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Recipes from my Lincolnshire kitchen

the ultimate sugar-free brownies – join my baking tribe

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this glorious photo was taken by Uyen Luu as part of the #TribesToTable campaign

… if you’ve been following my blog over the past few months you’ll know i’ve been developing some sugar-free recipes but you may not know the reason why.  Well, i’ve been working closely with the good people at Leisure Cookers to who have invited me to become an ambassador for their #TribesToTable campaign… the Tribes are a celebration of cooking and no matter what you love to cook, be it a meat lover, a fish lover or a veg lover, there’s a tribe for you. I have the honour of being the chief of the Baking Tribe… as you know I love all kinds of cooking but it has to be said, I adore baking.  Baking is my comfort place, it’s what I do to relax, whether it’s bread and pastry or cakes and  puddings, I feel i’ve make it home when there’s something baking in my lovely Leisure oven… and with the brilliant Great british Bake-Off back on our screens, i’m sure you’ll agree, the whole nation is pretty much baking mad, so here’s to the best Tribe of all…

me in the kitchen with my wonderful new Leisure Range Cooker
photo by David Severn
… I was asked to develop a recipe based on a particular trend in baking and I think you’ll agree, whether you love it or hate it the whole ‘sugar-free’ or ‘clean baking’ trend is pretty massive right now.  Now of course I love sugar and don’t have an issue with eating sugar but I know many people who cannot eat it for dietary reasons and whilst i’ve had a few hits and rather a few misses over the past few months, the best thing i’ve found about this trend is that it’s opened a world of sugar alternatives that I have never explored.  It’s made me think so much more about what I put into my body and i’ve found that balanced along with a healthy smattering of regular sugar treats, some sugar-free bakes can  be divinely delicious, inventive and horizon expanding.  Some of the alternative sugar ingredients I use are very basic such as honey, madly syrup and fruit, whilst others are a little more obscure such as coconut sugar and apple puree but the brilliant thing is that it’s made me sit up and take notice and push my love for baking into directions i’d never thought i’d go…

me in the kitchen prepping the brownies
photo by David Severn
… the whole Tribe activity will culminate in two very exciting Tribe to Table events tomorrow and Friday, a media event and a Guardian Readers event,  where i’ll be cooking my brownies along with the other Tribe chiefs; Kate from Veggie Desserts who’s our Veg Lover, Niamh from Eat like a Girl who’s the head of the Fish Tribe and Helen from Food Stories who’s the Meat Lover.  I cannot wait to get stuck in and talk about my passion for baking!





          this glorious photo was taken by Uyen Luu as part of the #LeisureTribes campaign

sugar-free date, almond, fennel seed and banana brownies
it’s undeniable that sugar-free baking can sometimes be a little complex with lots of ingredients needed to enhance the texture and flavours that you lose from not using refined sugar. It’s not that those ingredients are rare it’s just that they’re not your usual ‘store cupboard’ regulars and so I was keen to go back to basics with this recipe and try and knock-out something that was pretty simple to do, had mostly ingredients that you’d be likely to have in your cupboards already but that was still sugar-free and of course ultimately tasty. These brownies really hit the spot and not only are the divine but they are super-easy to make!

200g pitted medjool dates – chopped
100ml boiling water
1 very ripe banana – mashed
50g wholemeal rye flour
25g ground almonds
75g unsweetened cocoa powder (or raw cocoa powder)
130g unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
2 large free-range eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
100g almonds – roughly chopped

preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas mark 4. Grease and line the base and sides of a 20cm square cake tin

place the chopped dates in a bowl and pour over the boiling water and leave to soak for about 15 minutes

gently melt the butter in a small pan along with the fennel seeds so they infuse into the butter

after 15 minutes, spoon the dates into a blender or food processor along with the banana and blitz until they are shredded, then pour in the melted butter and fennel seeds and add the rest of the ingredients, except for the chopped almonds and blitz again until you have a thick glossy paste

stir in 2/3’rds of the chopped almonds and then spoon the mixture into the brownie tin and sprinkle the remaining almonds on top

bake for 15 – 20 minutes until the top is firm to the touch – set aside on a wire rack to cool completely in its tin, then cut into squares

me in the kitchen with my wonderful new Leisure Range Cooker
photo by David Severn
eat and of course, enjoy and please check out my instagram and Facebook feeds for updates on the TribesToTable events

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Comments

  3. Suelle says

    These sound really good!

    I think there's two issues to sugar-free eating. If you want to lose weight there's no point in cutting out refined cane or beet sugar and replacing it with alternatives such as honey or maple syrup – they contain just as many calories. Even using things like dates can be a problem as the natural sugars are so concentrated. I think you really need to find low calorie sugar alternatives such as stevia in this case.

    If, on the other hand, you just have a bee in your bonnet about refined sugar, then trying to find palatable alternatives is OK, and certainly won't do any harm.

  4. Felicity says

    I just need to let our bananas ripen a bit more and I'll give them a go. They look totally scrumptious and well worth a bit of extra exercise to balance the scales.x

  7. Choclette Blogger says

    Dom, your kitchen revealed at last. You've made me wait long enough!!!!!! You have a lovely kitchen, of course and wow, what a fab new cooker. I'm super impressed you're the head of the baking tribe, but that should be no surprise. I'm with you on the sugar stakes. I like a good old fashioned bake, but I've also loved exploring all the different alternatives – even if I was doing it long before the latest fad took off 😉

  8. Banu Bingor says

    I've just come across with the image of this recipe on Instagram, but to be honest, when I entered the blog I simply fell in love with that black beauty behind you in the first photo! 🙂
    Happy to find your blog, and I guess I'll be visiting often.
    Cheers from Istanbul!
    Banu

  10. Susan Lindquist says

    Well, I see you're one step closer to world dominance! Nifty looking brownies and oh, what beautiful colors in that kitchen! Oh, so clean and tidy! Mine would never be up to snuff for a grand photo shoot! Kudos all round, dearie!

  11. Tricia Buice says

    Congratulations on your new adventure! You look wonderful and happy 🙂 The kitchen is beautiful and the new Range Cooker is amazing. I thought everybody baked in their pajamas like me – but you got dressed! Love the brownies. Have a super weekend Dom.