Black Bean Brownies – the ultra fudgy and decadent chocolate treat.
Edit: Thank you to everyone who has been asking…
After more than a year in the works, my NEW cookbook is finally available!
Based on your feedback, every single recipe in the book comes with complete nutrition facts including calories, total fat, carbohydrates, protein, and Weight Watchers points.
Above – Watch how to make black bean brownies.
I know what you’re thinking.
“Why would I want to eat a healthy brownie when I could be eating a deep, dark, rich, fudgy, and chocolatey brownie instead?”
But what if the deep, dark, rich, chocolate brownie is the healthy brownie?
No, not in a dream world. These black bean brownies are healthy brownies that DO NOT taste healthy, and I can say that with assurance, as they’ve been tested on three different groups of people used to “normal” desserts.
For the ultimate test, my roommate brought two pans of the vegan black bean brownies into work and set them down on the table without revealing the secret or saying they were healthy.
She came home with no brownies left… but with five requests for the healthy black bean brownie recipe!
You May Also Like: Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Easy Black Bean Brownies
I know some of you have been disappointed by mediocre bean-based brownies you’ve tried in the past, which is why it’s taken me so long to come up with my own recipe:
I’ve tried some awful black bean brownie recipes in the past, too.
For example?
Don’t think you’ll get brownies by adding cocoa powder to my Chickpea Cookie Dough Dip and baking it.
Trust me. You’ll get cardboard.
I wanted a recipe that would not let people down; a recipe that could stand up to a regular sugar-and-flour brownie in a competition.
And these really do!
Also, huge thanks to everyone who’s been sharing these on Instagram!
If you try the brownies, be sure to rate the recipe here, or tag @ChocolateCoveredKatie on Instagram so I can see and like your pictures!
Black Bean Brownies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups black beans (1 15-oz can, drained and rinsed very well) (250g after draining)
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder (10g)
- 1/2 cup quick oats (40g) (See nutrition link below for substitutions)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup pure maple syrup, honey, or agave (75g)
- pinch uncut stevia OR 2 tbsp sugar (or omit and increase maple syrup to 1/2 cup)
- 1/4 cup coconut or vegetable oil (40g) (See nutrition link for substitution notes)
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup chocolate chips (Not optional. Omit at your own risk)
- optional: more chips, for presentation
Instructions
- Black Bean Brownies Recipe: Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine all ingredients except chips in a good food processor, and blend until completely smooth. Really blend well. (A blender can work if you absolutely must, but the texture—and even the taste—will be much better in a food processor. I use this food processor.) Stir in the chips, then pour into a greased 8×8 pan. Optional: sprinkle extra chocolate chips over the top. Cook the black bean brownies 15-18 minutes, then let cool at least 10 minutes before trying to cut. If they still look a bit undercooked, you can place them in the fridge overnight and they will magically firm up! Makes 9-12 brownies. If you make this recipe, don't forget to leave a review! The trick with these: serve them first, and then reveal the secret ingredient. In all the times I’ve served bean desserts, not one single person who didn’t know beforehand has ever guessed!View Black Bean Brownies Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
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(No crazy ingredients!)
How long do these black bean brownies stay good in the fridge? I cooked the beans 7 days ago and make the brownies 3 days ago.
The brownies are fine for at least 3-4 days. But I’m not sure that leaving the beans cooked for over a week and then still keeping the brownies another four days would still be good.
This comment will be low down, but I’m hoping you’d consider updating the nutrition information page. My son is diabetic so I made them for him and his sugar spiked. I did the same as others did and put the recipe into my fitness plan and it quadrupled the numbers (carbs closer to 60 g for 9 servings, 30 for 18 servings). I used half cup syrup version, but still shouldn’t have quadrupled the 15 g count listed on the nutritional information tab. Recipe is awesome- just misleading when counting carbs is medically critical.
Hi! I hope everything is okay with him 🙁
Nutrition calculators online are notorious for giving wrong information for beans though – it will give you numbers for raw beans even if you specify cooked beans. I don’t know if that’s all nutrition calculators, but it’s definitely true with Calorie Count’s. The numbers in the post are the same I think as the ones in Katie’s cookbook for the recipe, and those were done by an outside company, so I think they are correct! It does depend on the specific ingredients you use though. Anyway I am sending good thoughts to your son, because that sounds so scary and I am so sorry! -Jason
Has anyone tried to sub applesauce for the oil in this recipe?
These brownies are amazing! I’ve made them using regular oats and another time with quinoa flakes…both versions were incredible! Thank you Katie!
I just made these but subbed the maple syrup for honey, opted to use organic sugar, and also used cacao instead of cocoa and THEY WERE AMAZING. Way to go on this recipe bc these are the best ones I’ve made to date. Even my boyfriend couldn’t tell !
I’m one of those people who sporadically gets on a “health kick” for a week or two, and quickly falls off the wagon. I was in one of those kicks a few months ago and remember running across this recipe. While not on a “kick” right now, the reviews and recipe really stuck with me, so I thought I’d try it.
EXCELLENT. The texture is fudge-y, the taste is definitely chocolate-y and wholesome. I think the maple syrup and coconut oil gives the brownies an even richer flavor than the standard brownie. My four-year old ate these like nobody’s business. For fun, I did the workplace test, too. Jaws dropped when the secret was revealed.
My family (husband & 2 boys ages 11 & 8) were super sceptical about these brownies but we all absolutely love them. I made them in a muffin tin to make 4-bite brownies and added 1 cup of chopped walnuts and instead of 2 teaspoons of sugar, I added 1 teaspoon of brown sugar. I ran out of coconut oil and used extra virgin olive oil instead and it worked out perfectly. Though I prefered the mild coconutty flavour when I madr them last time. A magical recipe. Thank you, Katie!
I love that you used olive oil. Now I want to try that!
These are delicious!! Thanks so much for this recipe. Are these considered gluten free?
They are! If someone is especially sensitive to gluten (i.e. has Celiac disease as opposed to just a gluten intolerance), you can use certified GF oats (such as Bob’s Red Mill https://amzn.to/2Bh4knX), but many people who are gluten free are fine with regular oats as well. Oats are gluten free; the certified gf ones just mean that they ensure they don’t come into contact with anything containing gluten in the factory when they’re made.
So good. Husband and I ate the whole pan.. oops!!! Making them a second time to bring to the Super Bowl party. Excited to see what everyone thinks!!
Just FYI for my WW friends out there… I made these with 1/2c maple syrup, no additional stevia/sugar, and 1/2c Enjoy Life chocolate chips, and it came out to 9SP. They are amazing, though.
Took a shot in the dark and swapped out 1/4 cup of oil for 1/4 cup of Greek yogurt to make these brownies even more healthy than they already are, as I’ve done before in recipes. While I can’t compare the outcome to how it comes out when made with oil because I’ve only made them this once, even without the oil they cooked PERCECTLY and were fudgy and chocolatey and absolutely to-die-for!! Will come back to this recipe again and again. 🙂
Hi! If using dry black beans, how many cups should I soak?
Hello. I had a load I had bought reduced so cooked the lot. Then just took what I needed and froze the rest. I know that’s not the answer to your question but if you have too many at least you know they won’t go to waste.
These look delicious! Do you think I could add raspberries to this recipe? I have seen other recipes where you fold in raspberries at the same time as the chocolate chips. I’m thinking that would be a nice touch for Valentine’s day 🙂
Sounds delicious to me! If you make them, definitely be sure to report back for the rest of us!
Jason
Has anyone made this with raspberries? If so what adjustments, if any, have people made to the recipe? I am a novice baker so still learning. Thanks. : )
Just stick some raspberries on top right before baking, should work! Be sure to report back if you try!
The taste of these black bean brownies was amazing! They seemed moist but were hard to swallow. Needed a drink to get them down. I’m not sure what I did wrong. Maybe make them thicker or add more chocolate? I will definitely try again. I thought they were delicious regardless! No one would guess in a million years that the main ingredient is beans!
I made these once before and I loved them! Today I felt like trying these again but with a little twist. I swaped out the agave and added soaked dates instead. I added just a splash of oat milk because the dates aren’t as liquide as the agave. I really like the taste of dark chocolate so I addded two more tbsp of cocoa, but that’s just how I prefer them I guess.