Black Bean Brownies

Now,  before you judge this recipe, keep reading and give it a chance! I was a little skeptical at first, but regardless,  thought it would be worth trying at least once.

I found a similar recipe months ago while looking though healthy desserts,  and stored the idea away for a time when I had a random can of black beans hiding in my pantry.

I'm happy to announce that I finally did have that can,  and also a very wicked chocolate craving, as I always do when I decide to bake! Another great thing about these is black beans are fairly high in iron, and if you're anything like me, when you're craving chocolate, you could also do with a dose of iron! ;-)

Another perk to these is they are gluten free, which is something my family and I have recently become.

First off, I was incredibly pleased with how easy this recipe was. Stick all the ingredients in a blender and blend till smooth.  Brainless,  just how I like my baking!

There are a number of variations of this recipe online,  including eggless or sugar-substitute ones.

I didn't choose those. :-)

My chosen recipe has eggs AND sugar. I mean,  they are brownies after all...

Here it is:

Preheat oven to 350° and grease an 8x8 inch pan.

Blend the following ingredients in a blender or food processor: (I used our ninja- best blender ever!)

1 can black beans,  drained and rinsed
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3 tbsp oil
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
A pinch of salt

Pour into the pan and sprinkle with chocolate chips.

Bake until the top is slightly crispy and the edges pull away from the side of the pan. This took me about 40 minutes.

Something I thought pretty cool is Adrian couldn't even tell what they were made of! They were so chocolatey and rich!