Right, stick with me here. I have always been experimenting with a healthy brownie, as I love brownies so much. I made these no bake brownies, but I wanted something with a bit more of a brownie consistency. I have been reading up a lot about using beans in cooking. There, I said it. BEANS!! Please don’t stop reading here. At least read till the end and give it a try, what do you have to lose?
When you blend dark beans, they get a powdery bean consistency that works well in cake mixture. There is no bean taste what so ever. I know you are probably sitting there thinking Really? But trust me. Give it a try. They do taste quite banana like, but this is because banana is used to sweeten it.
I will say again, give it a try, it will surprise you!
Ingredients:
- 1 400g can of pinto beans, rinsed
- 1 tbsp coffee
- 1 tsp ginger or cinnamon (whatever your preference is)
- 60g cocoa powder
- 2tbsp almond butter
- 2 bananas
- 2tbsp honey
- 6 dates, chopped
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 20g oats
- 80g apple puree
1) Spray a brownie pan with spray oil and preheat your oven to 170C/350F/Gas Mark 4
2) Put everything expect the oats in a blender and blend until smooth.
3) Stir and add the oats and stir again.
4) Pour into the brownie pan and bake for 50 minutes, until a knife come out clean.
5) Serve with some low fat yogurt.
DON’T be put off by the beans in it…at least give it a try! It’s a chocolate brownie that is much healthier than the average one!!
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
what is60 g. cocoa powder, how much is it? 20g.oats ?
what is 20 honey?
Sorry – that should have been 2 tbsp. I have edited it now. Thanks for letting me know
you mean instant coffee crystals right? just making sure. thanks!
Yes – instant coffee
I’ve tried to make black bean brownies before and they were only meh. I didn’t use apple sauce or coffee though, I bet that would definitely make a difference. Instead of dates, I used dried sour cherries, which definitely made them much nicer. http://drjulesinthecity.weebly.com
I mean, they are never going to be as good as the usual brownie recipes. But, if you want something a little healthier, then they are a great substitute. I will try the cherries instead of dates next time – thanks for the tip!
These are outstanding. They make about 2 dozen, so I froze half. They seeemd to freeze really well! My PLAN is to be able to thaw them one at a time to ration them out, but we’ll see how that actually plays out.
So glad you liked them. And well done for having the willpower to freeze them. I did the same, but they came back out of the freezer pretty quickly haha
Im gonna give these a bash at the weekend!! I have made brownies with pureed prunes with were really rich and chewy!!
I make these brownies that use dates too: http://www.hungryhealthyhappy.com/2011/08/02/brownie-bites/