Wholesome chocolate brownie breakfast bars, packed with nutritious ingredients & chocolatey goodness!
I’ve been eating chocolate for breakfast as long as I can remember.
Cocoa Krispies was one of my favorite childhood breakfast cereals, and Sunday mornings always involved my dad making pancakes and throwing extra chocolate chips into the batter of the batch for me. Regular readers of my blog know there is definitely no shortage of healthy breakfast recipes on this website that include chocolate in some way. From 5-Minute Chocolate Oatmeal, to Brownie Batter Pancakes, to Chocolate Banana Bread…
Chocolate is my absolute favorite thing to eat, and I don’t waste any time getting my chocolate fix first thing in the morning!
These healthy & filling chocolate breakfast bars are made up of nutritious ingredients such as whole-grain oats, antioxidant-rich cocoa, black beans, and peanut butter.
Whether you eat them as part of a balanced breakfast or grab one or two for an on-the-go healthy snack, they are the perfect way to satisfy your chocolate craving in a healthy way.
As always, if you try out the recipe, please feel free to tag me: @chocolatecoveredkatie on Instagram – so I can like your posts!
There’s no baking required, and the breakfast bars are portable and can easily be packed into a lunchbox. You can also make up a big batch and freeze leftovers for a rushed morning. They’re very low in calories, so I definitely wouldn’t recommend eating just one as a full breakfast, but they make a great addition to a heart-healthy vegetable scramble or a large breakfast smoothie.
Really, who wouldn’t want to wake up to the following pictures first thing on a Monday morning:
Chocolate Brownie Breakfast Bars
Adapted from Unbaked Cookie Dough Bars
Chocolate Brownie Breakfast Bars
Print This Recipe
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Ingredients
- 1 can black beans (250g after draining)
- 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
- just under 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 2 tbsp nut butter or allergy-friendly sub
- 2 tbsp coconut oil or additional nut butter
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup, agave, or honey
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp rolled or quick oats
- 3 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup or more mini or regular chocolate chips (omit at own risk)
- chocolate coating, listed below
Instructions
Line an 8×8 pan with parchment or wax paper. Drain and rinse the beans very well. Add all ingredients except chocolate chips to a food processor, and process until very smooth. (A blender works if you must, but you should routinely stop the blender and stir to ensure ingredients blend evenly.) Stir in chocolate chips. Smooth into prepared pan. Freeze.
Chocolate Coating: Chill at least a half hour, then either melt 1/2 cup chocolate chips with 2 tsp oil to form a thin sauce OR stir together 1/4 cup cacao or cocoa powder, 2 tbsp melted coconut oil or cacao butter, and 1/4 cup pure maple syrup or agave to form a sauce. Spread sauce over the bars, then re-freeze to set the chocolate. Cut into bars – To prevent the chocolate shell from cracking, cut either before chocolate freezes fully or after thawing a little. Store leftovers in the freezer, and thaw before eating. The bars are portable and can sit out at room temperature if the non-coconut coating option is used.
Links Of The Day:
Chocolate Oatmeal Breakfast Cupcakes – To Go
Cassie says
Yes, I used to LOVE cereal for breakfast as a kid! While I was more of a Trix and Cinnamon Toast Crunch kid, I definitely needed my sugar fix. These look amazing! Even Cinnamon Toast Crunch would taste wonderful in this!
Maya says
I love the thickness of these, I bet they’d taste great with my morning cup of tea! I do like a bit of chocolate in the morning 🙂
Ariane says
This Looks great, another way to get my chocolate fix first thing in the morning. Would it be possible to use other beans e.g. kidney beans? Black beans are impossible to get hold of where I live.
Grace says
These look so tasty! When you saw omit the chocolate chips at own risk, is that just a taste thing or will it prevent them from holding together as well?
Grace says
say*
Evie says
In her other black bean recipes she’s mentioned it has to do with the taste 🙂
CW says
If you don’t have much of a sweet tooth, then you can probably leave them out, but the chocolate chips do add a lot of richness and improves the flavor. I tried it without (also modified 1/3 c sugar and about 2tbsp honey) and enjoyed it, then I added large bittersweet chips and liked it even better.
Candice says
Oooe yum these look delicious
Candice | Beauty Candy Loves
Marina @ A Dancer's Live-It says
Oh I know there are no shortages of chocolate breakfast recipes on the blog and I’m not complaining! 😉 I used to love Cocoa Rice Krispies too because it would make my milk all chocolatey! I also love that these are no-bake because I refuse to turn on my oven right now in 85 degree weather haha. Gorgeous photos, Katie! <3
Ash says
I think that chickpeas would make a great alternative to the black beans. But I wonder if there’s a non-legume alternative to that even. Any ideas bakers? I’m not big on legumes/beans because they’re susceptible to a fungus that can cause food poisoning, so I’d rather not throw them in my kiddos lunchboxes (easily forgotten and later eaten hours later). Maybe mashed sweet potatoes, ground sesame seeds, or some hydrated chia seeds would work?
Tereza says
Cooked green bananas ou plantains will do the trick. They have great starch content that will hold together like beans. I make muffins or pancakes with raw green bananas and oats. In this recipe I’d suggest cooked green bananas then proceed with recipe because green bananas need to be cooked in order to be better digested.
Jen says
These look so amazing! Thanks for the recipe x
Jen / Velvet Spring x
Izzy Bruning says
oh wow! These look amazing!
Izzy | https://plantbasedizzy.wordpress.com/
Emma Bought What says
These look so yummy, might have to try baking these myself! x
http://emmaboughtwhat.blogspot.co.uk/
AZ@...And a Dash of Cinnamon says
I have also been eating sweet breakfasts forever! Like you they were sugar filled processed breakfast foods. Glad to have cleaned things up!
Mary @ LOVE the secret ingredient says
Yum! The flavors of brownie with an extra kick of protein from the beans to start your day right. Genius idea!
Dawn says
Not just for breakfast I hope!!! I would eat these all day long! Going to make them soon. Thanks for another wonderful recipe Katie!!
Jackie says
I was wondering the same thing about the baking soda. I’ll be it’s just a mistake. I’d leave it out.
Jackie says
Oops, I meant, I’ll BET it’s just a mistake……
Nina says
Delicious. Thanks Katie. I ate mine for dinner.
Sophie says
Thanks Katie, these really have improved my mornings, it’s a fantastic pick me up without the guilt. Great choice on the black beans, after all the darker the healthier in terms of beans. Not to mention, it helps them blend in, color wise.
Julia @ Sprinkles & Saturdays says
Omg YUM! These look so good and super simple to make. I wish I had one for breakfast right now. Can’t wait to try these!
http://www.sprinklesandsaturdays.com
Samantha says
Lovely recipe! I went out to the shops and bought blacks beans solely for the purpose of making this 🙂 It’s the first black bean dessert recipe I’ve made and I’m glad that I tried it!
Only thing is, I ended up messing up the sauce bit on top. Whoops! I think next time I’d rather just leave it out; the main batter by itself is nice enough for me. Thank you for this great recipe!
Sylvie Swanson says
You can melt some 75% raw chocolate with a bit of coconut oil and stevia if the bar is unsweetened and vanilla
Look up chocolate glaze or frosting using dark choc bars
I use Trader Joe’s 75% dark chocolate pound bar or their organic 72% small chocolate bar!
Katy says
These were amazing. I skipped the topping altogether, and used 4 tablespoons of PB powder instead of nut butter. My whole family loved them. I would guess that with my changes it would be about 4 WW smart points?
Cyp says
Can you replace black beans by red beans?
Thanks for the recipe anyway 😉
A H says
Try it, as long as you’re OK with a result that isn’t quite the same. Please report back if you do try it.
Debbie says
Dear Katie,
I really enjoy making and eating your healthy sweets. One thing I think would be helpful is baking dish and muffin pan measurements included in the recipes. I have 2 sets of mini-muffin pans and 2 sets of “other” muffin pans – all are different sizes! Thanks for reading my comment and keep those great recipes coming
Samantha says
I just made these- they are heavenly!!!!!
Jennifer Rice says
On the chocolate brownie breakfast bars, what purpose does the baking soda have since it’s not a baked good? Just curious, I’m not a trained cook, obvs, haha! BTW, I can’t stop eating these!!! I’ve decided there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. I could live on these!
Julie Dove says
Gives a cookie dough flavor 🙂
Evie says
Yeah in some of her other recipes i’ve recalled her addressing the comments about the baking soda. She says it helps it taste like raw batter.
Upma. Dhingra says
HI Katie ! Tx for all the recipes.. Please help me understand y we need baking soda in the black bean brownie bars which are not baked…I mean the soda always needs to be cooked…right..?
Thank u..!
Amanda says
Made these today, they taste pretty awesome!
Erin says
These are SO delicious, Katie! I added walnuts too. Thank you for the recipe!
Catie says
Hey Katie, I have a question!
For this recipe we are asked to use baking soda. What is that for if we are not baking it? I haven’t tried it without it but I imagine it would be very similar?
Julie Dove says
It is for flavor.
Bella says
I’m planning to make these for school in 2 weeks. Could I substitute avocado for the nut butter and/or coconut oil?
Julie Dove says
You can always experiment! Be sure to report back if you do!
Bella says
I tried it and it worked! I threw in copious amounts of chocolate chips, so there was probably much more chocolate in my breakfast bars than the ones in the pictures.
Unfortunately I don’t have a food processor, and the blender was broken, so I had to mash everything up by hand. A sieve and a fork really helped with that. 🙂
Also, no one asked me if I’d added black beans and avocado to the breakfast bars. People seemed more interested in the fact that they were cold. Either they couldn’t tell, or it was so obvious that they didn’t bother asking!
Em says
I typically don’t comment on recipes.. even when I love them. But… OH MY! These are good! My mom, skeptic of beans in baked goods, loves them.. my dad didn’t notice anything suspicious about them… and my husband? I can’t keep him out of the container!! My 8×8 pan turned into an 8×4 pan within the hour thanks to him (and the funniest part is, he blamed all the veggies in my cooking earlier today for the “after effect” the beans were having on him hahaha!). I will for sure be making these many times!
Michelle says
Totally caught myself licking the mixer spatula…can’t wait to try once they’re complete!
Andrea says
Made these today without chocolate chips and they are delicious! I can eat the whole pan!
Sandra says
So good! I made them last night. I also love the fact that I didn’t have to turn on the oven and they were done in the freezer right when I was done eating dinner. : D Thanks for all the great recipes!
Robin says
These ‘breakfast’ bars are NOT breakfast. They’re dessert. Sugar for breakfast is always a bad idea. Also Agave is 90% fructose, and is MUCH worse than plain sugar. It also happens to give me cramps and diarrhea. Your recipes still have a whole lot of sugar. Exchanging sucrose for honey or brown sugar, and especially Agave really does not makes things much healthier. Personally, I can’t eat stuff like this. I have to stay away from stuff this sweet. Do yourself a favor and try to quit sugar for real. Do it while you’re young, and you could save yourself a world of suffering later.
Pat says
Cholesterol? Where is that coming from? Aren’t these vegan (unless you use honey?)
Jason Sanford says
Hi! Sorry for the confusion. Be sure to read the paragraph under the nutrition label 😉
Jason (media relations)
Darlene Walsh says
I made these a few times now and they are so good! I love the shell on top and the softer bottom. It’s a great texture and taste!
Raven says
I really would like to try these but beans of any sort are a no-go in my household. I saw someone suggest replacing the beans with green bananas, but bananas are another no-go ingredient. Any other suggestion?
Theresa says
Ummm these are absolutely delicious. Sinful! I made these intending on giving them to my 4 year in for breakfast, but they taste like dessert! I can’t go back now because he’s already expecting to eat these in the morning, but these taste like the most delicious brownies. I ate 2 of then immediately because they were so yummy.
Sita says
My kids and I love these. Even my kid who hates black beans in any other recipe loves them. We leave them in the freezer and just let them thaw for 5 minutes before eating. The only change I make is to skip the chocolate topping but add those extra chocolate chips to the batter (lazy).
Lyf says
I used red kidney beans for a different flavour, halved the maple syrup, omitted the choc chips and baked them for 10 minutes for a firmer texture. They tasted wonderful even with all these changes and was still sweet enough. I highly recommend using red kidney beans because they have a softer more subtle flavour. I agree with the previous commenter about this being more of a dessert or snack. I love Katie but there is no way this recipe can pass as breakfast just because it has oats.
JS Mom says
I broke my magic bullet with this recipe bc it is thick. I was determined to finish, so I used my immersion blender and elbow grease. Delicious! I may get a food processor now. Thanks for the recipe!
Elizabeth says
So good! I used dry beans that I cooked at home and it turned out I hadn’t made quite enough, so I eyeballed a reduction on all the other ingredients, but upped to cocoa powder (3 heaping Tbs b/c: chocolate) and it came out great! I didn’t do the frosting because that seemed like a bit of a stretch for something that’s supposed to be breakfast-appropriate, but I found they were sweet enough (not regular brownie sweet, but maybe protein bar sweet) without. I stored them in the fridge rather than the freezer and they were fine for the week that they sat there. B/c I find cold chocolate doesn’t have any flavor and is just kind of hard, I skipped the chips as well, and found the flavor was great even without. I did try adding a couple pieces of room-temp Trader Joe’s Simply Lite sugar-free dark chocolate to one of them and that was delightful as well. Definitely something I’d make again. Thanks Katie 🙂
sita says
I make these often because everyone in my house loves them, including the bean haters. I make them and freeze them. Kids have just requested I make these for our next camping trip. Past weekend I served them to another family of 4 who all devoured them and wanted the recipe.