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!)
It looks like I’m only the second guy who’s written on your blog. Your black bean brownies are awesome!!!! Not really like brownies so much as like fudge….delicious. I served them with lemon sorbet and they were a major hit. I don’t know where the idea for black beans as a basis for dessert came from, but its’ brilliant. Thank you for a vegan, gluten-free dessert that I can serve to all my dairy-eating, wheat-eating friends and know they’ll love them! I’ll try all your desserts after this!
Made these tonight as my last baking hurrah for the holidays. They are incredible. My husband and I loved them. I did add 1 tsp of instant coffee and used olive oil instead of vegetable oil. This is the best tasting healthy dessert I’ve made this year. Thank you for sharing this. I am going to share it as well.
I have a pan of these in the oven. The flavor before baking was right on! I made an addition, after I drained and rinsed the bean, I filled the can back up with coffee. I also did not have black beans in the house so I used navy beans. I do not have a food processor so I used a magic bullet and a standing mixer. The batter was super runny, so I am doubling the cooking time. As long as my 4 year old likes them I will repeat almost daily. After trying everything to get him to try new foods and eat meat, I have accepted that he is vegetarian and happy, my job now is to learn how to put good things into foods I know he loves. Thank you CCK of teaching me how!
Holy brownie heaven!!! Thank you so much for this amazing recipe! I just made them with my almost 3 year old daughter and my whole family was freaking out about how good they are and how you can’t detect the beans at ALL! This is the best ‘substitute’ recipe I have ever tried. Thank you again!!!
Wow! I have been making these brownie almost every week for months! They are delicious! I do not have a food processor, so I ran the black beans through my Omega 8006 juicer and used the blender to make “oatmeal flour”. Being the planner that I am, I cook 6 cups of black beans at a time, puree and freeze them in 1-1/2 Cup portions. I also portion out the dry ingredients and batch-baggie them. Then when I get a “hankering” I thaw a portion of black beans, pull out a baggie of the dry ingredients, add the coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla and chips….and voila! browies in no time! 🙂
I have made few adjustments to this awesome recipe to suit my taste: I add 2 servings of freeze-dried coffee (Nescafe/Taster’s Choice) to the batter. After pouring batter in the pan, I sprinkle course sea salt and coarsely chopped walnuts on the top. (I tried adding the walnuts to the batter but they got soggy and soft—-this way they stay crunchy) Hope you enjoy these as much as I do! Thank you Katie for the amazing and healthy recipe—–you, my friend, are truly gifted! 🙂
Have you ever tried dates instead of maple sugar/honey? or applesauce instead of oil?
thanks for the recipe, I’m dying to try them!
Mel
Hello,
Do the left over brownies need refrigeration to keep? How long will they keep. I am not familiar with bean based baking Thank you
Yes, and a few days in the fridge.
I am a firm believer that black beans go with Mexican food, not desserts. However, in the spirit of breaking in my new food processor I thought I’d start with something small and new. I used agave nectar and regular oats (not instant.) The batter tasted a little funny, not bad, just slightly different than brownies from a box. When I cooked them they smelled slightly different too, so my hopes were not high. I pulled these “brownies” out of the oven 20 min ago and just took my first bite. I cannot believe how good they are. They shouldn’t be called a substitute for brownies because they are delicious in their own right. They just taste like they were made with an earthier flour. My only concern is that brownies will start making a more frequent appearance in my home now. Thank you, Katie!
And the batter wasn’t gritty from the regular oats.
Tonight I had my first experience with black bean brownies and… WOW. I am SO happy that I decided to make your recipe instead of another one I was considering. These were amazing, and fudgy, and delicious! The only change I made was using unsweetened applesauce instead of oil, and it worked great. Oh, and I used dark M&M’s in place of chocolate chips, but same thing, right? 🙂
Just made these for the first time…amaaaazing! I subbed 1 scoop of chocolate protein powder for the oat, used 1/2 maple syrup and 1/2 honey(cuz I didn’t have enough maple) and added 1.5 tsp instant coffee. These really are wonderful-gooey, fudgey, and they really hit the spot for my chocolate craving.
Thank you Katie, I can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
Pretty good. Though if you eat it or cut it before it’s completely cooled the consistency will be rather mushy. I’d like to try pre-chopping the choc chips and then mixing it to the pureed mixture to minimize the feeling that I’m eating glorified chocolate chips. Oh, and these are pretty sweet (as brownies often are), so it’s probably ok to scale back on the maple syrup.
These are delicious! I’ve made them numerous times and everyone always loves them. This recipe is the best I’ve found that has the best consistency. They are just moist enough but not to much, and they don’t crumble. I’m making them again tonight because of my major chocolate craving!
I just made these without oil even, substituting the oil for 1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce, following the rest of the recipe as listed. These are amazingly good! My husband really likes them as well! Thanks for the recipe!
I subbed quinoa flakes for the oats and turned out really well. Took them into work today for someone’s birthday and quite popular. I will have to sub in chocolate nibs for the chocolate chips next time as chocolate chips are just too sugary sweet for me now. Thanks for the great recipe! Gave everyone at work your link.
I just messed with these like crazy (I did it right the first time) and I didn’t realize I was out of chocolate chips til after I’d blended everything together (oh and I used dates instead of sugar) and so I blended in some dried cherries. Still good!
Oh I was thinking of trying dates too. What measurement of dates did you use?
I didn’t measure anything at all but it ended up making as many brownies as when I followed the recipe. I think I used maybe 10 dates, soaked in warm water and then I used that water too.
Ok thanks:)
I have made these brownies and they are wonderful. i just made a batch last night with melted chocolate in stead of coca powder, instant coffee and chocolate chips on top. OMG! the best. Your will have to cook these a little longer.