Spiced Chocolate Beet Brownies

From the PlanTea gardening website, www.plantea.com. These brownies are secretly nutritious!
Ingredients:
- ½ cup butter (or ¼ cup butter and ¼ cup applesauce)
- 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup brown sugar (packed) or less to taste
- 1 cup applesauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 ½ cups unbleached white flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup cooked beets (or one 15-ounce can, drained and mashed)
- ½ cup finely chopped almonds (optional)
- ½ cup wheat germ
Directions
- Melt butter and chocolate over low heat. Set aside to cool.
- In a separate bowl, beat eggs until light in color and foamy. Add sugar and vanilla and continue beating until well creamed.
- Stir in chocolate mixture, followed by applesauce and beets.
- Sift together flour, salt, spices and baking powder and stir into creamed mixture.
- Fold in wheat germ and almonds.
- Turn into greased 9x13-inch pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. Cool before cutting into squares.