Black Bean Brownies (GF, DF)

Currant, sunflower seed, black bean brownies ready to eat (I made this version with carob)

I’ve been asked by friends to post this recipe. It is one of two easy-peezy, nutritive, and delicious desert recipes that I like to make. Why are they so easy? I do the magic in a blender.

Over the past 10 years or so, due to digestive complaints, I’ve navigated various food ways to find the right fit for my digestive system and constitution type. I’ve had to give up gluten-containing foods and greatly lessen my simple carbohydrate intake.

For sweet treats, I typically go for honey or dried fruit sweetened things using nut meals or beans. This dessert in particular is more like a meal and sometimes I’ll even eat it for breakfast and chase it with some homemade kefir. Enjoy!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — The brownies after I took them out of the oven and let them cool for 5 minutes; you can put it muffin tins or a bread pan, like this one

Black Bean Brownies (with Cranberries and Nuts)

1 1/2 cup soaked and cooked black beans* **
1/4 cup arrowroot powder
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
1/4 cup cacao powder (or carob powder)
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup honey (or 1/4 cup honey and 10 drops of stevia)
3 eggs
1/4 cup dark chocolate morsels (optional)
1/4 cup chopped nuts or sunflower seeds
1/4 cup dried cranberries (this tangy taste really adds a lot!)

*I soak my black beans in water overnight and a little dairy or non-dairy yogurt whey to denature anti-nutrients in the beans. I then strain out that water and add fresh water the next day to cook them in. YOU CAN ALSO just use black beans right out of the can — Eden Organics is my favorite brand for canned beans.

**After the ingredients are mixed, it should be like a thick pancake batter. If you feel you need to add more bulk to the batter, you could always add 1/8-1/4 cup almond meal.

Grease an average sized bread pan (or muffin tins with 12 total cups) with coconut oil; or you can use baking cups for the muffin tins.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Put all ingredients EXCEPT the morsels, nuts, and cranberries in the blender. Blend well.
Then, take the blender off its cradle, add the morsels, nuts, and cranberries.
Stir these added ingredients into the batter in the blender.
Pour into bread pan or place in muffin tins.
Bake for 30 minutes. Check with a fork. The fork should not have batter sticking to it after you prick the batter with it.
Cook longer at a lower setting if your brownies happen to be too thick (resulting in a wetter center).
These brownies tend to be rather moist, so don’t be discouraged if they are not fluffy like conventional brownies.
Take out of the oven and let cool 5-10 minutes before cutting.
After they cool, I like to pop the brownies out onto a cutting board to cut (see picture below).