These may sound too good to be true, but believe me these brownies are darn good. With so many friends opting for the admirable vegan diets and many more being diagnosed with a gluten allergy, it was time to find a decent brownie recipe that would feed everyone. Usually I wouldn’t dare stray from my best brownie recipe (check out our Bake Sale Guide for that one), but these little brownies have a rich, fudgy texture, deep cocoa flavour and have the bonus of being incredibly wholesome.
They are vegan, gluten free, egg free and nut free. They don’t taste “beany” at all, and my 6 year old – who usually discovers hidden ingredients with Sherlock-like ability – downed a couple with great joy. These are also wonderful energy snacks. If you prefer you can use canned black beans instead of cooking dried beans from scratch.
Ingredients
1 3/4 cups of cooked black beans, cooled, rinsed and drained
1 large banana or 2 flax/chia eggs
2 tablespoons of oil
3/4 cup high quality unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
100g chopped vegan chocolate or vegan chocolate chips (note: Green and Blacks chocolate was once dairy free but now apparently contains traces of milk product)
Method
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
- Line a 12 hole muffin tray with squares of baking paper or cupcake papers. Or grease your muffin tin extremely well. If you have a silicone mould then this will work fine without liners or oiling. This recipe does not suit a brownie slab as each piece really needs to form a crust to hold together well.
- In a blender or food processor, combine the black beans, your egg substitute (banana or chia/flax eggs), oil, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and vanilla and process until very smooth.
- Distribute brownie batter between each muffin cup and top with a some chocolate.
- Bake 20-25 minutes until the tops are dry and the edges of the brownie start to pull away from the sides
- Allow to cool for at least half an hour before consuming – they will be quite fragile until cooled and set.
- Keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
