Black Bean Brownies

Sounds sketchy huh? As I mentioned yesterday, I really wanted to try out using beans as a substitute for fat in a recipe, so I searched online for different concoctions and this is what I came up with...

It should be noted that having never done this before I didn't really have a base to go from as far as what was going to taste great, and I ended up combing several different recipes.

Black Bean Brownies

Recipe Makes 15 Brownies

Ingredients
15 ounces black beans, cooked, drained, and rinsed
2 bananas
1/3 cup honey (or agave)
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp raw sugar
1 tbsp brown sugar
¼ cup instant oats
1/8 cup chocolate chips (I did a combo of chocolate chips and butterscotch chips)
*These are almost vegan and with a few alterations could be made to be that way.


Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 

Rinse your cooked/canned black beans.

 Combine beans and honey in food processor or blender.

 Puree black beans and honey together until they make a paste.The honey helps add a little moisture while you're pureeing them.

 Combine the rest of your ingredients into a bowl and add the pureed bean mix. If you are using old fashioned rolled oats you may want to run them through the food processor as well to refine them.

 Mix ingredients together well and spread the ingredients in a pan coated with cooking spray.

I decided after I spread them out to top them with a few butterscotch and chocolate chips for good measure.

Bake at 350 for 30 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean.

 Allow to cool before cutting and serving.

 

 Nutrition facts:

Pretty amazing as far as fiber and protein content! Thank you black beans.

Here are my thoughts...

Upon tasting the batter I felt like it wasn't sweet enough so I added 1 Tbsp of both, brown sugar and raw sugar. It was so weird for me to taste the batter because I'm not used to trying the sweets that I bake. I kinda liked it...Who wants the beater? I DO!!

I feel like next time I would use xylitol or stevia to sweeten it up a little and leave out the sugars.

I really liked the fudgey texture. 

I love how moist the beans make them, and you really can't even tell they are in there. (I even had my friends guess the ingredients...they couldn't.)

I tried a piece of one right when they came out of the oven and I wasn't loving them. I felt like they lacked sweetness, and were kinda bland. However, I tried another piece tonight after they had been sitting for a few hours, and I liked them about 100 times better. I think allowing them to sit gave the cinnamon a chance to come through, flavor-wise.

I love how much fiber and protein they have in them. 

I want to try them out on my niece and nephews tomorrow to see if they fly as kid friendly. I know my palate is a little different than most because I don't eat a lot of sugar, but I liked them. I do feel like they could still use some tweaking, and I kept thinking about how much I'd like them slathered in PB or crumbled in my chocolate PB oatmeal. (I am going to turn into a giant peanut if I am not careful.)

I'm excited to try some other recipes I found using white beans, so I'll keep you posted on the progress.

Do you taste while you cook? I used to L-O-V-E making cookies because half of it would end up in my belly before they even were baked. Sometimes I think I like the cookie dough better than the actual baked cookies. Since decreasing my sugar habit that was one of the hardest routines I had to break. This is definitely one of those **watch for hidden calories creeping into your diet** areas. Don't you worry...I still will test out my low-fat zuchinni cookies and my honey banana oatmeal cookies. I just don't eat the whole bowl of dough. On a total unrelated note...but equally important...Do you Tweet? Are you a twitter-er? If you are we should be tweeting friends. I know some of us have already found each other and I LOVE it! You can follow me by clicking the link at the top left of this web page, or leave me your twitter name and I'll find you!!