babble » food » Family Kitchen
Family Kitchen
Gluten-free Black Bean Brownies
Finally! A black bean brownie that doesn’t suck.
I’d choose a dense, fudgy chocolate brownie over a piece of cake any day. I’d like them to be more than an occasional treat, though – something I can nibble on on a regular basis – and so I’m often tempted by the promise of healthier brownies made with black beans. Although the concept of beans in brownies has been around for awhile, it took the right recipe to convince me that it’s a good idea.
Let me warn you: these are not quite on par with real, dense, fudgy, bakery-style brownies – the kind with the chewy middle and crackling top that my grandma used to make. But for what they are – a big can of black beans providing enough starchiness to give them structure, eliminating the need for flour, sweetened with only 1/2 cup of sugar (about half that of most brownie recipes) and chocolate flavor delivered with cocoa – they are pretty damn tasty. And the boys see them only as brownies, smooth and chocolatey with chips strewn in – so why not? They just arrived home from gymnastics and begged for another. Well, OK.
Black Bean Brownies
adapted from the Whole Foods Market
1 19 oz (540 mL) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup cocoa
2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)Preheat oven to 350°F.
Place the black beans, sugar, eggs, melted butter, cocoa, vanilla and salt in the bowl of a food processor and blend until smooth, pulsing and scraping down the sides of the bowl to ensure all the beans are completely pureed. Remove the blade and gently stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Pour into an 8″x8″ pan that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until slightly puffed and set. Cool before cutting into squares.
Go Back To Family Kitchen
8 Comments
[...] originally found this recipe on this site. The recipe is perfect, but I decided to change a few things around, of course. I’ve [...]
One boring day down, two boring days to go. « commented on May 21 11 at 5:15 pm[...] Substituting a can of back beans (drained and rinsed) for flour in brownies is a great way to cut gluten while getting in an extra dose of protein— and they taste great. [...]
80 Healthy Recipe Substitutions | Greatist commented on Jul 05 11 at 10:43 am[...] modifying it a little, especially since I have gone gluten free. The original recipe is from http://blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/2011/01/21/gluten-freeblack-bean-brownies/ but changed things around a bit. I have made the brownies three times now and tried something [...]
Black Bean Brownies « Mommy and Me Gluten Free commented on Jul 06 11 at 11:51 amTabitha commented on Feb 08 11 at 4:22 pmThese brownies rock. It was almost like a fluffy piece of fudge. We had one piece leftover and that’s because we made the kids stop eating them. They wanted every last bite and I didn’t tell them it was grain free.
Karen commented on Feb 17 11 at 8:12 pmdoes anyone know how many calories these brownies have? They look wonderful and i’m on a slow carb diet with no whites so i’d like to make these but would really like to know calories.
Jennifer commented on Feb 27 11 at 9:40 pmSo I just made these delightful treats and I was wondering if anyone else’s came out really flakey like. (broke apart extremely easily)
How do you make the brownies stay together better? Maybe more beans?
Thanks for the AWESOME recipe….no longer will I make a box kind!
Jennifer
Anita commented on Mar 19 11 at 9:38 pmThese brownies were really great. I accidentally omitted the butter and they were still loved by all. Thank you!!
Erica Clements commented on Apr 02 11 at 10:34 pmTotally yummy!! We’re not necessarily on a gluten free diet. I was just looking for a brownie with more nutritional punch, so I added a half cup of flour to bulk them up a little, but I’m sure they’re just as delicious without it.
Add your take:
Note: Babble is a supportive, diverse community. We encourage a range of opinions,
but any unduly hostile comments will be removed.
Comments are delayed up to 15 minutes
Kelsey Banfield 
Aggie Goodman 
Brooke McLay 
Angie McGowan 
Paula Jones 
Laura Levy 
Shaina Olmanson 
Kathy Patalsky 
Elizabeth Stark & Brian Campbell 
Julie Van Rosendaal 
Macki West 
Sara O'Donnell 
The Walt Disney Company supports Babble as a platform dedicated to honest, engaged, informed, intelligent and open conversation about parenting. However, the opinions expressed on this site are those of individual parents/writers and do not reflect the views of Disney. In addition, content provided on this site is for entertainment or informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or safety advice.
8