Baking, Cakes, Chocolate, Christmas, Desserts, Egg Free, GAPS, Gluten Free, Grain Free, Gut Health, Holidays, Naturally Sweetened, Thermomix, Vegetarian
Pumpkin Brownie Pudding with Peanut Butter Sauce
Pumpkin Brownie Pudding with Peanut Butter Sauce
Photo by Luisa Brimble for Simple, Healing Food cookbook
Sometimes I come up with really wacky interesting ideas for recipes. This one got me a few weird looks from my friends and family, but I’m used to that. Once they tried it they were convinced – gooey chocolate brownie pudding with peanut butter sauce is the BOMB, and the pumpkin just makes the texture deliciously fudgey and awesome!
(And no, you can’t taste the pumpkin. Promise.)
Watch me cook this recipe on SBS Food show, Loving Gluten Free!
This recipe was our family’s ‘We finished GAPS*, let’s celebrate!!!’ treat… It’s made from ingredients allowed on the Full GAPS diet, but just a word of warning: it is definitely a ‘treat’ recipe! It’s rich and decadent – the perfect dessert to share with friends, even if they’re not into gut-healthy food. (Just don’t tell them there’s pumpkin in it until they’ve tried it. Ha ha!)
*GAPS: Gut and Psychology Syndrome. Read our story of why and how we used this gut-healing protocol for two years in our family.
You’ll also find this recipe in my Simple, Healing Food cookbook, which is full of gut-healthy, nourishing meals and desserts that are no-fuss and family friendly.
Tips for making an awesome pudding:
- Make sure you use butternut pumpkin/squash, as it has the right texture and taste for this recipe – other types of pumpkin just don’t seem to give the same result.
- Make sure your pumpkin is well-ripened, as it will have better flavour.
- If you prefer, you can use orange sweet potato instead of pumpkin (if not on the GAPS diet) – it’s delicious too!
- Adjust sweetness to taste, and if you aren’t on GAPS you can use another sweetener if you prefer, like coconut sugar, coconut nectar, or pure maple syrup. Just remember that the batter will always taste a bit sweeter than the cooked pudding.
- Use roasted, salted peanut butter for best results – you can either make your own, or buy one with only two ingredients – peanuts and salt.
- If you use unsalted peanut butter, adjust the amount of salt in the recipe to taste. Both brownies and peanut butter sauce need salt to bring out the flavour.
- If you can’t have peanuts, use roasted almond butter instead.
- The gelatine powder is optional, I just like it because it makes the texture a bit firmer without being dry.
- See recipe notes for a nut free variation.
- Cook until the pudding is just done, don’t overcook – you want a soft and slightly ‘squidgy’ result.
- Serve either warm or cold – both are delicious! If you’re serving cold, you may want to warm the sauce up a little and whisk it again until smooth, as it can sometimes separate slightly, and it thickens in the fridge. Add a little more coconut milk or cream if you want a thinner sauce.
Photos by Luisa Brimble for Simple, Healing Food cookbook
Pumpkin Brownie Pudding with Peanut Butter Sauce
Gluten free, grain free, egg free, GAPS – with dairy free, nut free, vegetarian and vegan variations
Ingredients
Pudding:
- 200g butternut pumpkin, peeled, deseeded and cut into 2cm pieces (GAPS), or 200g orange sweet potato, peeled and cut into 2cm pieces (non-GAPS)
- 140g coconut milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla powder or extract
- 80g honey
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 Tbsp gelatine powder (opt)
- 70g unsalted butter or 60g coconut oil, plus extra for greasing pan
- 100g peanut butter
- 170g almond meal
- 40g Dutch cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp bicarb soda
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
Sauce
- 120g peanut butter
- 70g coconut cream
- 20g butter or coconut oil
- 40g honey
- ½ tsp vanilla powder
Instructions
Thermomix Method:
- Preheat oven to 170C and grease a square baking dish with butter or coconut oil (or line with baking paper).
- Place pumpkin into TM bowl and chop 8 sec/speed 5. Scrape down sides of bowl.
- Add coconut milk, vanilla, honey, salt, gelatine, butter or coconut oil and peanut butter, and cook 12 mins/100C/speed 2.
- Add almond meal, cacao powder, bicarb soda and vinegar and blend 30 sec/speed 6.
- Pour mixture into lined dish and cook for 30-35 mins, or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the pudding comes out clean.
- Place all the sauce ingredients into the TM bowl and cook 4 mins/100C/speed 2.
- Serve pudding with sauce drizzled over, and a spoonful of cream or coconut cream if desired.
Conventional Method
- Preheat oven to 170C and grease a square baking dish with butter or coconut oil (or line with baking paper).
- Finely chop pumpkin in a food processor, or grate with a grater.
- Place pumpkin into a saucepan and add coconut milk, vanilla, honey, salt, gelatine, butter or coconut oil and peanut butter. Cook over med-low heat for 10-15 mins, until mixture is well-cooked.
- Add almond meal, cacao powder, bicarb soda and vinegar, and blend with a stick blender, or in a blender or food processor.
- Pour mixture into lined dish and cook for 30-35 mins, or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the pudding comes out clean.
- Place all sauce ingredients into a saucepan and simmer over med heat for 5 mins. Add a little more water if sauce gets too thick, and whisk well if mixture begins to separate. (Vigorous whisking will bring it back together.)
- Serve pudding with sauce drizzled over, and a spoonful of cream or coconut cream if desired.
Notes
Nut Free Variation:
Swap almond meal for pepita meal, and peanut butter for ‘no nut’ butter. I would swap the sauce for a caramel sauce made with 300g pitted medjool dates,150g butter or coconut oil, 300g coconut cream, 1 tsp vanilla paste & 1 tsp fine sea salt – cook over low heat and whisk until smooth.
Storage:
Store in fridge for up to 1 week, or freeze for up to 4 months. Sauce is best made as needed as it will thicken in the fridge, but can be rewarmed and thinned out with a little coconut milk if needed.
Hi, this sounds great. Do you think it would work with almond butter instead of peanut butter?
Yes that would be fine 🙂
This sounds really good! I actually just mixed up some pumpkin puree with nut butter and cinnamon yesterday and thought how delicious of a sauce or pudding it would make, so this hits the nail on the head. Can’t wait to try xx
Great minds Irena! 😉 Did you give the pudding a try? xx
What is the texture of the pudding batter supposed to be? I used sr flour instead of almond meal and it went really solid and elastic, I added more coconut milk to get more moisture but it made no diff. And I couldn’t tell if it was cooked properly or not. So I’m not sure about the pudding but the sauce was amazing!
Hi Fiona! 🙂 Using SR flour would have certainly changed the consistency of the batter as 170g flour to almond meal is a much greater volume (thus the ‘solid’ batter). The gluten in the flour would explain the elasticity. Glad you loved the sauce. Hopefully you’ve been able to try the pudding again. xx
hello i’m wondering what i could use instead of almond meal please?
Hi Barbara, you can use another nut meal instead. 🙂
Hi Jo, any other nut meal subs? Seed meal (I have a tree nut allergy but would love to make this!)
Thank you
Hi Kath! You could give pumpkin seeds (pepitas) and/or sunflower seeds a try. xx
I loved this pudding! The one day I added some choc chips onto it when I reheated some leftover pudding and sauce. It’s just yummy yum yum!
YAY!! Ooooh, love the idea of adding choc chips…super duper decadent! 😉
Could this recipe be used to make muffins to use as individual serves as a dessert?
Great question Noelene! The pudding is very wet so perhaps could be cooked in silicone moulds or individual ramekins instead. Just reduce the cooking time of course! 🙂
This looks so yummy but I don’t have any almond meal! Could I use Coconut flour instead?
Sorry for the late reply Pam! Have you made this recipe yet? You could use coconut flour instead but would need much less than the almond meal (say maybe 40g) and the texture would be different as well. Let us know if you try it. xx
What would it be like without the cacao? My daughter can’t have that
Pretty sure it would still be yummy! Give it a try and let us know. 🙂
I know I’m reading this late but can your daughter have carob powder? I use it alot instead of cacao powder.
Fantastic, and gluten free! Going to have to try it out this weekend. Thanks
YAY! How’d you go Wai? 🙂
This SOOOOO tasty, i’m a chocolate nut and was skeptical BUT just cooked this up using sweet potatoes and i’m in heaven!!
So glad you love it Tyson!! 🙂
what do you think this would be like without the honey? i’m not allowed any sugar, fruit or seetnwers in a trial for undermethyltaion
Hmmm, good question Ainslee. The pudding might still be ok if using sweet potato instead of pumpkin. Not sure about the sauce though. Did you end up giving it a try? xx
Hi, I follow the KETODiet, LC/HF, lifestyle. I am also a new TM 5 owner and I live in America. Thermomix is quite new here! I find lots of KETODIET recipes, but, extremely few of these recipes adapted to the Thermomix, unfortunately. . I am not good at adapting recipes myself to be used in the TM, either. I suck at things like that. I did happen upon your son’s YouTube videos and am thankful for those. He does a great job by the way. You should be very proud. I look forward to seeing more recipes in the future on your site and your son’s YouTube videos that I may be able to use within my KETODiet and my TM5. Thank you!
Hi Sharon and WELCOME! ???? Learning the TM takes time…you’ll get better at adapting recipes the more you use your TM. Thanks for your kind comments regarding Isaac’s videos…so glad you have found them useful, I will pass on your feedback. xx
Hi,
Is that using conventional oven or fan forced.
Can’t wait to make it 🙂
Thanks
It’s a fan-forced oven 🙂
HI Jo,
I made these and absolutely loved them, as did many others. Unfortunately the YP i made them for doesn’t like Peanut butter and could taste it in there :O .. I was surprised. Do you think i could swap the peanut butter for eggs or what would you suggest? (Also trying to make it lunch box friendly for nut free schools) 😉
Hi Vanessa! 🙂 You could try replacing the peanut butter in the pudding with 2 eggs and the almond meal with freshly ground pepita meal (for nut-free school version). For the sauce, replace the peanut butter with seed butter. xx
Just wondering if the peanut butter could be substitituted in the actual brownies for something else ? Eg eggs
Yes, two eggs would probably work well…let us know how you go! 🙂
Hey lovely if I wanted to make this vegan what could I use as a subsitute for honey
Just swap the honey for pure maple syrup 🙂
Can I use cows milk instead of coconut milk?
Yes you can! 🙂
I made this tonight. Halved the honey. 2 eggs nil peanut butter. 40g coconut flour nil almond meal. Used couple strips cooking choc, nil cacao. Nil gelatine (only cause mine was out of date, would prob use next time). Sprinkled with dark choc bits. No sauce – can’t do at school, so why bother – lol. Yummy! Will test on miss 10 tomorrow, but confident it’s a winner
Oh wow Sally! Lots of changes but glad it worked and was yummy…yay! 🙂
Hi Jo, I would like to make this without coconut. What can I use in place of coconut milk and coconut cream?
Hi Kath! 🙂 Just use your preferred milk and cream (dairy, almond, etc). xx
This was magnificent! I substituted the coconut oil for macadamia oil and soya milk for the coconut milk. I cut it into portions and froze it and hv just eaten one after dinner, having warmed it up in the oven first. Simply divine ????????
Glad you enjoyed it Cassandra. Freezing in portions is a great idea! 🙂
Made this and loved it!! Then I ran out of peanut butter and cacoa powder soooo I created a blonde version: Substitutes: 2 sml carrots and half a cup of pineapple for the pumpkin, tahini for the peanut butter and desiccated coconut for the cacao. Turned out perfect!! Thank you again for the inspiration x
Oh wow Leah, that sounds incredible!! Must give your version a go! 🙂 xx
Hi Jo,
I have noticed that there are no eggs in this receipe. Is that correct?
Yep that’s correct, no eggs!
Can 1/2 honey & add monk fruit for sweetness
? If so how much
Hi Diane. I have not tried it with monk fruit so you would probably have to taste it and see how you go:-).
Hi Jo,
I am yet to try this recipe but was after making it into a brownie that I can slice for my nieces upcoming Baby Shower? Is there a change or addition etc that could make this happen? I still want a delicious gooey brownie just not runny! ha ha TIA!
Hi. I would recommend using a small rectangular brownie tray for this one:-).
Hey Jo! Can I have help for another variation please. What can I sub peanut butter? My daughter is allergic to eggs, all nuts and sesame seeds, and chia seed.
Thank you
Hi Justine, You can substitute it with sunflower seed butter, pumpkin butter or even try coconut butter. Good luck.
Anything you can think of I coukd sun the cocoa for…. I’m stumped! Maybe more vanilla or cannon ??
You could probably leave it out and add more vanilla if you wanted to, but make sure to add in some more almond four so its not too wet!