Nutritious Resource-Efficient Brownies

At a time when nearly one in three women experiences iron deficiency and food waste is prevalent, the Blood Brownie is addressing several key issues at once, along with the future of food.

Axfoundation and Pressbyrån’s Innovation Lab PBX, with IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute and several research and development partners, developed the Blood Brownie as part of the Blood & Turnip research and innovation project exploring how Swedish raw materials could be transformed into useful new food sources instead of being discarded. The Blood Brownie taps into one of the most nutrient-dense foods available, and an abundantly available resource since almost 95% of all cattle blood in Sweden goes to waste.

The Blood Brownie contains 20% cattle blood, replacing eggs, and uses whole-grain rye flour in place of refined wheat. Two mini-brownies cover 25% of a woman’s daily iron needs, and according to Sofia Lundvall, chef and sensory specialist at Torsåker Farm, "Blood behaves much like eggs and coagulates with heat. In our experiments, we also found that it gives chocolate a deeper, richer flavor."