This is one of those “don’t tell them what’s in this” recipes. People will never believe these fudgy brownie cakes are actually black bean brownies, full of healthy black bean fiber and no flour at all. They are much lower in fat and calories than typical flourless chocolate cake recipes, and provide multiple health benefits due to the beans, olive oil, and cocoa powder. They are also suitable for diabetics (in moderation), because of the low glycemic index of the agave syrup and the protein from the beans and nuts.
The renovation: This inspired recipe was provided by a reader to Clean Eating magazine. I have modified it somewhat. I am still working on a vegan version, as a straight substitution of an egg replacer is not working so far.
Suitable for:
gluten-free, reduced-sugar diets
Not for:
low-sodium or migraine diets
- 14 ounces black beans cooked, rinsed and drained
- 4 egg whites
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder unsweetened (25 g)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup applesauce unsweetened
- 1/2 cup agave syrup
- 1/2 cup walnuts raw (55 g)
- Preheat the oven to 350F/180C/gas mark 4.
- Spray 8 ramekins
or an 8-inch square baking dish.
- Roughly chop the walnuts, reserving 8 halves.
- Combine all the ingredients except the nuts in a food processor or blender and blend just until smooth. Do not overblend or you will end up with a gluey texture from the beans.
- Stir in half the walnuts; reserve some to put on top. Pour into the baking dish or ramekins.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes (ramekins) and 30-40 minutes (baking dish) until the tops are dry and the edges start to pull away from the sides.
Per serving:
- 221 calories
- 9 g fat
- 0 g cholesterol
- 84 mg sodium
- 309 mg potassium
- 28 g carbohydrate
- 5 g fiber
- 16 g sugars
- 7 g protein
- 6 Weight Watchers Points Plus
Top with a dollop of nonfat Greek yogurt sweetened with a little honey if you like. I freeze the extras and thaw in the microwave when I need a hit of chocolate.
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May I ask a stupid question? Why the egg whites and not the whole egg? Health? Chemistry? Thanks!
Kris, there is absolutely no such thing as a stupid question. The egg whites work as a binder (for chemistry) and we’ve removed the egg yolk for health reasons. Nearly all the fat and calories are in the yolk, so it lightens this dessert up a lot. But I haven’t been able to make this one vegan. For some reason, the egg whites are a key ingredient.
Thanks Laura! Glad to have you visit!
This looks amazing! I will try it this week. Yum!
So… I will need to check this recipe in the test kitchen. Sorry the information didn't work properly in a pan. Stay tuned. And, vegan tapioca pudding… great suggestion!
Update: Mark made this in a pan and though they cooked for like 40 minutes (kept waiting for signs of getting done, then finally took it out b/c it was smelling done and we didn't want a burned pan)–it never made it past a mousse-like texture. Which was also ok.
Dearest RR– this looks awesome. Mark has a question: how does one make vegan tapioca pudding?
Thanks, Vik
Kat,
Absolutely! If you have an 8 inch pan, I'd check it after 20 minutes. If you have a larger pan, the brownies will be thinner and less cake-like. Check at 15 minutes to see how they are progressing. Thanks for reading!
this looks sooooo yummy!
do you think it would work in a brownie pan?