Sometimes chocolate is the perfect cure. These flourless chocolate bites are loaded with good protein, good fat, good fiber and great taste! Don’t let the black beans scare you away, they are the secret ingredient that will get you that blue ribbon at your next brownie bake-off! I am a brownie fanatic and I wanted to work with a recipe that made me feel less guilty about indulging in these delicious chocolatey bites. After my own gluttonous brownie bake-off that included some very indulgent ingredients, I settled on this simple recipe in the end. It turns out that you don’t need a ton of ingredients for good brownies. Try these, you might never go back to your old recipe and you can feel good about putting them in your child’s lunch box time and again!!!
INGREDIENTS
1 ¾ cup/ organic black beans, well rinsed and drained (or 1 15oz can)
2/ flax eggs*
3 tblsp/ coconut oil, melted
¾ cup/ high quality cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting each brownie
¼ tsp/ sea salt, plus extra for dusting each brownie, I use Celtic sea salt.
1 tsp/ pure vanilla extract
½ cup/ cane sugar
1 ½ tsp/ baking powder
Optional toppings: crush walnuts, pecans or semisweet chocolate chips. I always go with chocolate chips for the win!
PREPARATION:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 12-slot standard size muffin pan.
Prepare *flax eggs by combining 2 tablespoons of flax meal with 6 tablespoons of water in the bowl of the food processor. Pulse a couple times and then let rest for a few minutes. Add remaining ingredients (excluding optional toppings) and puree until smooth. If the batter appears too thick, add a tablespoon or two of water and pulse again. It should be slightly less thick than chocolate frosting but nowhere close to runny. Evenly distribute the batter into the muffin tins.
Optional but recommended: Sprinkle with crushed walnuts, pecans or chocolate chips.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the tops are dry and the edges start to pull away from the sides. I found mine took about 27 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 30 minutes before removing from pan. They will be tender, so remove from the tins. The insides are meant to be very fudgy, so don't be concerned if they seem too moist - that's the point. Dust with Celtic sea salt and cocoa powder.
SHOPPING LIST:
organic black beans, ground flax meal, coconut oil, cocoa powder, sea salt, pure vanilla extract, cane sugar, baking powder.