The Adventure of Black Bean Brownies

I know I’ve blogged before about my challenges in getting H3 to eat different foods. Oh the adventures of having a picky toddler! I think I’ve also mentioned a black bean brownie recipe that I was wanting to try. Well, this morning I finally did! I have to say that they turned out surprisingly good. When I first heard about them, I was suspicious about them tasting halfway decent. After reading the recipe, I was still dubious, and especially after I blended it all together and stared for a moment at the gooey brown mixture that oozed out of my blender into the pan. Still, I decided to bake it and hope for the best. I was certainly not disappointed! While I have to admit that you can slightly taste the black bean flavor, knowing that it’s in there, I would have to say it’s not very noticeable and if you didn’t know what was in there, you wouldn’t guess it. The texture is really good too, kind of creamy and fudgey. Ok, without any more ado, here is the recipe and the pictures I took today. I encourage you to take a deep breath and give it a try!

Ingredients
1 (15.5 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
3 eggs
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup white sugar (I used 1/2 cup supar, 1/4 cup Splenda)
1 teaspoon instant coffee (optional)
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips (optional)
Squirt of Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup (optional)

(H2 note: I did not use the coffee in mine, but I did use the chips on top and the syrup. The syrup is my recommendation, not from the original recipe, but it tasted really good with it in there!)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8x8 square baking dish.
Combine the black beans, eggs, oil, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla extract, sugar, and instant coffee in a blender; blend until smooth; pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Squirt syrup over the top of batter and mix in with a knife in a figure 8 pattern. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top of the mixture.
Bake in the preheated oven until the top is dry and the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes.


The brownies in the pan.


My piece and H3’s.


Mmmmm….all over her face!


Finger-licking good! Please excuse the tape. We’re trying to get her to stop sucking her thumbs!


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H1 will get to taste these when he arrives home from school today. I can decidedly say that these will be a keeper for H3 and me, and I'm hoping H1 will enjoy them too! Hope you will give these yummy brownies a chance!

~H2