I have been looking for a good flourless brownie recipe for a while now. I love my gluten free brownies, but I have wanted to find something that did not use the special gluten free flours.
The main reason I have wanted to find a flourless brownies is the cost. Gluten free brownies are like most gluten free foods and they are not cheap to make, especially when you have three kids that can polish off a pan of brownies in no time.
In my search for a flourless brownie I came across a recipe on the Whole Foods website for flourless brownies, that called for black beans. Now I know many of you are thinking, black beans in brownies? And that is exactly what I had thought.
You see I have tried black bean brownies in the past. I have tried several recipes in fact, and had yet to find one that did not taste beany to me. This recipe though seemed different and I decided to give it a try.
I am so glad I did because I now have a really good flourless brownie recipe that anyone would enjoy. Really you can not taste the bean in these and because you puree them, it does not change the texture.
In fact, my family would never had known that these had beans in them if my thirteen year old had not given my secret ingredient away, that is how good they are.
The original recipe has nuts in it. I left those out and increased the amount of chocolate chips, but if you can have nuts I think they would be really good in these.
And for those of you that are skeptical, I do not like bean flours. I do not like the taste they give gluten free baked goods. I stay away from premade mixes and flour blends that contain them, but these do not taste like beans at all, really they don’t.
Flourless Brownies
Easy and delicious flourless brownies.
Ingredients
- 1- 15 ounce can of black beans, rinsed and drained
- 3 eggs
- 1/3 cup butter, melted
- 1/4 cup cocoa
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a food processor or blender puree the black beans, eggs, butter, cocoa, vanilla, and sugar until smooth.
- Stir chocolate chips into the batter and spread into a greased 8x8 pan.
- Bake for 30-33 minutes.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 196Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 60mgSodium: 60mgCarbohydrates: 21gFiber: 4gSugar: 10gProtein: 6g
Nutritional values are approximate and aren't always accurate.
This is very similar to the black bean brownie recipe that we use, and love! Glad you found one that your family enjoys.
That is interesting. I have seen lots of gluten-free chocolate cakes and brownies with beans, but I wasn’t sure what to think. Glad to know it works.
I had no idea you could use black beans in a dessert recipe. Wow! what a new revelation. Talk about a sweet way to get kids to eat healthy black beans!
This is a must try recipe!
Angie.
I cannot wait to try this. I too have tried a recipe with black beans and it went into the garbage – it was not good. This recipe looks great!
Could I ask about the original recipe: the amt of nuts and the amt of chocolate chips. I would like to try some with nuts but am not sure how much to use. Thanks
The original recipe only had 1/2 cup chocolate chips. I recommend putting in closer to what I did even if you add nuts. I think the extra chocolate is what helps make these so good and less beany. The original recipe called for 1/3 cup chopped nuts. I think if you just added the nuts to my recipe it would work well. I hope you enjoy them!
I’ve made a recipe almost identical to this before, and I didn’t even tell my family they had beans in them until the entire pan was gone– they were *that* good!
Just made some and doubled the recipe. Told my husband to eat first then guess what “special” ingredient was inside. He couldn’t guess. I used mini muffin pans and SHOULD have used liners. And I should have added more chocolate chips, BUT they’re still delicious and go even better with vanilla ice cream. Thanks again!
I am so glad that you enjoyed them. And I agree this are great with ice cream. 🙂
Quick question. I don’t have anymore black beans, can I substitute them with kidney beans or pinto beans? Or garbanzo beans?
I have never tried them with anything else, but it might be worth a try. If you do let me know how they turn out.
Great news! Kidney beans works just the same. I added a little more chocolate and chopped some sliced almonds. Delicious!!!
Thanks for letting me know. I am so glad to hear that it worked for you.
I’m happy I have a healthier option for brownies. I use Smart Balance butter(sticks for baking) and I used slightly less sugar so this recipe’s gonna be part of our family now. Thank you again!
Fyi, garbanzo beans works too! 🙂
I found a recipe a month or so ago for Black Bean Brownies and I loved them! I took them to work and non-GF’ers also loved them! Black Beans are one of my new favorite foods – to cook with and to bake with! I’ve also tried Black Bean Cupcakes, which were delicious. Up next is Black Bean Fudge and Black Bean Cake.
I’m scared, these are in the oven right now and hubby aka the brownie king is giving the evil eye. Batter seemed thinner than what I’m used to but I’m still hopeful. I made a mistake the first time and blended the chocolate chips with other ingredients so instead of tossing it out have 2 different batches to see if it comes out different. I will do a post afterwards with the results and verdict, oh and link back to you. Thanks!
Just had a sample, taste is great but he doesn’t like the consistency of them. 🙁 He prefers cake like brownies. I will still do a review of them when I get a chance this weekend.
I am sorry that he did not like them. We enjoy fudgy brownies, in fact we like them better that way, but I know many people prefer cake like ones. At least he enjoyed the taste.
I LOVE these brownies. Perfect plain, with powdered sugar or crumbled in berries & cream. No one has any idea they’re gf. I describe them as a dark chocolaty fudgy brownie. Nutritious, as sweets go, too. Thanks for posting this recipe it is amazing!!
These are in the oven as I type and I have gotten rid of all the evidence of using black beans! lol I was a hair shy of having the 1/4c cocoa so I hope they come out OK. So glad I found this recipe!
Just wanted to update my first reply. These were awesome! Seriously. And actually they were better the next day after everything sort of settled into each other. Going to make them again today!
I just made these for the 3rd time and we love them so much!! I never knew that black beans could be so versatile! I am taking them to a cookout tonight, so I will let you know what everyone thinks! the first time I made them, I did not have chocolate chips (I’m not supposed to have them a whole lot anyways), so I just used some extra cocoa and even some carob powder. I have noticed that using earth balance butter spread works great for the recipe, but I also used oil in place of the butter (I used Safflower oil) and the brownies came out great. This time and last time I used an 88% dark chocolate bar, and cut it up in the recipe. so there were some gooey melty spots, which I thought was also good. All 4 of my kids love these, and are excited if they know i’m making them – I gave some to my dad and his wife, they love them; my mom loved them, I’ve given them to my friends, my doctor and her secretary (who are the ones who told me I should go gluten free) And everyone wants the recipe!
Thank you so much for this!
I just made them tonight I absolutely loved them my husband liked them but he still liked regular ones can’t win them all
I was wondering if coconut oil would work in place of the butter?? Read comments but didn’t see where any used the coconut oil. Thank you.
I have tried it in other brownies and it works, so I think it would work in this too. But I am not sure.
I used a can of dark red kidney beans and substituted coconut oil for the butter, and also used coconut sugar for the sugar (I didn’t add the extra 2 tablespoons). Oh, I did add a small bit of liquid stevia nitrite to compensate for the two Tbsp sugar. I did use plain old generic store brand semi-sweet chocolate chips. I baked them in cupcake paper liners since I don’t have my muffin pans any more. I can tell they’re not like my usual brownies (yeah, no crispy corners and edges), but I found really nothing at all offensive about these brownies. No beany taste whatsoever. I do believe it’s the chocolate chips that help with that, and next time I’ll add more like another commenter suggested. For those who can’t have gluten or regular sugar, these are a dream-come-true! I’m taking them as part of a meal to a friend recovering from surgery and I know she’ll love them! I think this recipe would benefit from a small bit of instant coffee or espresso to enhance the chocolate flavor.
Thank you for sharing what you did. I am so glad that you enjoyed them! And yes I think coffee would be a great addition to them.