Black Bean Brownies

So, I’ve avoided making this recipe for months. Seriously, MONTHS. Black bean brownies always sounded really um… not tasty… to me.

This recipe is from a cookbook I received ages ago called Vegan Beans from Around the World: Adventurous Recipes for the Most Delicious, Nutritious and Flavorful Bean Dishes Ever. There are some seriously awesome recipes in here, from African Peanut Soup to Curried Dal with Cauliflower. But I was really curious about the Black Bean Brownies and wanted to make them. So after months of putting it off I finally tried it. And this recipe really changed my mind about black bean brownies! The consistency is spot on, and the chocolate flavor comes through really well. Who knew?

I adapted this recipe slightly from the original: I doubled the recipe to make a thicker brownie and used a different baking dish so the cooking time is different as well. I also limited the cinnamon because when I originally made these, I felt like the cinnamon flavor was too strong.

Ingredients:

• 2 (15.5 ounce) cans of black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon freshly ground flax seeds
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons lukewarm coffee (I just used what was left from my morning coffee)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup – 1/2 cup walnuts

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Thoroughly rinse and drain your black beans.

Grind the flax seeds (I used my coffee grinder).

Whisk into 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water. It will create kind of a paste.

Add the black beans, vegetable oil, flax seed mixture, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, vanilla extract, coffee, and cinnamon to a food processor or blender.

Blend well.

Scrape down the sides of the blender/food processor and blend once more.

The mixture should be very smooth, with no visible large chunks of beans.

Pour the brownie mixture into a 9-by-9-inch square baking dish.  Spread evenly.

Top with the walnuts, add as many or as few as you’d like.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool for at least 30 minutes. Cut into 16 brownies and serve.

These make a really fudge-y brownie, which I love. You can tell that these aren’t your normal brownies but they are a really solid alternative. For being vegan AND flour free, I was really surprised with how good these tasted!

The walnuts add a much needed crunch to go with the chewy brownie, so yummy!