Clean Eating Slow Cooker Brownies

Love her or hate her, you have to admire Martha Stewart. She’s had her ups and her downs, but the woman can do anything with a pair of tweezers, floral wire and some duct tape. She’s pretty amazing.

While her recipes have not always been my favorite, I’ve enjoyed tinkering around with some of them to see if I could “clean them up”. This recipe is a case in point.

While I was working on my slow cooker cookbook (Coming February 2012), I played around with some brownie recipes using her slow cooker brownie recipe as a guide for my test batches. (Don’t worry, all the recipes in my cookbook are originals. This was just part of my creative process).

While my final brownie recipe didn’t make it in to the cookbook for a multitude of reasons, I didn’t want to forget about this test recipe because frankly, it was just plain yummy.

So here is the clean eating version of Martha Stewart’s Slow Cooker Brownies.

Slow Cooker Brownies
(Makes 32 brownies)

Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
½ cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
½ cup apple sauce, unsweetened
2 medium, ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup honey
4 egg whites
6 ounces unsweetened Baker’s Chocolate (6 squares)
1 tablespoon coconut oil
½ cup walnuts (optional)
Olive oil in an oil sprayer

Directions
Step 1 – Line the bottom of your slow cooker with parchment by placing the slow cooker liner on a piece of parchment, drawing a line around the base and cutting out.  After inserting the liner, spray the entire inside with an oil sprayer.

Step 2 – In a large mixing bowl, blend the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder with a whisk. 

Step 3 – In the microwave (microwave safe bowl), melt the Baker’s chocolate for 2 minutes, and then in 30 second intervals, stirring between each one until the chocolate is melted.  Stir the oil into the chocolate.

Step 4 – In a separate large mixing bowl, blend the apple sauce, mashed bananas, honey, egg whites, and melted chocolate.

Step 5 – Combine well with the whisk.  Pour into slow cooker liner and cook for 4 hours.  A knife inserted into the middle should pull out clean.  If not, continue to cook without the lid for an additional 1/2 hour.  To remove, run a knife around the edge of the liner and flip upside down onto a clean surface.  The brownie should slide right out.  Allow to cool.  Slice and serve.

Time: 4-4-1/2 hours
Temp: Low
Required slow cooker size: 4 quarts (for width, not depth)

Nutritional Data (does not include walnuts)
Serving size: 1 brownie

Calories: 89
Total Fat: 3 g
Saturated Fat: 2 g
Trans Fat: 0 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 30 mg
Carbohydrates: 16 g
Dietary Fiber: 2 g
Sugars: 10 g
Protein: 2 g

Nutritional Information estimated at Nutritiondata.com. Data may not be accurate.