"Clean-Eating" Holiday Dessert

No, I am not a "clean-eater." Yes, most of the food I eat is healthy, but I have never attempted to stick to a strict, clean diet (I'm too in love with Reese's for that.)

However, I occasionally browse through "Clean Eating" magazine, which comes out every couple of months by the same publishers of "Oxygen" magazine, and I've been dying to try a recipe I came across a month or so ago. If you know me, you'll know why I was intrigued just by seeing the recipe name: Sweet Potato & Cinnamon Brownies. Yes, I'm all about sweet potatoes.

So I gave it a try today. The recipe looked a bit complicated when I read it, but it wasn't too difficult to make. I was supposed to use a food processor for the "liquid" ingredients, but I do not have one...so that probably would have made things a little easier.

I debated baking an actual sweet potato, but the recipe already takes 20 minutes hands on time, 70 minutes for baking and cooling, and the brownies have to be chilled overnight, so I used canned mashed sweet potatoes instead. Ok, so I didn't chill it overnight (just for about four hours), but they came out ok anyway.

This is definitely a holiday recipe though. And I don't just mean because of their ingredients and taste. It's not the kind of dessert you want to make (or eat) more than once or twice a year. They're very clean - we're talking agave nectar instead of sugar - so if you like your sweets to be sweet, really sweet (or if you're not into clean-eating whatsoever), this recipe is not for you.

But for the clean or healthy eaters out there, you just might enjoy this clean-eating treat. While the brownies themselves are not too sweet, you'll still get that "sweet fix" from the cream cheese based icing. It's definitely a great healthy dessert option to have for your guests (or yourself) who are clean eaters, or who don't want to overdo Thanksgiving dinner with calorie-packed slice of pecan or pumpkin pie.

If you're a clean-eater or just looking for a healthy recipe or two (or don't know what the heck "clean eating" means) check out "Clean Eating" magazine's website. And if you're really into clean-eating, check out their menu section homepage, which offers a new set of "seven days of clean meals" each week.

(The recipe for Sweet Potato and Cinnamon Brownies is a bit long to type up on here, so if you're interested, just leave a comment.)