We had some spare eggs last month and I wanted to bake some brownies. But we had been eating a lot of brownies lately, so I decided to try something a little healthier: substitute butter for prune puree. I found this website that lists substitutes for butter in baking recipes, along with tips and advice. 

I opted for prune puree as it was recommended for brownies and also one of the easier ingredients to find and purchase. For 1 cup of butter (185g), 3/4 cup (139g) of prune puree was to be used instead. I purchased the closest equivalent I could find in the supermarket: 2 prune puree pouches for babies – I didn’t even know this was a thing. Here are the ingredients for a healthier brownie bake:

It started out ok. Melting the chocolate with the prune puree was a lot quicker compared to non-room temperature butter. 

When the flour and cocoa powder were mixed in, this was when I realised it looked different from the usual butter recipe: it looked quite dry. This was when I started to think “maybe this might not work out so well.”

After the eggs and other wet ingredients were added in, then it looked a lot more normal – or at least more what I’m used to seeing. Here is the prune puree brownie mixture before going into the oven: 

For comparison, here is the usual butter recipe mixture before going into the oven: 

The butter substitution website noted that brownies may look darker in colour or even purple, but I didn’t think this would be an issue. I also didn’t really notice any changes in colour prior to baking in the oven. The main difference I found in the prune puree recipe was the lack of the classic shiny top, but only found out after taking it out of the oven. As you can see here, the top looks a little dull: 

In comparison, here is the classic shiny top using the butter recipe: 

I’d definitely say that the butter recipe looked more appetising than the prune puree recipe. Another thing I noticed, after munching, was the lack of richness. Of course, prune puree is healthier than butter, but I missed the rich creamier texture from the butter recipe. 

The texture of the prune puree recipe was fudgier and heavier. Still, very enjoyable with some thick whipped cream. But definitely not as moreish as the classic butter recipe, it took us longer to devour for sure. Think I’d stick with the butter recipe going forward. And if I have some spare eggs, maybe I’ll just fry them with some butter too.