My brother asked me to add some vegan recipes to this blog, so you will probably see some of my experiments with making vegan main dishes soon. In the meantime, here is a yummy vegan dessert for you, Shaun! You’ve probably seen recipes on the internet for black bean brownies. I’ve been a bit of a skeptic of beans and dessert, but I am a convert now! This recipe comes from Chocolate Covered Katie and uses no flour, no refined sugar, no butter, and no eggs. And yet, they taste like fudge…amazing!
You will need a food processor to get the right texture, but otherwise the recipe is very simple. Add a can of black beans, oats, cocoa powder, maple syrup, vanilla extract, coffee, baking powder and salt to the bowl of a food processor and let it go. I added in the coffee because Ina Garten always says that it enhances the chocolate flavor. Yes, I love the Barefoot Contessa. Back to the beans….you will want to get it processed really well, so the black beans are as smooth as possible. Then stir in the chocolate chips and pour into a greased 8×8 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes.
Allow it to cool for 10 minutes, and then dig in. I loved how the chocolate chips were still warm and melty from the oven. The honest truth? I knew it had black beans in it, and I could taste them on the bites that didn’t have a chocolate chip in them. You could always add in more chocolate chips to avert this problem. Otherwise, they were really quite delicious! I didn’t miss the flour or butter at all.
I served this to my husband and parents in a blind taste test. The verdict? They didn’t know the secret ingredient and proclaimed them very fudgy. That’s exactly how I would describe them…almost more like fudge than brownies, but that’s fine by me 
My in-laws also loved them!
Black Bean Brownies
slightly adapted from Chocolate Covered Katie
15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup old fashioned oats (processed fine) or quick oats
3 T cocoa powder (sweetened, I used Ghirardelli)
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup canola or coconut oil
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tsp strong coffee
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup to 2/3 cup chocolate chips
Process your oats fine if you are using old fashioned oats. Add in black beans, cocoa powder, maple syrup, oil, vanilla, coffee, baking powder and salt to a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process until it is very smooth. You don’t want to detect bits of black beans if at all possible. Stir in your chocolate chips. Pour into a greased 8×8 pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until set in the middle. Cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting. I would put it in the refrigerator and let it set before cutting. Enjoy!
Do you have any favorite vegan recipes? Please share!
Please check out these other variations:
Walnut Chocolate Chip Bean Brownie Cake from Butter
Low Fat Vegan Black Bean Brownies from Happy Herbivore
Sounds so unusual but they look incredibly delicious!
Thanks, Sinead! It is surprisingly delicious, and no one could tell that there were beans in there at all!!
Oh this is something very different! looks yummy, nice clicks.
Thanks! I’m trying to work on my food photography…slowly but surely
It is different, but no one could tell there were beans in it, so I guess it was a success!
I’ve seen recipes like these around, but haven’t tried them. I’ll have to do it soon. These look great!
I think your kids will love it! Malia kept requesting them, and I liked that she was eating beans without knowing it
Maura, I don’t know how you find the time to cook all this wonderful stuff with a toddler and a newborn to take care of!!! You’re amazing!
Sarah, you are too sweet! I spend nap times cooking, when I maybe should be sleeping or cleaning, but I can’t help myself!!
We miss you guys already!
I love making fudgy brownies but never had the guts to make it with beans! Am bookmarking this page for future brownie cravings!
If you like the fudgy texture, you will love these…they are more like fudge than brownies actually. I was surprised by how delicious they were, let me know if you try it out!!
Hey Maura, these look really delicious and moist! They are a much healthier version of black bean brownies than the ones I posted though. Maybe I’ll have to try them! Thanks so much for the link
We loved yours too…all your recipes are always so delicious
These are really healthy, but they don’t taste like it! Hope you’re having a great weekend!
Oh did you make them! If these don’t taste healthy then I’m all over them. Let you know how I go! Hope you had a great weekend
These are in my oven right now !
Yay!! How did they turn out??
I’ve never tried making anything like this, but if really does taste chocolately, I need to try it! I always hear Ina in my head telling me to add coffee to chocolate desserts to amp up the chocolate flavor, but I’ve still never tried it. I know it must be true though, if Ina says it is!
It really does taste just like chocolate, I think you will like it!!
I love that you are a fellow Ina fan
She makes cooking and entertaining seem so easy and fun. I get a little stressed when hosting a party, to be honest…maybe I just need to plan them out more!
I’ve seen this recipe a while ago and wonder if it is really that good! now I t
need to try it myself
It really is good! Let me know what you think
Oh! I MUST try this!
They’re really delicious, I’m going to make another batch today!
feel free to send me some! ; ]
Black bean brownies? Really? I would never have thought of this intriguing combination! I absolutely cannot imagine what this must taste like..but I take your word for it! I wanna bake this for my women’s group!
I think you’ll really like them!! Your women’s group will be so surprised, it’s so fun to watch people eat them and make them guess the secret ingredient
Glad you are relaxing at home with Kona and Tim, hope you can get recharged in the next few days!!
Hi, Maura…Do you think I can use dark chocolate chips? I’m not sure if the extra sweetness from milk chocolate chips is a crucial component of this recipe
.
I think they would be delicious in here, love dark chocolate!
Maybe I’ll give them a try. The only ones I tried just ended up very “beany” and not very nice =(
These were not very beany, I could barely detect it, and mostly because I knew they were in there!
I’ve sean these around, but have been reluctant to try them. I’ve been afraid they wouldnt taste like brownies. I’ll have to give them a go – I have a pot of black beans to use up that I cooked up over the weekend..I’ll let you know how it turns out!
Yes, let me know what you think! I used regular cocoa powder like you would use for hot chocolate (not the unsweetened kind). I made it recently with unsweetened cocoa powder and it didn’t come out quite as good.
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These look great! I’ve never tried black bean brownies, but I’m really curious to see what it tastes like.
Thanks! I hope you like them, mine came out super fudgy