Chocolate Black Bean Brownies

By Dan Hutton on June 21, 2016 in

Rich, fudgy and reminiscent of Nutella, no one will ever guess that these decadent brownies are good for you. The black beans do not compromise the flavour at all and are simply used to create that gooey chocolate texture of a classic brownie, without the addition of buckets of butter and mountains of sugar. What’s more, the black beans add a cheeky protein boost, meaning these are the perfect snack after your shirtless workout at the North Bondi jungle gym.

Ingredients
1/2 cup hazelnuts, ground into a coarse flour (or simply use hazelnut or almond meal)
400g can black beans, drained and rinsed well
3/4 cup cacao powder
1 tbsp tahini
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 tbsp ground flax seeds mixed with 4 tbsp warm water
1 tsp vanilla extract

Get organised
Preheat oven to 180˚C (350˚F) and grease a small loaf tin.

Process your nuts
Process hazelnuts into a coarse flour in a food processor (or skip this step if using hazelnut or almond meal).

Chuck it all in
Add all remaining ingredients and process until completely smooth (2-3 minutes).

Bake it
Spoon out brownie mix into greased loaf tin and bake for 45-50 minutes until an inserted skewer comes out almost clean (it will still be very moist inside).

Cool it
Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin slightly before turning out onto a cooling rack.

Enjoy it
Cut into squares and enjoy.

Tamika Woods is a Nutritional Medicine student and founder of Sproutly Stories, a new health food blog designed to translate evidence-based information into digestible pieces of knowledge. Her wholesome recipe ideas inspire others to implement their health learnings in an easy and delicious way. For more guilt free recipes, check out sproutlystories.com.