Olive Oil Brownies with Greek Yogurt and Olive Oil
Chocolate is not a common ingredient in Greek traditional recipes because it did not really exist in those parts. Nowadays everyone uses chocolate and it is even being added to traditional dessert recipes such as baklava and melomakarona. Personally I think that ruins the dessert. Does juicy syrupy baklava really need chocolate? What’s the point? Don’t get me wrong, I love chocolate, but please don’t dip melomakarona in it.
Having said that, I’m always looking for ways to incorporate some healthier ingredients in chocolate based desserts that usually contain butter. And here we have it: Brownies made with olive oil and Greek yogurt. I basically replaced the butter with olive oil and Greek yogurt. Not only does this cut down drastically on any saturated fat from the butter, but these brownies contain about half the fat of a regular brownie because I replaced half the fat with yogurt. I also used slightly less sugar instead of 1 cup, I used 3/4 of a cup.
The result is a moist, chocolaty and yummy brownie. Now these are easy brownies made with cocoa powder (not chocolate) and they also don’t even require a mixer. In no time at all you can have a nice chocolate dessert ready. And nutritionally they are only 150 calories a piece with most fats being monounsaturated (the good type) and you are getting some good fats from the walnuts as well.
And of course these brownies taste much better and richer the next day.
Olive Oil Brownies Made with Greek Yogurt
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup lowfat Greek yogurt
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius)
- In a bowl blend the olive oil and sugar well with a large spoon until smooth. Add vanilla and mix well.
- Beat the eggs in a small bowl and add to the olive oil mixture and mix well.
- Add the yogurt and mix well.
- In another bowl blend the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder. Add to olive oil mixture and mix well.
- Incorporate the nuts and mix again.
- Line a 9 inch square pan (22 cm) with wax paper and carefully pour the brownie mixture in the pan, smooth the top with a spatula.
- Bake for about 25 minutes.
- Let it cool completely, remove the wax paper and cut in squares.
Photo by Elena Paravantes© All Rights Reserved
I made these brownies using your Mediterranean Cookbook. I have questions related to nutritional info. In the book, it states calories of 207. Above it says 150. I also compared nutritional info with regular brownies 2″ square which showed calories of 112 and also 1/2 the other calculated values. So I do wonder about the discrepancies. My pan was an 8 inch square, and the brownies did not look like cake but instead very thin rising to 1 inch. Can you account for the differences? Both recipes in the book and above are the same.
Thanks Joanne. Yes, the correct nutrition information is in the book, we are in the process of checking all the nutrition information on the site. Regarding the rise, for a brwonie 1 inch is an expected height.
Can you tell me what kind of flour did you use?
I made these tonight because I was craving something sweet (while on the Mediterranean diet)
I used oat flour instead of regular flour and a 3/4 cup of maple syrup (instead of sugar)
These were absolutely ah-mazing!
So good! I substituted the sugar with pure maple syrup and used oat flour. These are unbelievably delicious!
I can’t wait to make these! Thank you so much for all of your delicious recipes. One question- when you say to line the pan with “wax paper” do you mean “parchment paper”? They are both non-stick and similar, but I thought that you couldn’t put wax paper in the oven (but parchment paper is heat resistant to a certain temperature). Thanks so much!