I while back my daughter wanted to bake brownies. She said, “Remember when you made those brownies with black beans?”

She’s no fool. :) My daughter knows that if she mentions a healthy ingredient, I’m much more likely to say yes to making a dessert.

I remembered the black bean brownies, alright…

A long time ago I tried a recipe that involved a brownie box mix and a can of black beans.

I wasn’t a fan. But my kids liked it. (They like anything that involves chocolate.)

This gave me an idea. There had to be a better black bean brownie recipe out there! One without all the highly-processed ingredients of a box mix.

I went on a search to find it (which didn’t take long on Google). And I came across this recipe from the Chocolate Covered Katie website.

This is an adapted version. The original recipe calls for oil and some stevia or sugar. I substituted natural peanut butter for the oil, and I omitted the stevia/sugar and salt. I also used old-fashioned oats instead of quick oats (because that’s what I had on hand).

What I like about this recipe:

• Simple, minimally-processed ingredients that offer a great source of fiber and micronutrients

• The experience of baking with my kiddos, while feeling good about the ingredients

• A hit with the whole family! We’ve made these several times now.

What I ended up using/doing:

Note: This is a double recipe, which fills a 9x13 pan.

Ingredients:

• Two 15-oz cans of black beans, drained and rinsed

• 4 Tbsp cocoa powder

• 1 cup oats (I used old fashioned, but you can also use quick-cooking)

• 2/3 cup pure maple syrup

• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter

• 4 tsp pure vanilla extract

• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Into a large food processor, combine all ingredients except the chocolate chips.

3. Blend until completely smooth. (Scrape the sides of the food processor as needed to combine well.)

4. Pour batter into a greased 9x13 pan.

5. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top.

6. Bake for 18 minutes.

7. Let the brownies cool before trying to cut them.

8. Enjoy!

This recipe was originally published on May 3, 2019.