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 I also limited the cinnamon because when I originally made these, I felt like the cinnamon flavor was too strong.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
