Black Bean Brownies – the ultra fudgy and decadent chocolate treat.
Edit: Thank you to everyone who has been asking…
After more than a year in the works, my NEW cookbook is finally available!
Based on your feedback, every single recipe in the book comes with complete nutrition facts including calories, total fat, carbohydrates, protein, and Weight Watchers points.
Above – Watch how to make black bean brownies.
I know what you’re thinking.
“Why would I want to eat a healthy brownie when I could be eating a deep, dark, rich, fudgy, and chocolatey brownie instead?”
But what if the deep, dark, rich, chocolate brownie is the healthy brownie?
No, not in a dream world. These black bean brownies are healthy brownies that DO NOT taste healthy, and I can say that with assurance, as they’ve been tested on three different groups of people used to “normal” desserts.
For the ultimate test, my roommate brought two pans of the vegan black bean brownies into work and set them down on the table without revealing the secret or saying they were healthy.
She came home with no brownies left… but with five requests for the healthy black bean brownie recipe!
You May Also Like: Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Easy Black Bean Brownies
I know some of you have been disappointed by mediocre bean-based brownies you’ve tried in the past, which is why it’s taken me so long to come up with my own recipe:
I’ve tried some awful black bean brownie recipes in the past, too.
For example?
Don’t think you’ll get brownies by adding cocoa powder to my Chickpea Cookie Dough Dip and baking it.
Trust me. You’ll get cardboard.
I wanted a recipe that would not let people down; a recipe that could stand up to a regular sugar-and-flour brownie in a competition.
And these really do!
Also, huge thanks to everyone who’s been sharing these on Instagram!
If you try the brownies, be sure to rate the recipe here, or tag @ChocolateCoveredKatie on Instagram so I can see and like your pictures!
Black Bean Brownies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups black beans (1 15-oz can, drained and rinsed very well) (250g after draining)
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder (10g)
- 1/2 cup quick oats (40g) (See nutrition link below for substitutions)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup pure maple syrup, honey, or agave (75g)
- pinch uncut stevia OR 2 tbsp sugar (or omit and increase maple syrup to 1/2 cup)
- 1/4 cup coconut or vegetable oil (40g) (See nutrition link for substitution notes)
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup chocolate chips (Not optional. Omit at your own risk)
- optional: more chips, for presentation
Instructions
- Black Bean Brownies Recipe: Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine all ingredients except chips in a good food processor, and blend until completely smooth. Really blend well. (A blender can work if you absolutely must, but the texture—and even the taste—will be much better in a food processor. I use this food processor.) Stir in the chips, then pour into a greased 8×8 pan. Optional: sprinkle extra chocolate chips over the top. Cook the black bean brownies 15-18 minutes, then let cool at least 10 minutes before trying to cut. If they still look a bit undercooked, you can place them in the fridge overnight and they will magically firm up! Makes 9-12 brownies. If you make this recipe, don't forget to leave a review! The trick with these: serve them first, and then reveal the secret ingredient. In all the times I’ve served bean desserts, not one single person who didn’t know beforehand has ever guessed!View Black Bean Brownies Nutrition Facts
Notes
Have you made this recipe?
Tag @chocolatecoveredkatie on Instagram
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Lisa S. says
Absolutely perfect and the comments prove it’s user-friendly if you mess up the recipe.
I also messed up the recipe a bit. I didn’t have coconut oil so I used unsalted butter with a little bit of peanut butter added in for flavor (butter is not as flavorful as coconut oil). I heaped the cocoa powder as well. I used half honey, half maple syrup instead of one or the other.
I tried the dough and forced my husband to try it. I love brownie batter, this was normal brownie batter with a bit of oat texture as I hadn’t blended the oats into flour beforehand. They cooked up into delicious, fudgey brownies that rivaled Ghirardelli.
He said it wasn’t just good for a black bean brownie recipe, it was good as a brownie recipe altogether. I have to agree. These might be the best brownies we’ve ever had.
Meagan says
I want to try these but I don’t own a food processor. I have an immersion blender and a regular blender. How do I get the best consistency?
Jennifer Riegel says
My husband is a diabetic so it’s hard finding yummy treats for him. The first time I wanted to make these he didn’t want to spend the money on the ingredients. After he tried them for the first time they quickly became a staple in our household
Olive Olivia says
I want to make these for my grandma but due to the maple syrup and honey I’m unsure if can because she’s diabetic. So are these measurements okay for a diabetic or does you make changes for your husband?
Kelsey says
These were so easy to make and absolutely delicious!
Harmeet Khoral says
Just made these brownies. They turned out AMAZING. Super delicious. Saving this recipe as I’ll be making it a lot. Thank you for this!
Adam says
Just made these for my family! A couple modifications: I used 1/4 c maple syrup and added an extra 2 T cocoa powder and some chopped walnuts. Instead of oil, I used nonfat greek yogurt, plus an extra ~1 T of whole milk ricotta. They came out nice and fudgy, but the top was slightly dry, so I added a thin layer of melted chocolate coating to hide the cracks. Big hit! No one could taste the beans!
Molly says
I’ve made these before in the states and usually turned out great. In Colorado I had a difficult time baking at the higher elevation and I just couldn’t get them to cook through. In Virginia, they turned out perfect! I’m now in Germany and my good baking tools are in storage so I don’t have a food processor. This is what I did with just a blender:
Blend up just the oats for awhile. I shook my blender around a bit to get to turn mostly to oat flour. I added all of my dry ingredients and blended it again to mix. Then I added the wet ingredients (minus the beans) and blended that and had to scrape the sides down. I added the beans last and shook my blender around again and scraped the sides down a few times. For me, this gave the closest consistency to using my food processor in the states.
I made 3 batches today for a bake sale. I will need to write the allergy information for safety, but I’m sure many parents will have their kids and spouses try them before telling them the secret ingredient. My kids love these and I love the shocked faces when they learned that I use beans 😀