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!)
I just made these today… they taste AMAZING! I used dry black beans that I cooked today, will likely try it again with canned ones if I am pressed for time… I wish I would have gotten more batter out of them! 🙂
Tried this recipe, and it was delicious. Used refined coconut oil (less coconut flavor) and agave syrup. The only substitution I made was using quinoa flakes instead of oats. I’m going to fiddle a bit with reducing the amount of black beans, because the aftertaste, later, had too much of a hint of black bean flavor. (initially, you can’t taste them at all, but there’s a “sense” of them in the stomach).
Also, using all agave syrup comes out to 13g of added sugar per piece. For the sugar sensitive this is pretty high.
But great recipe!! Thank you.
Hi!
I’d love to try these. When you say “2 nunaturals stevia packs” can you tell me how much stevia that is, whether in powder or liquid form? I currently have a bottle of liquid stevia, and would like to use that, but if you only know the weight by powder, that would still help a lot. I can easily look up the conversion from powder to liquid, or vice versa.
Thanks!
I made these leaving out the oil and used 3 T of peanutbutter and they are AMAZING! I did use the rolled oats and the extra maple syrup instead of sugar. They will be a regular treat in my house! Next time I might try prune purée or flax seed for the oil, but seriously, the pb worked great as did the rolled oats! Thanks for a great recipe!
Do black bean brownies need to be refrigerated after baking for storage?
So I followed the recipe and used ‘Naurally More’ instead of the oil – it’s basically peanut butter with some extra flax, etc. The batter was super thick, so I added 3 tablespoons of vanilla unsweetened almond milk. Put it in a banana bread size pan since there wasn’t much batter. Ate a tiny corner…tasted kind of bizarre, but i also hate edge pieces 😛 Didn’t have vegan chocolate chips so I didn’t add chocolate chips. I took chocolate pb2 + cocoa and made a spread to put on top. TO DIE FOR.
My vegan friend recommended you, katie. Katie, I love you.
(I am trying to be vegan as of April 1….ha)
Katie,
Thank you a million times over! My 3 year old son has severe and multiple food allergies, as well as other medical issues. I have to make most things from scratch and they dont always taste the best. My friend had me try these and then revealed the ingredients- I was sold! I made them for my 3 year old (who will NOT eat beans) and he now requests them regularly. My husband even loves them. I have taken them to work and they were a hit there as well. Thank you so much! You are wonderful!!!
Aw so glad they turned out well!
Oh my gosh, Katie! I made these black bean brownies today and they are amazing! I can’t believe how fudgie they are. I’d never guess the had black beans in them! I’ll definitely be making more of these babies! 🙂
First CCK recipe I’ve tried and it was successful hooray! I had dried black beans so instead of using canned ones (which aren’t as good as fresh beans) I soaked them overnight then cooked them in a huge pot according to this bean cooking chart (http://weblife.org/beanchart.html). I had some trouble though with blending the ingredients since I don’t have a food processor. I suggest use all wet ingredients and add beans so that there is some liquid in the blender and then take it out and mix everything else into it. I made a few modifications such as adding just 1/3 cup of honey without the extra 2T of sugar. Still tasted very sweet, next time I am only adding 1/4 cup of honey! Also added some wheatgerm and oatmeal and tasted amazing still. Could taste a few lumps due to not blending the beans enough but other than that it just tasted like a normal brownie with all that junk added (I will never look at a brownie recipe with butter and tons of sugar in the same way). Thank you so much Katie (:
why are the chocolate chips not optional? i would prefer not to have them in there and im dying to try this recipe :]
Subbed dark cocoa powder and dark chocolate chips to make it dark chocolate.
Have used old-fashioned oats instead of quick oats.
Add 1/2c shredded coconut (in blender/food processor) and did not need extra liquid. Also have topped with walnuts.
Used sugar-free maple syrup to further cut calories.
These… ARE most amazing brownies… My family had NO idea and didn’t believe me when I told them…
Hey Katie,
Just thought I’d let you know that if you cut these brownies into tiny squares and put them in the freezer for a day or two – they taste like THE MOST DELICIOUS ICE CREAM EVERRRRR!!! Also, we didn’t have any cocoa at home, so we used drinking chocolate, but they still tasted delicious. Thanks for this fantastic recipe!!
Wow! These are so much better than I expected. I honesty can’t believe how good and fudgey they are. My husband said they are too rich for him, lol! Thank you for sharing this yummy recipe.
I am an avid baker, as well as a health nut, and I have been searching for healthy things I can bake. When I stumbled upon your blog I was in heaven! These brownies were the first recipe I tried and I was AMAZED how delicious they were! The black beans are completely hidden in all the chocolate yumminess. I’m ready to bake another batch!
I was excited to pass the recipe along to my gluten-free friends because I know it is hard to find yummy treats when you can’t have gluten. Bravo! Looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
Absolutely LOVE these. Will definitely be making these instead of regular brownies from now on!