You’ve heard of many Taro flavoured items – ice creams, cakes, orh nee paste. However, this might be the first time you’ve ever heard of Taro Brownies.

For those foreign to Taro, Taro is a root vegetable that is common in Asian cuisine including Southeast Asia. The flavour profile of Taros is slightly sweet, mildly nutty. They can also be a tad earthy with faint flavours of vanilla. Don’t ask me how but go try Taro if you haven’t already!

The making of Taro Brownies start from a key ingredient – Taro paste. If you’re familiar with Asian desserts, Yam or Orh Nee paste shouldn’t be a stranger to you and this is important. The making of taro paste is similar to that of yam / orh nee paste.

Firstly, you will have to blend boiled, soft taro. Then, you can blend them with coconut milk and sugar. Here, I am opting for this Taro milk from Binggrae for a boost of Taro flavours and an extra dash of purple.

After you’ve gotten your Taro paste ready, the rest of the steps are easy peasy. Simply mix the ingredients together and bake it just like how you would for a brownie. However, for fudgier Taro Brownies, my secret is to underbake them slightly. As such, the timing I provides is already on the lower end and do experiment with your oven!

An optional step I would strongly recommend is to use purple sweet potato to achieve that natural yet bold purple colouration. You can do this by adding a steamed one to blend with the Taro. Alternatively, consider getting some purple sweet potato powder to achieve that same effect.

Finally, I topped my Taro Brownies with a simple Taro icing made using Taro milk and icing sugar.

Without further ado, the recipe!

Taro Brownies Recipe
by Javier Tan March-19-2024

Colour me purple with these nicely nutty, fragrant Taro Brownies! These are made with natural ingredients: Taro itself, with sweet potatoes.

Ingredients

For Taro Brownies:

  • 1 x Taro (approx 350g chopped into cubes), steamed approx 25 mins until fork goes through smoothly
  • 1/4 Cup or 60ml Taro Milk (or Coconut Milk, but give Taro Milk a try!)
  • 1/2 Cup or 115g Butter, Melted and Cooled
  • 1/2 Cup or 90g Granulated White Sugar
  • Large Egg, 1, Approx 60g
  • 1/2 Tsp or 2.5ml Vanilla
  • 1 Cup or 120g Plain Flour, Sifted
  • Approx 1/2 Cup or 130g Chocolate Chips
  • (Optional) Purple Sweet Potato (steam with Taro, or powdered form)

For Taro Icing:

  • 1 Cup or 90g of Powdered / Icing Sugar, Sifted
  • 2 Tbspns + 2 Tsps or 40ml of Taro Milk

Instructions

  1. Purée steamed Taro with Taro Milk and 40g sugar till smooth. Add more sugar to taste.
  2. In a separate bowl, whisk butter with sugar, egg and vanilla.
  3. Then, whisk in 160g of taro paste. For stronger purple, add sweet potato flour or blend in boiled purple sweet potato at (1).
  4. Fold in flour and chocolate chips of choice.
  5. Transfer to an 8 inch square baking tray and bake 160C for 28 – 32 mins till darker in purple.
  6. Serve with Taro icing (optional). Taro icing requires stirring of the two ingredients!
  7. Serve and enjoy!

Details

  • Prep time: 1 hour
  • Cook time: 25 mins
  • Total time: 1 hour 25 mins
  • Yield: 1 x Tray of Purple Taro Brownies

Notes:

  1. If you would like to be updated for more recipes which I strive to create to perfection for sharing and for free, do check out my Instagram, Facebook Page, or YouTube 🙂 Thank you so much for all of your support! Feel free to tag me or link back here!
  2. Serve fresh at room temperature (on the day itself) or store in an airtight container for up to 4 days!
  3. Please do not copy and paste the recipe without my permission, but feel free to link back here!

Enjoy!
– Bakeomaniac, Javier Tan