With the holidays just around the corner, everyone loves a good dessert. If you have a sweet tooth like me, you are going to love these! These guilt-free brownies are almost too good to be true. Gluten-Free, Vegan, NO added refined sugar, flourless… I mean the list goes on. Make them for your family or guests during the holidays and watch them all go crazy for this dessert. Surprise them all when you tell them it’s actually beans!
The fun thing with cooking is when you can make dishes all your own. Change things up, try new things to see what you like and what you don’t. In baking, it’s very hard to do that because it’s more about chemistry than anything else – which is generally why I’m not a huge fan of baking. I hate measuring. I like to be creative with what I cook. I received the original recipe from The Cookin’ Yogi. Now, her recipe is great the way it is, but I wanted to see if I could make some amazing brownies with a little less sweetener and vegan. I played around with some different egg substitutes, but I love the benefits of coconut oil and they came out great!
Sinfully Sin-free Protein Brownies
Ingredients (about 12 servings)
1-1/2 cups Ghirardelli bittersweet chips or dark chocolate, 60% or higher cacoa.
2 cans organic black beans, drained & rinsed (make sure they aren’t seasoned)
1/2 cup agave nectar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
4 tablespoons extra virgin coconut oil
1 scoop vanilla high quality protein powderOptional Topping Ideas
Shredded Coconut
Fresh Raspberries
Sliced Almonds
Natural Crunchy Peanut Butter
Preheat your oven to 350°. You need to do this in the beginning because these are super quick to make and you’ll be waiting a long time for your oven to preheat.
You’re going to start by beginning to melt the chocolate in a double boiler. You can use a stainless steel mixing bowl or any other heat resistant bowl on top of a boiling pot of water (if you just use a mixing bowl like I did, just make sure you use an oven mitt when you remove it). If your coconut oil is solid you can add it to the chocolate for even distribution.
While the chocolate melts, combine the agave nectar and black beans in a blender or food processor until smooth (I use a VitaMix – it gets the job done in seconds). Next, either in the blender or a large mixing bowl combine the sweetened beans, melted chocolate and coconut oil, protein powder, and baking powder until it’s totally smooth and mixed evenly.
Line a nonstick muffin pan with baking cups and spray with coconut oil cooking spray. Scoop batter into each cup so that they are just shy of being full. Top with any toppings that you’d like. My favorite right now is coconut flakes and raspberries. Throw some almonds on there too! The topping is where you can really get creative, the possibilities are endless. Bake for approximately 18-22 minutes, until the tops and toppings are toasted.
They are going to be still pretty runny. They need to set up. Once they cool down a bit, carefully transfer them to a cooling rack and put them in the freezer for 18-20 minutes or the refrigerator for at least a half hour before serving. If you are baking these in advance, store in the refrigerator or freezer until you needed and let them come to room temperature before serving.
These sweet treats have a fudge brownie consistency that will brighten everyone’s mood. Serve, enjoy, and watch them disappear!
