suggest as a dry sweetener? I don’t wanna use Splenda or anything like that, and I am woefully ignorant when it comes to these kinda things. Also, would it be okay if I used all-purpose whole wheat flour (instead of WW pastry flour)? Would it affect the recipe at all? Danke!
Ehhh, I read your note about Sucanat, noted! Sorry I missed that! Question still stands about the flour, however. 🙂
Ohhhhhhhhhhh lovely. I’m about to try this, only with blackberries, because I don’t have any raspberry jam.
So excited for this book. Sounds awesome! And these really don’t have *too* much sugar in them for 12 brownies. Maija is right, though, stevia can be a great sugar substitute. I find that it works better in replacing just part of the sugar, rather than all of it, or using it in a recipe that includes some natural sweetness–like banana bread.
Isa – these look amazing, and what a fantastic idea – and good use of all the properties of the ingredients! This is just what we needed now, so I’ll be cooking these and reporting back with their deliciousness. *Drool*.
is the almond extract very noticeable? I have a strong aversion to almond extract (or anything marzipan-ish), so i’m just wondering if i will notice/smell/taste it, or if I could leave it out or replace it instead… thanks!
You can leave it out. I love some subtle almond with raspberry, but if you don’t just use a little extra vanilla.
Mmmm, these look like my kinda cake! I love making healthy desserts that taste totally naughty, most of them get posted on my blog- I recently made an amazing healthy sticky toffee pudding. I may well have to give these a go now….
I am so excited! Isa, if you wanted to do another combination with chocolate like you just pick a different berry and spread? I thinking blueberry. I mean, they’re not gonna explode. I think I’m just gonna do it. Veganism is about living on the edge.
Yeah ya can!
Oh my! These are heaven!
I cannot wait to make these!! They sound amazing! I have all the ingredients so they will be perfect to make tomorrow. I haven’t had a brownie in a long time either so I am so excited.
gorgeous!
can these be adapted to be gluten free?
I don’t see why not. I’d add a little extra gf flour, say 2 tablespoons or so.
Wait wait wait….no eggs???? What a fantastic recipe! Thank you!
My boyfriend is going to be so happy. :] Thank you!
I am SO excited to read this post. Raspberries plus chocolate plus you’re DOING A FORKS OVER KNIVES COOKBOOK?!?!?! How did I miss this news?
My partner, who doesn’t cook at all made these today.. Can I just day – they turned out beautifully, and were absolutely delicious! Thanks. they reminded us both of the chocolate thumbprint cookies (his fave cookie ever!) From VWAV.
Good timing as I’m going to have a baking session this weekend 🙂
Any suggestions on how to adapt for a 9 inch brownie pan?
I was going to make the blueberry brownies from V’con but think I might just use this recipe with blueberries instead of raspberry’s.
mmm just the photos made my mouth water! These look divine, I love the combination of chocolate and raspberries so will definitely try these 🙂 x
I think the whole “I’m going to be productive and clean the house today” has been replaced with- “I need to go to the grocery store NOW!” It will be a good counter balance to the chocolate peanut butter bacon cupcakes my cousin is bringing to the family dinner this weekend… if they last that long! Super excited about the new cook book too!! 🙂
Is it possible to bake with only agave or pureed dates as sweetener? I am diabetic and my mom is sensitive to sugar and I haven’t had a lot of success using agave in place of sugar. Please tell me there is hope! 🙂
I baked these in a glass 9×9 baking dish and they seem to be very soft (albeit, they are still cooling). Are they normally pretty soft when first taken out of the oven? Will they harden up a bit? Or did I mess them up by using a thicker baking dish?
Robyn, if they’re too soft, buy some vanilla ice cream 🙂
Oh wow! I have some in the oven (with variation) in the oven right now! It smells divine!
(1) Instead of purchasing a bottle of almond extract, I used about a cup of chopped roasted hazelnuts.
(2) I was short of unsweetened baking chocolate (only had 2.5 oz) so I added a couple tablespoons more of cocoa and just a touch of oil.
Taking them to a birthday party tonight so I won’t be tempted to eat them all!
These raspberry truffle brownies look so good, just gorgeous.
*WOW* these are really good!!! I baked these replacing the flour with 1 cup of homemade almond flour and 1/2 cup vegan protein powder. After they cooled down, I placed them in the fridge overnight. The result is everything I’d hoped for, thank you!
This is fabulous. I can’t wait to make these. Heart healthy for your sweetheart, to boot. Let yr love live long, right?
My stomach is grumbling as I read. Screw Valentines Day, I’m making these for myself and eating the whole pan while watching Love, Actually.
I just made these and I’m not sure I will be able to share it with my dorm hallmates like I promised myself to do! The recipe is absolutely amazing! 🙂
ok, this looks amazing! And there’s nothing wrong with “healthier” and not healthy… 🙂
I just made these and they are amazing. I didn’t have any baking chocolate, so I used cocoa powder+shortening instead.
I think I’ve eaten more than 1/4 of the pan, and they haven’t even finished cooling yet. Oops! I’m pretty sure they’re not healthier or lower fat when you eat quite that much at once!
Ooh awesome! I am eating a lower-fat diet and I’ve been missing baking (I hate recipes for the same old banana bread or bran muffins…they have their place but I want CHOCOLATE!). I am definitely going to make these for Valentine’s Day. Easy ingredients, too!
These were great except my oven apparently needs to bake them more than 16 minutes. They came out incredibly gooey for me, like uncooked gooey.
Going to try it again and see if baking it longer helps, but is there a test you recommend? Toothpick comes out X% clean? lol
They’re supposed to be gooey! Just let them set and chill them for perfect fudginess. If a toothpick comes out clean they’re overbaked!
I think I went into a trance as soon as the page loaded. Raspberry and chocolate is one of my favorite combos too! I cannot wait to make these, and with your recipes I never have to wonder if they will turn out or taste good enough–I have made dozens of your recipes by now and they all rock. My husband and I love to cook and have people over and for a while now we have been putting meals together entirely from your recipes. You’re the best.
Aww, thanks!
Am not sure that I will become vegan, but I am certainly going to make these. Love Oumi
the taste of these are delicious, however, I think I will cook for 20 minutes the next time. even after an overnight chill, these are more like pudding squares. do I mind eating them with a spoon? nope! thanks for the recipe!
These are amazing! I had two pieces for breakfast this morning and have just finished devouring another piece for supper. Goey, mouthwateringly good, tangy with fruit, not too heavy, just divine and I will be making these again and again. Thank you!
will be making these! <3 <3
I made these tonight and I felt like they were a little bit dry and crumbly. It seems that most of the other commenters are saying that theirs were on the soft side. What did I do wrong? Did I overbake? They are still delicious! I will make them again!
How long were they in the oven? And is your oven temp accurate? Also, make sure to use a metal pan because glass pans can dry out baked goods.
I fvcking love you.
Really love your blog – writing, photos, recipes…EVERYTHING. Not veggie or vegan, but am inspired and making these brownies AND Hottie Black Eyed Peas AND roasted cauli today! Thanks and YUM!