Healthy Chocolate Brownies Recipe with Black Beans and Raw Cocoa
As you will see I am the kind of cook that gets inspired by an idea, researches it and then ‘throws’ things together to see how they work. Whereas others follow a recipe to the letter, I like the element of surprise and I am a big fan of tapping into your inner wisdom and taste buds.
I’d seen a recipe somewhere for black bean brownies and my first thoughts were yuk, how could that work? After researching recipes using all manner of beans I was convinced enough to go and buy a tin of black beans.
Like many, there are things that I am unable to eat so again after reviewing a few other peoples recipes for weights and ingredients, I selected those which I could eat and gave it a go.
Ingredients
- 1 can, drained and rinsed black beans – rinse until the water runs clear. If you are using dried you need approx.. 1.5 cups cooked
- 1/2 – 1 cup raw cocoa powder (depends on you, I always put loads in)
- 1/2 cup ground almonds (I use left overs from making almond milk)
- 1/4 tsp pink salt
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar (Alternatives could be maple syrup, agave or honey, you could also use approx. 10 dates soaked and you can use some of the date water
- 1/4 cup coconut oil. You could use olive oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract. I have a lovely vanilla bean paste which I squirted in
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup (or more) cacao nibs
Options: I had been blackberry picking that morning so put a handful in. You could add ginger or cinnamon, dates and nuts.
Instead of ground almonds you could use oats (gluten free), or ground sunflower seeds
Method
Preheat your oven to 350F. I have a gas oven with 5 marks on it and used number 4. You know your oven so go with what you know works and keep an eye on them. Mine took 30 minutes to cook, and I was checking them from 15 minutes with a knife. If the knife comes out clean they are ready.
I use a hand blender for all of my cakes, if you have a food processor you will get a smoother consistency.
Put all (except the nibs) of your ingredients into a bowl or food processor and blend until completely smooth.
Check that the consistency is stiff but not ridged, you want to be able to put it into a flat baking container and smooth it down. If it’s too runny add some more chocolate powder or ground almonds.
Add in your nibs.
Cook for 15-25 minutes depending on your oven. Leave for 10 minutes to cool, cut into small portion sizes as they are so rich. These are perfect for freezing so you can devour them later on too!
What else can you do with your brownies?
Last night I soaked a portion of brownie in Amaretto, put chopped fresh figs over the top, mango would work as well. Put a layer of Greek yoghurt on and sprinkled raw chocolate over the top. Yum!
Enjoy!
Jacqui x
