Black Bean Brownies (Guest Post by Ellaphant Eats)

Hi Pretty Polymath readers! My name is Ella and I blog over at Ellaphant Eats. I was extremely excited when Hetal reached out to me about doing a guest post on a “healthified” sweet treat. I have a killer sweet tooth so I am always looking for ways to decrease sugar content, up fiber content, and swap out butter and refined oil.I took to the challenge to create a healthier brownie and pretty much knocked it out of the park with this one.
Are you still with me after seeing the ingredients?Ok, good.
For those of you who ran for cover after seeing beans in a dessert… I’m sorry?

The magic thing about black beans is that they really don’t have a strong flavor and are undetectable when paired with chocolate. I had my boyfriend taste these brownies without telling him what was in them and he gave me two enthusiastic thumbs up. Then of course he looked at me like I had 5 heads when I told him the secret ingredient. You can reveal your secret but feel free to keep it all to yourself. Your friend/co-worker/loved one will be none the wiser. 🙂

The best part about these brownies is that they are completely gluten free and contain no refined oil or butter. You can even use an unrefined sweetener such as honey or maple syrup, but I stuck to organic granulated sugar here. “But I’m eating black beans!” I reasoned with myself. Typical Ella logic.

These would be the perfect guilt-free treat to bake up for Valentine’s Day. Just sayin’.Enjoy!Black Bean Brownies
Makes 1 8×8 pan

Ingredients:
1 15oz can Black Beans, drained and rinsed
1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
3 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup sweetener of your choice (I used organic granulated sugar)
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips for sprinkling (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine all ingredients except for chocolate chips in a food processor and process until smooth. This may take a few minutes but you want the “dough” to be as smooth as possible.
3. Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Spray an 8×8 pan with cooking spray (I used a glass one).
5. Pour the brownie batter into the 8×8 pan and spread out evenly with a rubber spatula. Carefully sprinkle the mini chocolate chips on top (if using).
6. Place in the oven and bake for 20-23 minutes. The toothpick trick won’t really work with these as you want them to be kind of gooey. They will set more as they cool!