When I first heard about black bean brownies I thought that maybe the gluten free people had gone too far. While I understand the reasons it works, a brownie that swaps flour for beans sounded like it would end in tears. However, I'm happy to say that these are delicious, moist, rich and chocolatey brownies that are downright dangerous. Dangerous to the point that they prompted these tweets:
Fair warning: after making this I recommend you immediately take them into work or offer them to a crowd of friends as a means of self defence. Another thing to note is that they're really fun to make, because all you need is a blender & a brownie pan!
Black Bean Brownies
Adapted from: All Recipes
Grab…
1 19oz (540ml) can black beans
3 large eggs
3 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup flour (Optional: remove to make gluten free)
2/3 cup white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
Okay!
1. Rinse and drain the can of beans.
2. Combine all ingredients except chocolate chips into the blender. If adding flour, mix in by hand after.
3. Blend until very smooth & pour into a 9 x 9 or 8 x 8 brownie pan that's been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and bake at 350 for 30-32 minutes in an 8 x 8 pan or 25 – 30 minutes in a 9 x 9 pan.
and then try to exercise a little more self restraint than I did! :)
I hope you try these out- they're addictive and much better for you than most brownie recipes are. Enjoy!
LAST UPDATED ON: April 25th, 2012
CATEGORY: All Posts
Wow! I was skeptical (even though i like black beans) that this would actually taste as good as described. I like that there not too sweet. I covered mine with plastic wrap as they cooled and they are super moist!
I’m glad you liked them, Joy! It takes a bit of a mental hurdle to try making them for the first time, but after that it’s easy to be addicted :)
I took these to my friend’s party last night and they were a big hit. Not only did my friend love them, but my kids loved them as well. No hint of beans whatsoever!
Love that they were a hit! My husband’s an incredibly picky eater and even he didn’t mind them. I’m keeping this recipe stored for when I have kids who eat like he does ;)
I have a friend that has a gluten allergy, and I like to make her a different kind of gluten-free snack everytime I see her. So when she invited me to a party on Friday and said bring something to share, I knew that I had to make something that she could enjoy as well. So I went to my gluten free board on pinterest and came across this recipe and I’ve decided that I am going to make them since I have everything in my pantry to do so. I’m really excited to try these. I will come back and let you know what everyone thought.
These sound delish! I’ve never tried baking with black beans before, so I’m really interested to try this recipe.
Delicious!! So moist, so airy, no bean taste at all!
I tried these last night! OH GOODNESS. They were delish! My hubby even liked them, even tho after I told him about the beans, he swore he could taste a hint of them. :) Thanks for sharing! But I used brown sugar because I never have white.
I’m so glad you liked them & can attest to their tastiness. Your husband’s comment cracks me up- mine couldn’t taste the beans, but was suspicious of the brownies after finding out about their ingredients, which is what led to my being left alone with the pan.
And I bet brown sugar only improved them- it’s better in everything :)
I am recently GF so this makes me very happy :) Also…I have a blogger meetup/clothing swap to attend tomorrow and I have to bring something so I will be making these for that! I’ll let you know how they go over…I’m excited. I haven’t baked in foreverrrr. Thanks for this post, kinda saved my life as I had NO idea what I was going to bring for it!
Oh I can’t wait to hear how they turn out, Carly! I hope they’re a hit- and have fun at the swap/meet up that sounds amazing :)
I will definitely be trying these. I don’t love chocolate (I know it’s odd) but every once in a while I have to have it. Saving this for that moment. =)
Kacie
Yum! I can’t wait to try these. It sounds crazy, but I will trust you :) And only because you ate the whole pan ;)
Well, I love black beans, and I love chocolate brownies. What could go wrong?! As long as you promise it won’t be like the time my friend thought the same thing about hamburgers and milkshakes. There was a blender involved with the one too…
HA! Oh my goodness, you are an adventurous one! This won’t be the same as your other blender attempt- pinky swear :)
YAY!! Thanks so much for this. I’ve been looking over recipes but yeah like you said – the vegan ones got a lot of mixed results and I figured that my attempts wouldn’t be any better.
And funny story, I totally have all these ingredients in my house (minus the chips). Guess i know what I’m baking tomorrow :D
Pinning! Thanks lady! I’ve heard a lot about black bean brownies (since I eat gluten-free) but have yet to try it!
I first had black bean brownies at the little cafe in the Seven Oaks Wellness Centre. Holy smokes, were they so good! I had one every time I went back. Now I need to make my own.
so they were good? i ask this because my mom told me about them and said they were amazing so i told her to make them for christmas and i ended up eating mine the next day and they were terrible! i felt bad but i had to tell her. she did however say she substituted one of ingredients so they may haven been the case but still i as super sad. but maybe i will make your recipe and see how it goes!
xo,
cb
If you use this recipe you won’t be disappointed. I made them before and tried to make the recipe vegan and it was a complete disaster, so I know exactly what you mean, but these are worth a try :)
Aww sad news! I was just stopping by to ask your opinion on whether or not we could make some vegan alterations.
Yea- lame, right?
There are lots of vegan brownies that you could make though- this one looks very similar in spirit to the black bean brownie, but uses flour. My one comment is that I’ve added instant coffee into an attempt at making these vegan before, and I really didn’t like it at all! It might just be me, but I wouldn’t recommend it at all ;)
Well now, I see absolutely no reason that I shouldn’t make these tonight. Thanks for the recipe! :)
So I wonder I’d you used splenda and no flour if these could be good for a diet?
Oh good idea Jill! The Splenda substitution would probably work for it. I tried switching other ingredients before and it wasn’t successful, but that would be similar enough that it could still work. I might try that next week :)
Sounds so weird but I’m going to give them a try!
I made black bean brownies a few months back for a family dinner and didn’t tell them what was different about the recipe. The look of shock on my father’s face when I told him he ate a can of beans and chocolate was priceless— and he requests these at least once a month since then!
I was hoping you’d share this recipe! Can’t wait to try them!!!
Black bean brownies hmm. I wouldn’t have thought of that. I’ll bookmark this for the future haha!
I keep meaning to make these, ever since I saw them as a suggestion on one of my recipe apps….but then I am like… (wanders off to look at something shiny). One day, brownies.. one day.