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!)
OMG these are amazing! The batter tasted delicious so I was def excited for the final product. You had my husband fooled….you would never know these have black beans!
Hi, These sound great. Can you substitute apple sauce for the oil; maybe even sub it for the oil and agave? Thanks!
I subbed peanut butter but I think the recipe still needed something (maybe oil of some liquid). I better applesauce would work.. but I’m really not a baker.
personally, I don’t think they taste good warm at all, but they’re okay once they’re cool. I still taste the beans though.
If you like peanut butter try tossing in a few tablespoons. It definitely adds a prominent flavor that might help you cover the bean taste.
OMG!!! I just made these for my daughter, who has recently been diagnosed with dairy allergy. I used allergy-friendly chocolate chips. I made brownie bites in a mini-muffin pan instead of the 8 x 8 pan. I baked them for 10 minutes and let them stand for 10 minutes after baking. They are delicious. Hubby says we need keep some around all the time (and he’s picky). YAY for this recipe!!!!
I take my comment back. I just ate these a day later. Left them in the fridge overnight. And they’re SO good.
I decided to give these a whirl. I had all of the ingredients for traditional brownies but I wanted to try something different! I had to make a few substitutions based on what I had on hand so I thought I should share my experience.
For starters I did not have any agave nor did I have enough honey for this so I substituted 1/4 cup white sugar for the agave and added 2 tbsp sugar per the recipe.
Instead of regular chocolate chips I had Ghirardelli 60% dark baking chips (they’re a bit bigger which concerned me because I was afraid the chocolate wouldn’t distribute as evenly. In hind site I could’ve pulsed them in the food processor two or three times to break them up).
I was also curious about your note in the nutrition facts (subbing peanut butter for oil). I substituted 1/4 creamy PB for the oil.
To begin I added all of the dry ingredients to my food processer and pulsed them a bit to get lumps out of the sugar and cocoa powder. I added everything else afterwards and blended smooth. My food processor got a little sassy with me (I imagine the syrup helps everything blend a little better) so I did add a tablespoon of margarine to help move things along. I’m sure oil would have worked, too. I was afraid to add any liquid because in most recipes that call for sugar I’ve heard you should substitute less agave for sugar and reduce the liquid. So I was hoping that the opposite might work and even though the batter would be stiffer the final product wouldn’t be dry.
Let me say that even though I was nervous about the recipe given my bizarre substitutions.. I became far less concerned once I tasted the batter (it was peanut buttery, slightly chocolately and DEFINITELY desserty). I stirred in my chocolate chips and used a 1/4 cup measure to scoop the mix into lightly oiled muffin tins (I didn’t fill the measuring cup so each one was probably approx. 3 tablespoons). They baked at 350 for the full 18 minutes. Oh! I forgot that I tossed 1/4 of hazelnuts in the batter, too.. because.. hazelnuts are awesome.
How did they turn out? The texture was a little strange but I ate the crap out of them. I think they would’ve been GREAT if I had pulsed the chocolate chips first to more evenly distribute it or used smaller chips. I also think they needed either some liquid or more oil. They weren’t *dry* but they weren’t gooey and chewy, either, you know? I almost threw half a banana in here.. maybe next time. Will definitely be playing with this recipe again. {TRY THE PEANUT BUTTER. IT’S AWESOME.}
Thanks for sharing. 🙂
I combined this recipe and the one from all recipe and it came out delicious. I didn’t use the baking powder and it was still good. I did use the maple syrup as the sugar and it had enough sweetness. Instead of oil i used low fat apple sauce and was very pleased. Im so glad i was turned on to this recipe cause i have a sweet tooth and this helps control it.
Oh my! These are delicious and you would never know! I’ve tried lots of your recipes and love them all. Your site is a regular ‘go to’ for delicious cakes, thank you!
I made these with all maple syrup instead of stevia and used coconut oil. They’ve been in the oven at least 25 minutes and still not done (although I can’t wait to try them). Has anyone else experienced this? Just want to be 3 sure I didn’t do something wrong. 🙂
It says to then leave them in the fridge overnight and they will firm up. No worries.
So I made these…but they aren’t right. They have a weird chemically smell and they taste weird, too. :(. I subbed white choc chips for the choc chips…would that have done it? Is ti possible to have a bad can of beans? I don’t know what happened but I am super sad. Any thoughts on this are appreciated.
I didn’t use canned beans, I soaked dry ones overnight then cooked for 2 hours then rinsed and strained and then added to recipe with other ingredients. Mine turned out perfect; perhaps give dried beans a try? Good luck
Well, I have made these twice this month and served them to unsuspecting guests! I let them rave about how they resembled a molten chocolate lava cake with the cold ice cream plopped on top of the hot brownie…before eventually revealing the secret ingredients. By the way don’t let someone eat half a brownie, then reveal there is a secret ingredient, when they have a job interview/drug test the following day. There jaw might hit the floor, and you have to spend 5 minutes calming them down. No these are not “special brownies” and do you know me at all?!?!? Get what I mean there? Anyway, this is going to be our go-to chocolate fix in our house!
I made these yesterday, and there is only one left! You are a food genius and I’m ordering your book immediately.
Amazing!!! Going to take some to work tomorrow and see if they can guess what’s in them! Fab recipe. Thanks for sharing!!
maybe a dumb question, cause I haven’t found anyone asking it…do we need to cook the beans first? it doesn’t sound like it from your instructions but a couple of the comments have made me wonder….thanks!
If using canned, then nope!
These were excellent!!! The texture was perfect, couldn’t be happier. I used all maple syrup and the flavour of maple was a bit too pronounced. When I make them again I’ll try with some sugar/stevia instead.
Not bad, but not to die for. Definitely no substitute for pms cravings. I can definitely smell the beans while they were baking. I used honey as my sweetener, and they like they need more sweetness… Worth a try I guess.