Black Bean Brownies

Even the most exhausted brain should be able to remember this recipe, and you can make it without any equipment. A perfect addition to the #OnlySnacksIveMadeMyself series!

Eavesdropping never paid off this well

Waiting in line at my local dry food store (I looove using this place, they have an insane amount of dry products like nuts, beans, grains, you name it, and I bring in my empty jars and pay for the weight!), I heard a customer talk to the shop assistant. The customer was wearing an apron from a local cafe, of which I believe she was the owner. All I heard, or certainly, all I took note of, before my wheels started seriously spinning, was “well, I use black beans for my brownies, so I will get a good amount of that.” Waaaaiiiitttt!!! Black… bean… BROWNIES?!

Now listen, I am a seriously experienced recipe googler, and I’ve seen lots of uses for beans for brownies and blondies like this. (Do remind me to try and test a chickpea blondie recipe by the way, that’s my next project!) But I guess there was something about hearing that someone in real life, running a successful cafe, actually using beans for their brownies as a go-to recipe that felt different than just a “just because you can”-type recipe. As we have discussed before, a cafe or restaurant needs to make your food instantly delicious, otherwise running a business is very hard. At home, you can focus more on health and nutrition. But some places set themselves a higher standard and try to do both delicious and nutritious food. So I thought, maybe I can do that too! I am always on the lookout for the perfect brownie recipe, and friends, I must say I think this might be the one. The black beans offer nothing other than the perfect gooeyness, no weird taste at all.

I scoured the internet for black bean brownie recipes, of which there were many - and my favourite which I used as a jumping-off point was a recipe from a brilliant website called Joy Food Sunshine by Laura, so thank you Laura! (By the way, please tell me your secret to looking as put-together as you do with 6 children when I look like a scarecrow most days with just the one!) I’ve made some adjustments that fit my kitchen and what I had available, plus a little added ingredient of ground coffee - a note on that; it’s obviously not mandatory, if you don’t love the taste of coffee, but for me that really was the cherry on top and combines so well with the oil/butter and cocoa, I highly recommend it. You can just add some dry ground coffee, or for ease, just scoop some out of the used filter from your last pot of coffee!

And since I was in a dry food shop when getting the idea for this, I should say that you can of course use dry black beans too, even though I’ve put canned beans in this recipe for ease. You just need to soak them for long enough (ideally overnight) to ensure softness, or you’ll be blending for a looong time.

Black Bean Brownies

Makes one small pan/dish

• One can of black beans in water, drained and rinsed

• 80g honey or maple/agave syrup

• 80g melted coconut oil or unsalted butter (plus a tbsp more for the dish)

• A pinch of ground cardamom

• 40g sugar

• 30g cocoa powder

• 1 tsp ground coffee

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• A pinch of sea salt or pink Himalayan salt

• 2 eggs

• 130 g chocolate chips, nuts or chopped dried fruit or berries

Recommended: a food processor or strong blender. If you are looking for a new food processor or blender, you can have a look at Magimix’s range (affiliate link which helps the channel at no added cost for you, you can also use the code SCRATCH24 for 10% off!).

Also needed: a small pan/oven proof dish, ideally 8x8 inches or thereabouts.

Preheat your oven to 175ºC (350ºF).

In your food processor/blender, run the beans, oil/butter, sugar and honey/syrup until really well blended.

Add the cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and cardamom. Blend well.

Add the eggs and blend until just combined. Add in the chocolate chips/nuts/dried fruits and mix in gently with a spoon.

Grease your pan/dish and pour the mix in. Top with your chips/other addition.

Bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes, remember all ovens are different. You don’t want brownies too well done, so let it be a bit wet still when you take it out. Let it cool a bit as it will solidify after cooling down. I love topping them with a bit of icing sugar for decoration. You will absolutely love these! Enjoy!

Do let me know if you tried these and share a photo on social media - don’t forget to tag me!