I recently asked friends to guess what 3 ingredients were in the brownies shown above. The response was overwhelming and the impetus for creating the following collage and this post. I also received inspiration from the artist Roy Lichtenstein's image of his retro kitchen.
The following is an ideal recipe to use with children or older individuals with disablities. They may be able to read the short list of ingredients or identify them using photographs. The finished product is not as sweet as the brownies most people are used to......but I LOVE them!
Ingredients
- Two medium sweet potatoes
You may prefer to peel the sweet potatoes before cooking them.
- 1 cup ground almonds
- 4.4 ounces dark chocolate or about 1/2 cup
Directions
I placed the recipe inside a page protector and attached with clothespins to hang in a place where I can easily read the directions.
- Bake potatoes, at 400 degreees until soft
I put green tape on the oven dial to make it easier to see. I learned this trick when working with elderly clients with low vision.
Toasting almonds is optional
- After the sweet potatoes cool, scoop the insides out and place in a bowl.
- Grind almonds and add to bowl.
- Add chocolate to bowl. Using color coded measuring cups with tactile cues may be helpful if you have a visual impairment.
- Squeezing the mixture inside your hands creates a sensory experience. Using a potato masher is another option.
- Press into a large dish and place in refrigerator for an hour to set.
Exercise is optional while brownies set.
- Cutting into squares is a great fine-motor activity.
Enjoy Your Healthy Treat! 
Take one sweet potato left over
from dinner, add toasted and ground almonds, walnuts and coconut which were on hand, plus cacao from a vacation visit to a plantation in Guadeloupe. Sprinkle a few mini chips on top to make it look pretty – and voila! Oops – forgot to mention the best part – this was a fun project to do with my 103 year old mother. The brownies were yummy – but the texture was more mushy than “real” brownies. This could be from my substitution of ingredients – using what I already had in the house. So simple to make and nutritious!
PS- Is there a way to post pics here?
Yes! I figured out how to add the photo url!!!
OMG, my good friend Helen made brownies and I figured out how to show with the photo url !!!!