Black Bean Brownies; Your New Guilt Free Snack

James McLoughlin
Aug 24, 2017 · 2 min read

I’m late to jump on the black bean brownie bandwagon. Recipes have been popping up on my Instagram / Youtube / Pinterest feeds for months but I finally decided to get involved.

Why Black Bean Brownies

Well, obviously, they’re delicious. They taste just like the usual. Only you swap out the guilt for nutritious plant based proteins.

Black beans, which we go heavy on, are not only full of protein, but also fibre. So they keep you full and they keep you regular. Black beans are also full of iron, magnesium, phosphorous, folate and potassium. They’re seriously good for you.

As are rolled oats and walnuts. Both full of fibre and protein, only walnuts are great for brain health as well as they contain anti-inflammatory omega-3s.

So you can see that this recipe isn’t like the processed crap you find in those pre-mix brownie boxes at the supermarket. Nor is this recipe like the ones at your local bakery or cafe which mysteriously sit in the display case for a week at a time.

No sugar. Lot’s of protein, fibre and micronutrients. The perfect mid afternoon snack or after dinner treat.

Black Bean Brownies

  • Makes a double batch (20 brownies)
  • Takes 10 minutes prep
  • 20 minutes to bake

Ingredients

  • Black beans — 3 cans
  • Oats — 1 1/2 cups
  • Walnuts — 1 cup
  • Maple syrup — 3/4 cup
  • Cacao powder — 5 tablespoons
  • Vanilla paste — 2 teaspoons
  • Sea salt — 1/2 teaspoon
  • Coconut oil — 1/2 cup
  • Cacao nibs or choc chips — 1 cup
  • Baking powder — 1/2 teaspoon
  • Baking soda — 1/2 teaspoon
  • Water — 3/4 cup

Method

  1. Preheat your oven to 176C / 350F and a tray with baking paper
  2. Add all the ingredients, except the walnuts and choc chips, to a food processor and process for one minute
  3. If the mixture is too dry and not a moving around enough, add a splash more water
  4. Once everything has mixed well, add in your walnuts and choc chips — only process these for 10 seconds as we want them to still have chunks
  5. Scoop the mixture into your baking tray and spread evenly
  6. Put in the oven for 20 minutes, until you can poke your knife in the centre and pull it out clean
  7. Take out of the tray and let it cool for five minutes
  8. Optionally garnish with sifted cacao powder (like the photo) or just stuff your face

image credit: Annabelle Breakey

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James McLoughlin

Written by

James is a Green Press Co-Founder. He developed most of our organic juice recipes from his shoebox Soho apartment, now at 525 Little Collins St, Melbourne.

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