We can’t fool ourselves. Brownies mean indulgence. They certainly don’t mean diet-friendly food. However there are definitly ways to make them a little bit healthier without sacrificing on taste. By using black beans instead of flour, we can lower the amount of carbs in our brownies, plus we also load them with fiber. And by using dark chocolate, we get a few health benefits thanks to the high cacao percentage. Cacao contains flavanols. The higher the percentage in your chocolate, the more of this substance you get. Now why should that matter to you: flavanols help lowering blood pressure for instance and supports your vascular system and the flexibility of your blood vessels so that oxygen and nutrients can be delivered through your body more easily. So this brownie is certainly a little less sweet than the classic version. But we don’t compromise on the fudginess and it is still damn delicious.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (400 g) of black beans
- 5 ounces (100g) of dark chocolate (make sure you get 50% cacao or more, though the higher you go, the more you sacrfice on sweetness)
- 3 eggs
- 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons of baking powder
- ½ cup (100g) of sugar
- ½ cup (120 ml) of milk
- 1 handful of walnuts or pecan nuts
- Butter for the baking dish
Start with this recipe the night before – or if you plan on baking your brownie in the afternoon, start in the morning – by soaking the beans in water and let them rest for 8-10 hours. If you want to spare yourself this task and save the time, get the canned version and make sure you rinse and drain them well. Use a blender to mash up the beans.
Melt the chocolate and mix it with the blended black beans. Add sugar, backing powder, oil, milk and eggs. Depending on your personal taste preference, you might want to add vanilla aroma or cinnamon as well. Continue by choping the walnuts and stiring them into the dough. Butter a baking dish and heat up your oven to 350 F/ 175 C. Bake the brownies for approximately 25-30 min.
If you want to book yourself a ticket to food heaven, have your brownie with vanilla icecream while they are still warm. Yummy.