Delicious low FODMAP and gluten free Pumpkin Swirl Brownies recipe with an intense chocolate flavor! Also lactose free, so that everyone can taste this healthy and irresistible treat.
I love sharing recipes with a nice story behind! This one started with a special request from my daughter. Her school vegetable garden delivered its first pumpkins and the walnut tree in the courtyard gave its first nuts. The teacher asked the kids to think of a recipe with these two ingredients and my daughter promptly volunteered because apparently her mother has a lot of recipe books! 😅
So we created a pumpkin and walnut cake inspired by these mini chocolate pumpkin cakes for her to take to school. It had to be lactose and gluten-free because there are intolerant kids in the classroom. Luckily for me because I don’t know how to make “normal” cakes anymore!
The classmates enthusiastically approved so the teacher invited us to do it again but this time in class. It was a wonderful experience and we had lots of fun! Taking the seeds out of the pumpkin with the spoon, crashing the nuts with the rolling pin, and tasting the final result!
This Low FODMAP and Gluten Free Pumpkin Swirl Brownies recipe is pretty much the same as the one we created for my daughter’s school but with more chocolate. This because we wanted the ingredients from their school to be the stars of this recipe.
For these pumpkin swirl brownies you’ll need…
- Japanese pumpkin which is fodmap free. You can also use butternut squash. Just make sure to limit to a brownie per meal.
- I used walnuts but I also tested almond meal and it works very well! Safe serving size is the same – 2 brownies.
- I used almond milk to intensify the flavor but you can also use lactose-free milk.
- The recipe calls for a small portion of flour so you can use a mix or a simple low FODMAP flour. I tried these 3 with success: gluten free mix, rice and buckwheat flour. Any other should also work.
- The fun part is when you add the dark chocolate. For this beautiful swirl pattern you’ll simply need to make twirls with a knife after adding the dark chocolate. Check the recipe for further instructions.
The texture is fluffy and moist like a chocolate brownie. Pumpkin and chocolate combine very well, resulting in a sweet taste even with little sugar.
A beautiful melt-in-the-mouth dessert that everyone will love!
And because when we have a pumpkin we don’t really know what to do with it, check out these low FODMAP pumpkin recipes for inspiration:
- Pumpkin and ginger soup
- Coconut pumpkin soup
- Pumpkin and carrot soup shooters with kale chips
- Cozy vegetable lentil stew
- Roast pumpkin wedges
- Gratin
- Pumpkin mini cakes
- Pumpkin pie
Pumpkin Swirl Brownies (low FODMAP, Gluten Free)
Ingredients
- 8.8 oz | 250g japanese pumpkin or butternut squash*, skinless and seedless
- 1.76 oz | 50g walnuts or almond meal**
- 1.76 oz | 50g brown sugar or other low FODMAP sweetener
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 1 egg
- 3.38 fl oz | 100ml almond milk or lactose-free milk
- 4.23 oz | 120g gluten free flour mix or rice flour or other low FODMAP flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 4.23 oz | 120g dark chocolate
Instructions
- Cook the pumpkin (preferably steam) and grind the walnuts.
- With a mixer or wire whisk, mix the oil with the sugar and add the egg until small bubbles form.
- Smash the cooked pumpkin with a fork and add it to the dough. Add the walnuts, milk, flour and baking powder and mix well. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Break and melt the chocolate in a small saucepan over a bain-marie or in the microwave (1 minute, stir, 1 minute,… until melted).
- Pour the chocolate over the dough and with a knife make circular and undulating movements until you get a swirly pattern.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven at 355ºF | 180°C for 30 minutes.
- Let cool, cut into 8 parts and enjoy!
Notes
- 1.058oz | 30g of dark chocolate so we can eat up to 2 brownies per meal
- *if you choose butternut squash, the safe serving is 1.58oz | 45g so you can eat 1 brownie.
- ** if you use ground almonds, the recommended dose is 0.85 oz | 24g so the safe portion is 2 brownies.
Looks like a wonderful recipe. I’m not able to figure out what size baking pan is needed. Unable to print recipe as ads get in the way.
Thank you, Kathy! I used a 20x30cm – 8x12inch baking pan.
In step 3, ‘add to dough’- which dough are you referring to? Do you mean the oil-sugar-egg mix? Also about how long does the pumpkin need to steam cook? Thank you, I am planning to make this.
Hi Anjali! Yes add to that mix. I normally steam it for aprox. 15 minutes and control by pricking with a fork. If it’s smooth, it’s cooked!