“What?! That cant be possible. Those aren’t brownies!”
Buy you thought wrong.
Okay, okay, these are not your traditional dessert brownies. I dunno about you, but – well okay I’d be pretty happy eating 1-2 brownies a day, but I’d feel pretty bad after a few days! These are toned down a bit, you get a deep dark chocolately brownie treat, but none of that crap feeling, like that sugar high/crash & the heavy fat.
I swear it wasn’t that messy…
Growing up, fruity >>>>>> chocolate, any day. still true (apple pie & berry crumble! mhmm), EXCEPT BROWNIES. my mom made the BEST fudgy, gooey brownies (probably just Duncan Hines, slightly under baked, but still ahmazing). my friends and I went crazy for them. I still love brownies, but would like to make it feasible to have to more often. This summer, the craving struck again, but I put it off until I could think of a recipe. A few years ago (I think my junior year?) I would make black bean brownies ALL THE TIME, and almost started selling them at my local coffee shop. Problem was, I made them so much I remembered the recipe, and hadn’t written it down. Then this summer, I was reading blogs (shocker), and a few were eating some sort of bean/brownie/chocolate type treat and I was like THAT’S A SIGN. so I got to making, and 3 tries later, settled on this beaut.
Now I know, 3 unconventional ingredients. But I was with a surplus of squash, so I thought I’d try adding that to the second test, and low and behold, they were even better. Also, I had a ton of black raspberries left from berry picking, so I added them into half of the 3rd batch, since I LOVE the raspberry/dark choc combo. Again, it worked so well! The tart/sweet contrast was so good!
I’ve also tried this using flax eggs & aquafaba, and either work. If you use the flax eggs, only then will you maybe need the soymilk. AF is the gelatinous liquid formed from cooking legumes, such as lentils, chickpeas, and black beans, thanks to the proteins and starches they posses and leech into the water. You can use it from canned or home cooked beans. I’ve always used this left over water: when we home cooked, we saved extra broth to make soups/drinkable broths. the canned beans (since we buy no/less added salt, no other ingredients) might’ve gone into the dish (hummus, soup, etc.). Learn more about it on the website & the Facebook page.
Oh, and if you haven’t noticed & are into labels, these delicious squares are Added Sugar Free, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free, thus Vegan! (aka you can lick the battered blender clean)
(Zucchini) Black Bean Brownie Bites (with Raspberries)
Ingredients:
1 (14.5 oz.) can low sodium black beans**
1 small zucchini*
5 larger/6 small prunes, soaked in hot water for ~15 min
6 tbsp. raw cacao powder
1 tsp. espresso powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. Saigon cinnamon
1/4 tsp. each cardamom, nutmeg
1/4 tsp. baking powder
3-6 tbsp. black raspberries (fresh or frozen, or red raspberries, or blueberries)
Instructions:
1. soak prunes n boiling water & cover
2. grate zucchini into blender, you should have about 1.5-1.75 cups.*
3. preheat oven to 400*
4. drain black beans and reserve the liquid **, add prunes to blender, add black beans to blender. add 5 tbsp. of thick black bean AF to the blender (if not using AF, soak 2 tbsp. of ground flax in 5 tbsp. warm water along with step 1)
5. blend until mostly smooth (about 1 minute)
6. add the rest of the ingredients, except raspberries, to the blender (cacao powder, espresso, vanilla, baking powder, spices), and stir a bit so the powder is incorporated. blend until completely smooth, about 1-2 minutes.
7. pour into an 8×8 silicone pan, or baking dish lined with parchment paper. bake for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 375*, rotate, and bake for 15-20 more minutes.
8. let it cool before enjoying! cut 4×4.
half way through baking… with tons of steam!
Normal stats…
(also why I think making them into 3x4s would be better)
lots of healthy fats from the cacao (and flax if you use it! included here.)
+ protein & fiber from the cacao, and well everything!
I have also made tem in 2 small bread pans, and that worked well. I think it would work best in a bit smaller square pan cut 3×4, but I don’t have the best sized pan for that, so the bread pan method worked well! Another perfect recipe for October Unprocessed with Andrew Wilder of Eating Rules and I guess it’s StrangeButGood too!
had to take a few bits, to taste test 
it is hard to make these brownies look aesthetic. why.
(actually probably because they’re thinner than normal.. but still good!)
They’re delicious hot with a glass of cold milk, or cold straight out of the fridge
Some things of interest to read:
“When I buy groceries, cheese is cheese; chicken is just chicken from a local farm; and pasta is just brown rice, rice bran and water. Sauces are fresh veggies that have been stewed down and canned, not sweetened artificially or salted to high-hell. My food is un-fooled around with, just how I like it. And man, it tastes better too!” Unprocessed, But Not By Choice
SO making a version of this at school!!. http://www.theleangreenbean.com/pumpkin-skillet-cake/
that’s all for tonight, folks!
~Masala Girl
fruity or chocolate?
evver had a dessert before with beans or veggies? 
although I wouldn’t say these are full blown desserts, they’re a good sub