Flourless Brownies

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I may not make “normal” brownies ever again. Who knew you could make brownies without flour? When I first learned what replaces the flour I admit it took a minute for it to compute. Huh? Black beans instead of flour? I was intrigued.

Yes, you read that right. There are black beans in the brownies. Stay with me on this.

If I’m going to make a crazy healthy substitute  I better end up with something that tastes good. It’s not enough to know that substituting black beans results in a naturally low-fat brownie. No, I need to know they will taste just as sinful as their full-fat cousins. The good news? These brownies are moist and chocolaty with the right kind of brownie texture. And, no, they don’t taste like black beans. You will not find anything that looks or tastes like beans in these brownies – they sort of disappear. Now that I’ve made these I have to say it works and it is possible to make a low-fat brownie that actually tastes good. Not only do they win in the taste department, but they’re also very easy to make and take no time at all. Once note of caution: they do fall apart easily and are tricky to get out of the pan in one piece, but this is only a minor problem. I normally eat brownies straight from the pan (no plate, no fork, no problem!) so I didn’t find it much of an issue.

Flourless Brownies

Adapted from skinnytaste.com

 14 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 eggs

1/2 cup dutch process cocoa powder**

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon 2% milk

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon strong brewed coffee***

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup mini milk chocolate chips****

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×9 baking dish with cooking spray.

In a food processor or blender, puree the black beans and eggs until smooth. Combine the beans and eggs (I know, it sounds totally weird, but trust me on this!) with the cocoa, sugar, oil, milk, balsamic vinegar, baking powder, baking soda and coffee in a large bowl. Stir until smooth. Fold in the semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the mini milk chocolate chips over the top. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow the brownies to cool completely before slicing.

Notes: 
*If you check the original recipe you will see 16 servings listed, which I changed. The original serving size just felt a little small. If I’m going to have a brownie I want a decent sized one, so I cut my brownies into 8 servings.

**The original recipe calls for cocoa powder. I used dutch processed cocoa powder, which is what I had on hand. Before doing so I did a little research on the differences and felt it was an okay substitution to make. 

***I used brewed coffee because we have a fandangled coffee machine that does all the grinding inside the machine. I brewed it extra strong and increased the amount. You can omit this ingredient, but coffee does have a magical effect on chocolate by deepening the flavor.

****I thought I’d mix things up with two kinds of chocolate chips. Not totally necessary, but I like how the bittersweet chips melted into the batter and thought the mini milk chocolate chips looked cute sprinkled over the top of the brownies. Cute desserts are always better.