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!)
My family tried these and they’re very good! The only substitute we made for these brownies was using brown sugar instead of agave or maple syrup and it worked all the same. Definitely not a traditional recipe but the texture reminds me of Japanese sweet bean cakes and desserts so that was a pleasant surprise.
I just made these and they are SO dang YUMMY!!
Thank you Katie! Keep the awesome recipes coming! ?
The chorus I sing in sells refreshments at intermission. The women make cookies or brownies that are sold. I made a double batch of these brownies and took them for my contribution. I packaged them 2 brownies in a bag. These brownies were the best sellers! I took 12 bags; only 2 were left for the concert the following day. The women selling the cookies asked me for the recipe as we were leaving that night.
Hi Katie, are the nutrition facts for 9 or 12 brownies? Thank you!
Excellent black ran brownies my kids and my husband loved them. And a bonus is they are super easy to make and perfect for school snacks.
This recipe was awesome!
The weird thing is that I forgot the oil and had to bake them for closer to 40 minutes.
Still came out way better than I expected – their perfect to me!
These brownies are amazing. So easy to make, and could easily compete with traditional brownies on taste and texture, but these are so healthy in comparison. I have made two batches in two days. Someone stop me!
Really tasty. My husband enjoyed it very much. Thank you.
Such an amazing recipe! I made them today and I’m addicted. I’ve been looking for a good bean brownie recipe and I’ve definitely found my new un-guilty pleasure. They are soo delicious and chocolatey?. Will definitely be making these all the time now. Thank you soo much for the amazing recipe!
I looked through the comments and I can’t see this question… Did you use semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips?
You can use either.
Do you have any suggestions for substitute for honey /syrup?
I loved these the first time I made them (so did my kids!)
The second time I made them I added a tbsp of PB2 just for fun… ?… ????
Next time I just just add toasted coconut to the tops ❤️
Thank you for a great recipe!!
I have tried several black bean brownie recipes and have always been disappointed by them and thought I would be with these, too. But I was like, hey, these are really popular and Katie’s stuff is generally pretty good, so I decided to give black bean brownies another shot.
Time well spent.
These are really tasty and SUPER easy to make. I have another brownie recipe I prefer, but these are healthier and so much easier to make that I’ll make them again if I want a quick, healthy-ish brownie fix. The texture is a little soft for my taste, but it’s great for hot fudge brownie sundaes, which I made plenty of until I ran out of brownies. But the texture still isn’t bad, and my omni roommates loved them and were really surprised when I told them they were made of beans.
Are steel-cut oats okay? I will be using a blender…
Also, I’m wondering if adding some Nutella would be a good idea or not.
Can I substitute the black beans for white beans? Black beans are hard to get where I live.
These are fantastic. We went to a friend’s house for dinner and I said I’d bring some healthy brownies. They all tried them, loved them and wanted to know what made them healthy! They were quite impressed when I told them. Also, I used regular rolled oats since I never buy the quick cooking oats and I see no reason to bother with the quick cooking oats if you don’t use them either. It’s an excellent vegan recipe and my husband wants me to make more tonight since they were all eaten up last night. Thank you Katie.
I forgot to mention that I also added about a 1/2 cup pecan pieces. For us, brownies are not right without nuts of some sort. Yes, they increase the number of calories but I’m more about the nutritional value than the calorie count. Also, I too no longer have a food processor and didn’t want to scrape it out of the Vitamix, so I melted the coconut oil in the maple syrup, added the beans and vanilla then blended it all with the immersion blender. I added the salt, sugar and baking powder and blended once more. Then I added the rest of the ingredients in the same bowl and stirred it up with a fork. One bowl brownies!