These brownies are our newest addiction. Not kidding. We've made them twice in a week and again for this blog post! And if you follow our cooking adventures you know that we really like to try some fun recipes, maybe with a bit of a twist and an unexpected ingredient or two. Sneaking some undercover veggies into a recipe when we can, like our I can't believe it's good for me Mac & Cheese, which calls for butternut squash in the place of butter or heavy cream. And also our Fudgy Zucchini Brownies, that were so chocolatey and delicious you'd never know they contained a generous amount of zucchini. Well these guys right here might do our zucchini brownies one better. Because even without frosting these are super rich and fudgy...they're almost truffle-like in the center.
Pretty sure the moist goodness is due to the black beans...which you DO NOT taste at all!
It's so cool that these can be so good with absolutely No Flour, and they are Gluten Free. Plus another bonus is that they're protein packed! Your conscience and your taste buds will be at odds...what could taste this good and still be good for you?
We love them, but a lot of the time you can't exactly trust your own taste buds 100%. You need a guinea pig, an outside opinion. So after baking this batch Aaron ran a few out to the guy who was working on our shed and roof. He's a guy's guy...a gym goer...a sometimes big boat fisherman who has given himself stitches on more than a few occasions while out at sea. (yes, he regaled Aaron with his gnarly tales, flaunted his prowess with a needle and thread and showed him the scars to prove it)...anyway, I'm trying to say that this is a guy that would probably like his brownies to be brownies...not some earthy substitute. Well...guess what?...he loved these. Thought they were deelish! (but then again...he stitches his own wounds...so take it for what its worth.) Ha!
Ok, lets get to it.
This recipe will fill a 12 cup muffin pan perfectly.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly grease one standard size muffin baking pan.
Here is what you will need:
1 (15oz.) can black beans well rinsed and drained
1 egg
3 tablespoons coconut oil melted ( or whatever your favorite baking oil is)
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (we've also tried almond extract in this recipe...yummy!)
1/2 cup sugar (we used sugar in the raw that we first pulsed in our food processor)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
optional toppings:
chopped nuts (we love walnuts and peanuts)
semi sweet chocolate chips
white chocolate chips
makes 12 brownies
First gather and measure your ingredients! And make sure you have preheated your oven to 350 degrees.
Now, add everything but your toppings to your food processor, and process till smooth, stopping at least once to scrape down sides. You want it smooth. If it is too thick you can add a tablespoon of water. It should be smooth but not runny.
Now, spoon your batter into your greased muffin pan, we use an ice cream scoop to do this. They should be filled a little less than half way. And sprinkle with your favorite toppings. This time we went with walnuts and semi sweet chocolate chips.
Pop the pan in the oven for about 20 mins. Take them out when they start pulling away from the sides a bit. Let them cool in the pan about 10 mins. And then gently (using a fork) pop them out and let them cool completely on a cooling rack.
The outside will be firm and the inside will be so incredibly fudgy and good! And to be totally honest, as much as we love a warm brownie with milk or a la mode...these brownies are amazing cold out of the fridge!
We really hope you will give them a shot! You would never ever know that they are made with protein packed beans...or flour free!
Happy Baking!!
xo Jenny & Aaron
*adapted from Minimalist Baker