Thank you Kathy Hester for this recipe!
I had such a hankering for chocolate on Sunday night. And Kathy Hester's, The Vegan Slow Cooker was sitting on the kitchen counter.
Bingo! I found what looked like the perfect recipe. Quick. Easy. Mostly healthy ingredients.
But, I wasn't interested in waiting the 6-8 hours it would take to make these brownies Kathy's way--in my slow-cooker.
My serious chocolate craving solution? I mixed up all the ingredients. Put them in an 8 inch square silicone baking pan and baked them in the oven at 350 degrees. Done in 30 minutes. Even better on day two.
They're moist, dense, & delicious. Not too sweet. Pefect. Even for breakfast!
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup of rolled oats, blended in a VitaMix or food processor into flour. Oat flour would also work.
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained & rinsed or 1.5 cups of homemade black beans
- 2 ripe bananas (normal size--not the large ones)
- 3 tablespoons of applesauce (I keep the mini-single-serving 4 ounce cups on hand in the pantry for this sort of recipe)
- 1/4 cup of agave or maple syrup (I used light agave)
- 1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder (LOVE Penzey's natural un-Dutched high-fat cocoa)
- 1/4 teaspoon of chipotle powder, cayenne, or chile powder (I used chipotle) Omit if you're not fond of this Mexican-style chocolate taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Note: Kathy Hester offers variations. Leave out the chile. Add more agave if making this for kids. Leave out chile & cinnamon & add some mint extract instead.
Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Process oats in your VitaMix (works best, but be sure it is dry), or your food processor. A regular blender may also work--haven't tried it. Or, use oat flour.
3. Empty the oat "flour" into a mixing bowl, along with the chopped nuts.
4. Add the beans, bananas, applesauce, agave, cocoa, chipotle powder or cayenne or chile powder, cinnamon, & vanilla to the food processor & process until smooth. This takes more time than you'd expect. Just be sure it's mixed up well.
5. Add the mixture to the mixing bowl (with oat "flour" & chopped walnuts) & combine well.
6. Spoon contents into a silicone 8 x 8 baking pan, or a regular one that's either sprayed with canola oil, or lined with "cut-to-fit" parchment paper. Love my silicone baking pans & muffin cups.
7. Bake for 30 minutes. Test with a toothpick--should be firm, & come out fairly clean. Don't overbake.
8. Cool, then cover & store in the fridge.
Enjoy!!
These look amazing! I'll have all the ingredients once my bananas ripen. Will definitely make these this week. Thanks!
Posted by: PGYx | January 01, 2013 at 12:28 PM
I'm allergic to bananas, so I'm going to defrost some cooked pumpkin to replace them. I found this page of banana equivalents!
http://homecooking.about.com/od/foodequivalents/a/bananaequiv.htm
So about 2/3 to 1 cup of pumpkin puree. I keep the pumpkin on hand to add to lentil stews.
Posted by: tanya | January 01, 2013 at 02:01 PM
@Tanya: the texture of pumpkin is similar to bananas--but, in this recipe, the bananas lend sweetness, so you may need to sweeten these up a bit. Maybe try Medjool dates. Or use baked sweet potatoes that have caramelized by baking them cut in half & skin side down on parchment paper, instead of pumpkin, which isn't very sweet. Anyway--just be sure to taste for sweetness. Good luck.
Posted by: The Healthy Librarian | January 01, 2013 at 02:44 PM
I made black bean brownies awhile ago and was not thrilled but I think it is time to try again. I will give this recipe a try as I just finished dinner and would love dessert. I have to quickly comment on my dinner as when I make it I think of you as you were the one who introduced me to the Trader Joe's refrigerated lentils. The recipe comes from Cooking with Trader Joe's cookbook Skinny Dish by Jennifer K. Reilly, which I adapted slightly. It is a 26 oz jar of marinara sauce ( I use Whole Foods 365 brand pasta sauce - no oil), 1 package of the Trader Joes Lentils. I heat these together. I then add fresh spinach or kale. I sautéed mushroom on the side, because I have family members that do not like mushrooms. I add the mushrooms to my sauce. I serve over Tinkyada brown rice pasta with a green salad. It is the easiest dinner and yummy! Now off to make the black bean brownies.
Posted by: Kim | January 01, 2013 at 04:13 PM
This should be a New Year's Day tradition! I want to make a batch of these as soon as we return home. I've looked at this recipe so many times without trying it. I need these. I will say that I succumbed to some of my daughter's non-E2 brownines she brought in for the holidays so I need more chocolate!
Posted by: Bonnie | January 02, 2013 at 04:59 AM
very impressive.. love all the healthy ingredients.. I'm going to make these as a healthy snack for my grand kids.. thanks for sharing and happy new year..
Posted by: Judee @ gluten free A-Z blpg | January 02, 2013 at 08:25 AM
Just made this. I like that it is firm and dry which has been a bit of a problem with most bean brownies (I made mine with red kidney beans). I think the banana is a bit overpowering and I might try it next time with just 1 banana and more beans. It is tasty - my husband will be pleased.
Posted by: Cherie Dover Perkins | January 02, 2013 at 11:46 AM
Made these today. Texture was perfect but I also think the banana was too strong a flavor. Next time will try with a dried fruit paste instead, from dates, figs, or apricots. The sweet potato is a good idea, too. I lined a muffin pan with paper liners and baked at 375 for about 20 minutes. Made 12.
Posted by: Rosemary Evergreen | January 03, 2013 at 05:09 PM
@Rosemary & @Cherie: I agree that the banana taste does come through a little--I like it--but, I can understand if you'd prefer changing it up. Bet, dates would work--or as you both suggest a dried fruit combo paste--or less banana, a less ripe banana. We'll figure this out, right? The texture is perfect--and the pan of brownies didn't stick around for more than 2 days at my house.
@Kim: thanks for that super-quick meal suggestion. Sounds like a winner.
Posted by: The Healthy Librarian | January 04, 2013 at 02:58 PM
I prepared this recipe today and after 55 minutes of baking, the center still was not done, although it did seem to set well after they were cooled in the fridge. I wondered if perhaps you forgot to include a leavening agent like baking powder or baking soda? I noticed that your Black Bean Chocolate Chia Brownie Recipe does contain baking powder.
After preparing this recipe, I looked up several other black bean brownie recipes on-line, and this one seems far superior to all the others because it doesn't require eggs or oil.
(L-O-V-E your site and Facebook posts!)
Posted by: Debra | January 05, 2013 at 10:49 PM
@Debra, Sorry to hear that your brownies took so long to bake--but, I hope you liked their taste. There is NO leavening agent in this one--like in others--& no egg substitute either. My oven is very accurate--so I'm no sure if maybe that's the issue for you. I used smaller to medium bananas--& that would have made a difference if you had larger one. Also--it took 1/2 CUP of unsweetened cocoa, which is a lot + the 1/2 cup of oat flour (or rolled oats ground into flour). My batter was very think--almost spreadable.
Posted by: Healthy Librarian | January 06, 2013 at 03:36 AM
I made these subbing roasted winter squash for the banana and dates for the sweetener. I think the flavor is much better this way. I used about 2/3 c mashed squash and 1/2 c packed dates, measured before any chopping. I might add a few more dates next time.
Posted by: Rosemary Evergreen | March 08, 2013 at 05:00 AM