Black Bean Brownies

Black Bean Brownies

Did you say Black Bean Brownies? Yes. I did.

Lets just face it together. Low cal and fat free foods are not as good as the ‘real’ thing. It’s sad, but true. Fat tastes good. This is a problem for me since my life motto is that every bite should be the best bite.  I rarely alter anything to make it low fat. Instead, I just cook with fresh, lean ingredients and avoid high fat food. (most of the time!) But these brownies are so good for something that are so modified, that even I can’t deny that this is a great way to treat yourself to a sweet treat and not feel the least bit guilty!

I have been making this recipe for a few years now and I always trick everyone! I love watching people’s faces when I tell them it’s a brownie made out of black beans! The consistency is more similar a cake style brownie than the fudgy type, but considering it’s made from egg whites and black beans, I can live with it. Trust me- you can too.

Black Bean Brownies

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 8

Ingredients

  • 1 15 oz. can of organic black beans drained and rinsed
  • 1/2 cup agave syrup
  • 1/2 cup self rising flour *see Feaster’s note
  • 1/2 cup egg whites
  • 1/4 cup good quality unsweetened cocoa
  • 2 tablespoons good quality vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 6 tablespoons Nestle’s mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

For Brownies

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 8×8 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. 
  • In a food processor, combine all the ingredients except the chocolate chips and process until smooth, occasionally scraping the sides of the processor. 
  • Stir in the chocolate chips with a spoon. Pour into the baking dish and bake for about 20 – 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean.
  • Cool completely and ice with cream cheese frostings or a light sprinkle of confectionary sugar. 

For Cream Cheese Frosting

  • Combine 4 oz cream cheese, a 1/2 tsp vanilla and 2 tablespoons confectionary sugar and process until smooth. Tweak to taste.

Notes

If you don’t have any self rising flour, just make your own. 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/5 teaspoons baking powder Stir or sift together the flour, salt and baking powder