With no flour or eggs required, these fudgy chocolate black bean brownie bites are a delicious homemade vegan snack or dessert you won’t want to share!
Chocolate black bean brownie bites
Want to quickly become the most popular person at your next party?
Just whip up a batch of these rich and decadent gooey chocolate brownie bites, and watch how fast the entire tray disappears!
The healthy brownie bites absolutely hold their own against any traditional flour-and-sugar brownies. Your guests will never guess the secret ingredient.
You may also like Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Brownie bites that do not taste healthy
There are definitely some healthy dessert recipes on my blog that do taste healthy.
For example, no one would confuse my Banana Ice Cream recipe with Ben & Jerry’s Half Baked ice cream or proclaim Chia Pudding to be the most decadent dessert they’ve ever tasted in their life.
However, these black bean brownie bites taste 100% just as rich, fudgy, moist, chocolatey, and indulgent as traditional homemade brownies.
They can easily stand up against those famous Little Bites Fudge Brownies from Entenmann’s, or store bought brownie bites from Costco, Sam’s Club, or Target.
If anything, this healthier version is even more rich, moist, chocolatey, and decadent. While traditional brownie bites with flour can often be dry and crumbly, the black beans in this healthy recipe keep them ultra moist and soft, with NO crumbling.
The recipe was inspired by my black bean brownies and Healthy Brownies, two other bean desserts that are huge crowd pleasers, even with people who have no interest whatsoever in vegan or healthy eating.
So don’t be afraid to try these out at your next event. You might be surprised at the overwhelmingly positive reception they receive!
Watch the healthy brownie bites recipe video – above
Black bean brownie bite flavors
This healthy dessert is incredibly versatile. Feel free to include anything you normally add to homemade or boxed brownies.
Stir in a handful of shredded coconut or chopped walnuts or pecans. Or add a pinch of ground cinnamon or a few drops of pure peppermint extract.
They are also really good with a half teaspoon of instant coffee sprinkled into the batter before baking. (I use this brand of instant coffee.)
I love using peanut butter in the recipe and stirring in some chopped peanuts or pressing a vegan peanut butter cup into the top of each bite, turning them into chocolate peanut butter brownie bites.
Finally, if you’re feeling really lazy, you can always just eat the eggless batter with a spoon and call it a day. Not that I’ve ever done this or anything…
Healthy brownie bite ingredients
Here’s what you need: cocoa powder, rolled oats or almond flour, black beans, liquid sweetener of choice, a little salt, oil or almond butter, pure vanilla extract, baking powder, and mini chocolate chips.
I know some people will be skeptical of the idea of beans in desserts. But did you know Entenmann’s brownie bites contain beans too??
It’s true; they have soybean oil an locust bean gum. Not to mention their other ingredients that include sugar, eggs, bleached wheat flour, corn syrup, whey protein concentrate, propylene glycol esters of fatty acids, mono and diglycerides, sodium stearoyl lactylate, cellulose gum, and artificial flavor.
In contrast, the fudgy homemade brownie bites have just nine ingredients, with no artificial flavors, gums, corn syrup, or flour.
They can be gluten free, egg free, dairy free, vegan, and refined sugar free.
Most importantly, they taste so intensely fudgy and delicious that no one even notices those other ingredients are missing!
Substitution options
Many people have asked me over the years if they can substitute lentils or another type of bean for the black beans.
While I have not personally tried, many readers have written in to say they successfully substituted white beans, kidney beans, lentils, or adzuki beans.
I do not recommend steel cut oats here. But you can use a third cup of white, spelt, or oat flour instead of the oats if you prefer.
How to make the healthy dessert
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and grease a mini muffin pan.
If you don’t have a mini muffin pan, you can bake the recipe in either a regular sized muffin pan. Or use an eight inch pan and cut into mini or large squares.
Process all ingredients except the chocolate chips in a high quality food processor until thick and completely smooth.
Stir in the chocolate chips. Portion the batter into the prepared muffin tin, and press a few extra chocolate chips on top if desired.
Bake on the oven’s center rack for ten minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, and let it cool for at least another ten minutes before going around the sides of each brownie bite with a knife and popping them out onto a plate.
Store these healthy brownie bites the same way you would store classic brownies. Once cool, place them in a covered container with a tiny opening for excess moisture to escape. They can stay out on the counter for a day.
After a day, I recommend placing in an airtight covered container and refrigerating for freshness. The brownies should last around four to five days.
You can also freeze leftover brownie bites in an airtight container for up to three or four months. Thaw before serving.
If you prefer blondies instead, try these Chickpea Blondies
Chocolate Black Bean Brownie Bites
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp regular cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp Dutch cocoa powder or additional regular
- 1/3 cup rolled oats or 1/2 cup almond flour (for keto, try these Keto Brownies)
- 1 can black beans or 1 1/2 cup cooked
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup, honey, or agave
- 1/4 cup oil or almond or peanut butter
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips, or more for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a mini muffin pan. (A regular muffin pan also works, or you can smooth the batter into an 8×8 pan.) Process all ingredients except chips in a high quality food processor until smooth. Stir in chips. (Omit chips at own risk – I only vouch for the final taste if they’re included!) Portion into the pan, press a few more chips into the tops if desired, and bake on the center rack 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, and let cool at least 10 additional minutes before going around the sides with a knife and popping out.View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
More Healthy Chocolate Snacks
katie – did you use the oil or the nut butter in your recipe?
Any time options are listed in a recipe, it means we’ve tested them to ensure they work. In this case, either will work. It just depends on what flavor you are after. For peanut butter brownie bites, use peanut butter. If a more neutral flavor is desired, use something more neutral such as almond butter or oil 🙂
Jason (media relations)
Hi Jasson,
I only have dutch processed cocoa at home. I noticed that this recipe calls for both dutch process cocoa powder as well as non-Dutch process. I looked at Amazon and saw several cocoa powders. Can you recommend a non-Dutch process cocoa powder to use in this recipe?
Thank you.
Lisa
Sure thing! Pretty much any unsweetened regular cocoa powder works, as does cacao powder. Katie likes to use Fair Trade, and this is a brand she often buys: https://amzn.to/2YcnMvH
Thank you, Jason. I will tray that.
Lisa
I would love to try this recipe but I do not use honey, maple syrup or agave. How would I have to revise the recipe in order to use stevia?
Thanks
Unfortunately we have never tried so really can’t say. Perhaps something like this would work? https://amzn.to/2J5lCrf
Be sure to report back if you experiment!
Pyure is awesome! I bake with it often as a sub for maple syrup and honey.
Are you supposed to rinse the beans first? I made a black bean brownie recipe once that said not to rinse them and it was pretty gross, so I’m hesitant to try again. These look good though, so maybe I’ll be brave!
Definitely rinse them first! Rinsing really well will get rid of extra sodium, and make the final product taste better. Not rinsing can leave it tasting pretty beany, as you discovered.
Thanks!
Goodness, I got kicked out of ketosis just reading this post and looking at the pictures! Lol, these look amazing! I love your other bean brownies, so I know these will be delicious.
Will these work with all dutch-processed cocoa, or do you need to mix with regular cocoa?
We haven’t tried so can’t know for sure, but it sounds like a great experiment. Be sure to report back for other readers (and us too!) if you experiment.
Jason (media relations)
I made these last night, and used 3 Tablespoons of regular (unsweetened) cocoa powder. Turned out great. I also used white beans instead of black, coconut oil, almond flour, and honey.
So awesome to know they work with white beans!!
Love this recipe. They look great and I am excited to make them.
Must it be processed in food processor or might I use a high speed blender?
A food processor will yield best results. The blender might leave little beany bits in it. I’ve done other bean recipes in my blender and they were fine for my family to eat, but I wouldn’t take them to a party and try to pass off as a ‘normal’ dessert.
You can try it using the almond or peanut butter rather than the oil. I think that’s your best bet. Otherwise the “bulk” of the recipe will be off. Sweeten to taste. Or, on the alternative, you could use a sugar-like sweetener with stevia (one that has bulk to it). It you try it, let us know how it turns out.
Yum! I used half coconut oil and half almond butter along with the almond flour version. I also only used 1/4 cup maple syrup and the chocolate chips on top were more than enough sweetness for me. I did add a splash of soymilk to compensate for the reduced syrup, but the baking time remained the same. Thanks again for another reliable recipe that I am able to eat without overdoing the sugar!
The brownies cane out way too moist; way beyond fudgy brownie. Only the edges were the correct consistency and I followed the recipe exactly using agave and almond flour. I did rinse and drain the beans, but perhaps letting them sit in a colander or patting dry would help. Otherwise I wouldn’t make them again. Good concept but needs work as written.
Hi Debra, I’m guessing you made these into brownies in an 8×8 pan instead of the bites? If so, just refrigerate overnight and they magically firm up overnight while still retaining their fudginess! 🙂
Jason
Hello! I just made these and they are super fudgey, almost like they didn’t cook all the way. The only thing that I did differently was use regular choc chips bc I didn’t have minis. I’m going to try putting them in the fridge overnight to see if they will firm up. I love all of CKK’s dessert recipes bc they are quick and easy and usually are made with ingredients that I already have in the house. They are perfect for making a quick dessert with the kids – my kids love to bake – and is a huge plus that many are secretly healthy!
Could just be a difference in oven temps, is yours calibrated? Did they firm up overnight? They should, so hopefully yours did!
Jason
Katie says you can make these in an 8 x 8 pan or in a normal-sized muffin pan. Jason is saying they’ll be wet if made in an 8 x 8 pan. How should we change the cook time and/or temp to get the right not-wet texture with a standard-sized muffin pan or 8 x 8 brownie pan?
I see the advice to put them in the fridge. Makes sense: coconut oil stops being liquid when cold. That’s how fudge works. If you heat up butter-based fudge, you get a puddle. Put it in the fridge – fudge!
But fudge and brownies are different desserts, and something that’s wet out of the oven is different than something that isn’t (duh 😉 ). So! To get the result Katie describes, how long and at what temp would we cook the standard-sized muffins? How about the 8×8 pan?
(Also: are the pics of the oat version, or the almond-flour version?)
Thank you!