Jennifer John
Jennifer John, a trained home economist and a member of the Guild of Food Writers has been working with the Discover Great Veg campaign for many years, including, developing recipes.
Jennifer’s Chocolate Kale Brownies
Jennifer John
Featuring:
Kale
Effort:
Complexity:
Cost:
Serves: 12
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 35 mins
Ingredients:
200g plain chocolate, broken into pieces
225g butter, diced
200g pack kale
225g light brown soft sugar
3 medium eggs
100g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
Recipe donated by Discover Great Veg for Veg Power. Photography by Discover Great Veg | discovergreatveg.com
These delicious brownies are still a once-in-a-while treat, it’s true, but they are made at least a little more virtuous by the presence of a bag of kale in them! Let the kids help make them so they know it’s in there but can be pleasantly surprised by the kale-less tasting result.
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4. Grease and base line a 22cm square tin.
Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.
Meanwhile, cook the kale in boiling water for 3-4 minutes, cool under cold water and drain well, squeezing out any excess liquid, then chop.
Whisk the sugar and eggs together until pale, stir in the chocolate mixture and kale.
Mix together the flour and baking powder and fold into the brownie mixture and pour into the prepared tin.
Bake for 35-40 minutes. Cool slightly before removing from the tin and cut into 12 pieces.
Engaging Kids
Kids who engage regularly with veg through veg-themed activities, such as arts and crafts, sensory experiences, growing and cooking are shown to be more likely to eat the veg they engage with. Encouraging kids to engage and play with veg is the handy first step to them developing a good relationship with veg and life-long healthy eating.
Kids in the kitchen
Once the wilted kale is cool to the touch, get the kids to squeeze out the water – it’s a great hands on, sensory task. The kale will be easy to chop, so you could get the kids to help chop it if they are old enough, and then get them whisking, folding and stirring the batter together. Have them pour the mixture into the tin and when the brownies are cool and soft, show them how to carefully cut into 12 pieces with a child’s or butter knife.
Activities
While getting kids to interact with veggies for real and using their senses to explore them is best, encouraging hands off activities like arts & crafts, puzzles & games or at-home science experiments can be a great start, particularly for those who are fussier eaters or struggle with anything too sensory. Use these veg-themed activities as a stepping stone to interacting with the veg themselves. We have loads of crafty downloads here, puzzles here, and quirky science with veg here.
Sensory
Once you feel your child is ready to engage a little more, you can show them how to explore the veg you have on hand with their senses, coming up with playful silly descriptions of how a veg smells, feels, looks, sounds and perhaps even tastes. Find ideas, videos and some simple sensory education session ideas to get you started here.
Serving
The moments before food is offered can be a perfect opportunity for engagement that can help make it more likely a child will eat it! Giving children a sense of ownership in the meal can make a big difference to their feelings going into it and the pride they take in it. You know your child best, but if you aren’t sure where to start, we have some fun and simple ideas for easy roles you can give them in the serving process over here.
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