Black Bean Brownies

I heard about black bean brownies sometime last year, when I found a pre-packaged mix at a craft sale. I immediately snatched it up for my sister-in-law who is on a gluten free diet. They try to make it tricky for you by putting all the dry ingredient in the package so you don't know how much of each ingredient to use in the future and are forced to re-buy the packages. However, we were smart and decided we could measure each ingredient that's in the bag and write it down for future reference. Not as dumb as I look, now am I? Unfortunately for us, though, a few little creatures made their way into my brother and SIL's home while they were away on holidays. and helped themselves to a few snacks... the brownie mix and instructions included. So, you can imagine our excitement when we discovered that SnoWhite had ventured into the world of black bean brownies and was gracious enough to share the recipe with us.

They turned out to be even yummier than I had expected and I am fully intending to attempt to incorporate some zucchini into them next time to make a hybrid between this recipe and my own zucchini brownie recipe.

Thanks again to SnoWhite for sharing this recipe.

Black Bean Brownies - from SnoWhite
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed (or 2 cups cooked beans)
3 eggs (she suggests trying just 2 but my eggs were quite small so I stuck with 3)
1.5 tbsp olive oil
1.5 tbsp applesauce
1/4 cup cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Combine beans, eggs, olive oil and applesauce in a food processor. Blend until smooth. As you can see, I started out with the ingredients in a large bowl and was using my immersion blender. I ended up needed to transfer it to the food processor, however, because it just wasn't cutting it.

2. Add cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, vanilla and sugar and blend until smooth. Stir mixture to ensure that all beans are pureed and all ingredients are combined well.

3. Pour batter into greased 8x8 baking pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.

4. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes until toothpick inserted in the centre comes out smooth. They should be moist but not gooey. Cool, slice and enjoy.

I found these needed to go into the fridge immediately because our house was quite hot that day and the chocolate on the top was melting and the brownies were falling apart. Perhaps on a cooler day, they would last on the counter. We all *gluten-freers and non-gluten-freers alike* enjoyed these brownies!

This recipe is being linked at Tempt My Tummy Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday.

**If you are interested in gluten-free recipes, check back on Thursday for gluten-free cheese biscuits**