I have a friend who is legitimately gluten intolerant. Knowing how hard it has been for her to deny scores of tasty things (if you haven’t yet, just try to count how many things you eat that contain gluten!), I wanted to make her a fun treat. If “fun” and “treat” are in the same phrase, you will of course have guessed that it contains chocolate. I looked for ages before I found a perfect baked chocolate candidate, with a very scary main ingredient: black beans! Ewww! Out of curiosity more than anything else, and ready to trash my creations after tasting beans in them, I got to work throwing the few simple ingredients together to make these Vegan Gluten Free Black Bean Brownies.

TM was my guinea pig taster, entirely oblivious to the pauper’s protein of choice hidden therein. I can assure you that he had zero inkling that beans were in the brownies when he went back for seconds. The first batch was pretty good, not incredible enough to replace granny’s tried and tested brownie recipe quite yet. Tonight, I made a second batch to ensure the brownies were more gooey, less cakey and…quite humbly, they are out of this world. If you are health conscious, you’re going to appreciate the ingredients. They are “clean” enough that Ayo even got a half of one as a special treat today. If you are on a budget, you’ll appreciate the fact that beans make them cheap. If you are vegan…well, you won’t appreciate my own amends to the original recipe. But come on, flaxseed meal as an egg replacement was going way too far.

• 1 15 oz. can (~ 1 3/4 cups) black beans, well rinsed and drained minus 15-20 beans
• 1 large egg + 3/4 T water
• 3.5 T extra virgin coconut oil, melted
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder (the higher quality the better)
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• just under 1/2 cup raw sugar, slightly ground or pulsed in a food processor or coffee grinder for refined texture
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• Add semi-sweet chocolate chips in the batter for bursts of decadence
• Toppings: pecans or whatever else you have on hand

Blend egg in blender until fluffy, then allow to rest. Add all other ingredients (minus topping) in blender to make a smooth batter.
Bake in preheated oven at 350F / 175c for 15-20 mins
Do not overcook! Mine were perfectly gooey at the 15 minute mark!
SO. EASY!

Don’t be afraid of the little black bean!