Gluten-Free Black Bean Brownies

Hi everyone!

A couple months ago when I was just starting my new job, my office had a potluck lunch. I was assigned to bring dessert, and being a dietitian I wanted to make something tasty yet still semi-healthy ;). When I was doing my dietetic internship, a fellow intern made black bean brownies for one of our potlucks and I thought they were awesome.

I searched all over for a recipe, and finally found one on AllRecipes and adapted it into my own. This recipe is gluten free and I swear, you cannot taste the black beans, which replace the flour. The black beans add extra fiber, vitamins and minerals to the traditional brownie recipe.

Gluten-Free Black Bean Brownies

•  1 (15.5 ounce) can of black beans, rinsed and drained
• 3 eggs
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8×8 square baking dish.

Combine the black beans, eggs, oil, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla extract, sugar in a blender; blend until smooth; pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.

 Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top of the mixture. Bake in the preheated oven until the top is dry and the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes.

They came out fantastic—rich, decedent and you couldn’t even taste the black beans. I had everyone in the office try these and had them guess what they thought the secret ingredient was. None of them were even close, and were shocked to hear! These are a great gluten-free dessert for those avoiding gluten or anyone who needs a little extra fiber. I even had my boyfriend try them—who can be pretty picky sometimes. He knew that there was something “different” about them, but said that they were still very tasty.

Let’s chat! What are your favorite “healthy” dessert recipes?