Description
These Black Bean Pumpkin Brownies are fudgey, thick, chocolatey, gooey and filled with with melty chocolate chunks and buttery walnuts. Nobody will guess these flour free brownies are made with black beans and are secretly healthy!
Ingredients
- 1 cup small flake, large flake or quick oats
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tbsp instant coffee (optional but recommended)
- 3 cups kidney or black beans (canned or cooked)
- 3 tsp vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup maple syrup, agave syrup or honey*
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil*
- 1/4 cup pumpkin puree*
- 6 tbsp cocoa powder
Mix-Ins
- 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped*
- 1/4 cup dark chocolate chunks or chocolate chips*
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350F/180C and grease a 9×9 brownie pan with coconut oil or non-stick spray.
- Blend the oats until they form a “flour” consistency. Blend in the baking soda and sea salt.
- **Rinse the black beans very well and shake off the excess water** This step ensures your brownies do not taste like beans!! 🙂
- Add the instant coffee (optional), rinsed beans, vanilla extract, maple syrup, melted coconut oil, cocoa powder and pumpkin puree to a large mixing bowl or food processor (*see note).
- Blend until all the ingredients are creamy and smooth and the oats are undetectable in the batter.
- Mix in the chocolate chunks and chopped walnuts with a big spoon or spatula.
- Place in pan and spread out with the back of a slightly damp spoon. The batter is thick!
- Bake for 15-25 minutes and leave to cool for 5 minutes in the pan before slicing and serving – Make sure to not over-bake! (*Baking time will depend on your oven and altitude. My brownies are usually ready in about 18 minutes but some readers have commented that their brownies are ready after about 30 minutes. Adjust baking time based on your oven!)
- Reheat later for 30 seconds in the microwave for a warm brownie treat!
Notes
1) This recipe can be made in a bowl with an immersion blender (recommended) or in a regular blender (but the batter is very thick so make sure your blender is strong!).
2) Reheat in the microwave for 20-30 seconds for a warm brownie later in the week.
3) Brownies can be frozen in a sealed container for up to a month or covered and kept in the fridge for up to a week.
4) If you are using home cooked beans make sure that they are well-cooked like canned beans and soft.
*Honey is not for strict vegans
*Replace pumpkin puree with equal parts coconut oil.
*Leave walnuts out for a nut-free recipe
**Update: I ran out of liquid sweetener while baking this the other day and subbed 1/3 cup of the liquid sweetener for 1/2 cup brown cane sugar + 1 tbsp more coconut oil (so 1/3 cup maple syrup + 1/2 cup brown cane sugar + 1 extra tbsp coconut oil)! The results were perfect!
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 12
- Calories: 202
- Sugar: 9g
- Sodium: 308mg
- Fat: 9g
- Saturated Fat: 6g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 27g
- Fiber: 6g
- Protein: 6g
- Cholesterol: 0mg