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Do you want to feed your family SUPER healthy, AND REALLY tasty food? May be I am TOTALLY weird, but when I saw this recipe for Secret Ingredient Brownies, I
had to give it a shot. Even though no one in our family is gluten-free, I love to find recipes that have no flour it them as we are moving away from white flour. We still occasionally eat food with white flour, but now it is in moderation and doesn’t dominate our lifestyle like it did in the past.
I tried this recipe a few times and modified it a bit. I had several 
people try this, and NO ONE could guess the secret ingredient…BLACK BEANS!!! Some said they were really “moist”, “fluffy”, “had chocolatey goodness”, all like a real brownie. One did think they might be gluten-free (this person has a mom that is g-f). If you like brownies, you have got to try these at least once!!! You just can’t make a fair assessment without first trying these.
Ingredients
- 1-15.5 oz. can black beans, WELL-RINSED and drained
- 3 eggs (update 4/23/12-I now use 2 eggs and it still comes out great!)
- 2 T butter (I used the coconut oil, too)
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1 dash of salt
- 2 T vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup honey (I've also used organic sugar)
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional (I like it with nuts better, myself:)
- 1/4-1/2 cup dark chocolate chips, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Blend all ingredients except the chocolate chips and nuts in a high powered blender (I don't know, but I am guessing a food processor would work, too).
- Grease an 8x8 baking pan.
- Pour batter in the pan.
- Top with walnuts and chocolate chips if you wish.
- Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until a toothpick can come out of the middle clean (if you use chocolate chips, this may not happen since they melt in the oven).
This particular batch cracked a bit, but still came out together and not crumbly. I did over mix the batter in the blender, so try to avoid that.
Did you make these? Did you fool anyone? What did you think?
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Sonja
Have you tried…?
This recipe has been shared @ Allergy Free Wednesday, Wonderful Food Wednesday, Your Whims Wednesday, What’s Cookin’ Wednesday, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, One Project at a Time Tuesday, Saturday Nite Special, Fresh Bites Friday, Fit & Fabulous Friday, I’m Lovin’ It, Sweet Temptations Thursday, Foodie Friday Tons of Recipes, Anything Goes, Fight Back Friday, Friday Food Flicks, Homemaking Link Up, Metamorphosis Monday, Scrumptious Sunday, Saturday Show & Tell, Sweet Saturdays, Waste Not Want Not Wednesday, Whole Foods Wednesday, Welcome Home Link Up, Mix It Up Monday, Fab Friday, Sweets for a Saturday, Strut Your Stuff, One Creative Weekend, Heavenly Treats Sunday, Sweet & Simple Sundays, Real Food Wednesdays, Women Living Well, Allergy Free Wednesdays, Sweet as Sugar, Everyday Tastes, Crumbs and Chaos, Jennifer Cooks, Tasty Tuesday, Tip Me Tuesdays, The Frugal Girls, The Nourishing Gourmet, day2dayjoys and This Chick Cooks.
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Sonja, I found your blog from you linking up the the Secret Ingredient Brownies post, thank you for linking to it! I am so happy you liked the brownies and were able to “trick” a lot of people who liked them! I wanted to invite you to share this at Healthy 2day Wednesdays and other healthy posts every week until Saturday afternoon.
Also, I love the theme of your blog and am your newest “like” on fb, be blessed!
Thanks Rachel! I love your blog, too! It’s fun to share with like-minded people! It’s been so fun to share this recipe with other people, especially because it is so healthy AND tasty. Eating healthy doesn’t have to mean eating tasteless food! May the Lord bless your endeavors of sharing stewardship principles with others: faith, family, finances, fitness, food…
Hi, Well I made these last night.. WOW.. I am so thankful for this recipe. Jenna and I loved them Eric thought they were ok. I don’t care what he thinks. haha. I will be making these from now on. I was wondering if you knew what the calorie /nutritional value is. Obviously they are nutritious and full of fiber. I think I’m going to change them up a bit too. I’m going to add egg whites only and omit the yolks. I will let you know how it turns out.
God bless Liane and Jenna P.s I’m trying the cookies next
I am not sure of the nutritional value. I would LOVE to know how the egg White brownies turn out. I haven’t heard a bad think yet from a kid about these brownies. Thanks for sharing!!
Hi Sonja! I’m here because I linked after you on Tip Me Tuesday. I’m not a fan of any type of beans, but yours look so yummy and you’ve made such a compelling argument for them that I may just try them anyway!
Thanks for visiting. REALLY, you can’t taste beans, and you’ve GOT to try them. It’s worth a shot!
I am gluten free and I’m thrilled to have the recipe. Thanks for sharing. Look sooo good.
We aren’t even gluten free, and this is our new go-to recipe. Our whole family loves this. I just gave away my last Duncan Hines/Betty Crocker brownie mix boxes. So much healthier!!
I don’t want to sound gross here but has anyone had a problem with gas issues after eating the brownies because they are made with beans? I am gluten free and trying to slowly convert my family (especially Hubby) and we all LOVE brownies. I have made the Bob’s Red Mill Brownie Mix which has bean flour in it and had no ill effects but my husband could tell a difference and once he knew they were gluten free he didn’t eat any
. The other day he was at the doctor’s office and saw a mini show that had a recipe for brownies with beans and he mentioned it to me. Usually when he does this that means he wouldn’t mind trying it. So I may try these out without telling him and see what he thinks. Just curious what y’all had to say.
I actually haven’t noticed any gas issues with baking with black beans personally. All I will say is our family did notice it a bit on our chocolate chip cookies with chickpeas. We didn’t notice it when we used the white beans with the chocolate chip cookies. We’ve only been baking with beans a little over a month. I hope you will be able to bring your family along. It’s so amazing the healthier choices we can make that don’t require compromising of flavor and taste. This is my absolute favorite dessert these days! God’s blessings on your family!
I tried these brownies. Instead of a high powered blender or food processor, I used an immersion blender in order to break up the skins of the beans. Perhaps this caused too much blending, but the batter ended up being pretty watery. As a result, it took 50 minutes to bake. They were definitely moist but not fluffy or “cakey” at all. They were very chocolatey though. Any thoughts?
Today I made two batches of the brownies, one with the immersion blender and one in the Vitamix. The immersion blender took A LONG time to break up, and I didn’t feel completely successful. I would mash the beans alone with a hand masher then use the immersion blender (unless you are in a financial position where you could buy a blender), then add all of the other ingredients and don’t over mix. Mine did bake in 30 minutes exactly. I think the big thing is making sure the eggs don’t get overly mixed. Hope this helps!!
Made these the other day and put in a banana instead of the butter. Worked great!
I am going to try this! That’s a great idea!
A whole banana?
Hi Jerene. Yes, a whole banana! Thanks for visiting!
I have seen a black bean brownie recipe floating around and have wondered if it’s any good. Your picture made my mouth water, can’t wait to try it!
Hope you enjoy! Thanks for stopping by!!
Thank you for sharing your recipe with us last week on AFW! Be sure to check back this week for reader favorites and hostess picks.
Be Well, –AFW Hostesses
Will do. Thanks!
I’ve made a variation of these before–so good! And the beans add so much goodness and nutritional value into it.
Yes, it really is amazing what you can create with…beans, and it’s so much better for you! Thanks for visiting!
These brownies look amazing. Can’t wait to try them. Thanks for sharing the recipe at Sweet Temptations!
You are welcome! Thanks for visiting!!
Yum! I would love for you to come party with me! http://www.firsthomelovelife.com/2012/05/whats-cooking-wednesday-2.html
Hi Christine! Thanks for visiting! I would love to visit.
Wow, they look amazing, Sonja! I like that you increased the vanilla and cocoa powder – I’ll have to try that next time! Thanks for sharing your recipe with me
…and now I’m off to check out that link at the bottom of the post for flourless chocolate chip cookies!
You are welcome! So fun to learn from each other. Thanks for visiting!
I tried to Pin this, but the picture wouldn’t show up-? Anyway, I can’t wait to try this recipe!
You can cut and paste the url into your add more in pinterest, but I will fix it. Thanks!
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p>These look interesting!!! I will have to try them out.
Thanks so much for sharing at Heavenly Treats Sunday! I will be trying these, no flour brownies made with black beans! Wonderful!
I found these today and decided to give them a try since we’re doing South Beach. They’re not Ghirardelli brownies from the mix, the texture is totally different, but they’re good! I probably doubled the amount of chocolate chips on top and used Splenda for my sweetener. A keeper for sure! Thanks!
I have heard a lot about making brownies with black beans but have not tried it yet. This recipe looks fantastic!
Kerrie
I haven’t tried the black bean brownies yet, but I did make the chick pea peanut butter cookies awhile back. I couldn’t believe how good they were. Guess I’ll have to get up the courage to try the brownies next.
Sonja, I love that these are naturally gluten free, and healthy! I made black bean brownies once before and served them to some dinner guests – everyone loved them and they were all surprised
Thanks so much for sharing this on Waste Not Want Not Wednesday!
I am new to this bean thing. lol. so do you mash the beans to break up the skin? or is blending them better? This recipe looks so easy and I really want to try it.
Hi Bonne, Blending the beans is WAY better. One time I used a hand blender, and it just wasn’t the same. It took WAY more work for lousy results. The best way I have found to make a smooth batter is to use a blender. A high powdered blender is best like a Vitamix. Hope this helps! Thanks for visiting!
Do you think beans would break down better in blender if heated first, mashed, then cooled? (Of course, then add other ingredients and continue with recipe)
Hi Joan! I haven’t tried it, but I suppose heating the beans first would make them easier to blend. That would make sense because they would be softer. If you have a high powered blender like a Vitamix or Blend Tec, I don’t think you need to worry about it. If you have a weak blender, you may want to try the extra step. Thanks so much for visiting!
Joan, you should tell us about your results! I am also curious!
Hi. How much coconut oil would you use instead of butter? Also, can you use an egg replacer in this? Thanks. My son is on an allergy free diet, and this sounds really good!
Hi Monica, I use the same amount of coconut oil to replace the butter. I am now off of eggs and dairy, and haven’t made these since. I have been consistently using 1 T of ground flaxseed with 3 T water per egg I need to replace in other recipes. I can’t tell a difference when I use this substitution. It’s amazing! I just got black beans on Friday, so I will be making these soon!
I am sorry but i tried these and they were pretty disgusting, I ended up throwing the whole pan in the trash…
Hi Irene, I am sorry to hear that. Did you use seasoned beans or forget the sweetener or vanilla? I made them a few weeks ago, and I forgot the sugar. I rolled them in sugar to make up for it. Thank you for sharing.