Brownie cooks... brownies!

I know, kind of corny that I'm writing a post about brownies, but I made these brownies today and had to share them with you.  These are definitely NOT your run-of-the-mill chocolate fudgy or cakey brownies.  These are special.  For starters, there is no flour in them.  Secondly, there are no added refined sugars.  Thirdly, they have black beans in them.  Sounds crazy, you say?  Well, I myself was skeptical, until I tried them.  Now I am *slightly* hooked and ate a whole row for dessert tonight. 

You are probably wondering why I ever wanted to mess with brownies.  They're so good, you say.  Well, that's true, but when you live with someone who tries to avoid flour and sugar while you still need your sweet fix, baking a whole pan of old-school brownies would mean you'd HAVE to eat them all yourself...  So, in search of a compromise, you learn to be creative.  Luckily, I didn't have to be too creative.  Pattycake.ca did that for me.  In my search for "alternative" brownies, I came across her recipe for "Really Awesome Black Bean Brownies" and thought I'd give them a try.  Here's her recipe: http://www.pattycake.ca/node/370.

I made a few slight adjustments, the main one being the substitution of cooked dates for the carob syrup mainly because I had tons of dates on hand and had never even heard of carob syrup.  Here's my recipe below.  Give them a try and tell me if you can stop yourself after just one...  but hey, these are relatively guilt-free so maybe having a couple, or a whole row, isn't so bad after all!  I have to warn you -- these are not for the faint of heart nor are they very kid-friendly.  With the addition of coffee, tons of cocoa, and lack of sugar they are the equivalent of an 80-90% cocoa chocolate bar, compared with regular brownies being like an Aero or Dairy Milk :) 

Really Awesome Black Bean Brownies (adapted from Pattycake.ca)

 

1 can black beans, rinsed
2 large eggs
½ cup dates cooked in a little water and stirred to make a paste
1/4 c honey
1/4 c brewed coffee
2 tsp vanilla
1/3 c unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1/2 c cocoa
2 Tbsp corn starch
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c chocolate chips

In a food processor, combine beans, eggs, dates, honey, coffee, vanilla, and melted butter.  In a large bowl, sift together cocoa, corn starch, cinnamon, and salt.  Fold liquid ingredients into cocoa mixture just till combined.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Grease and dust with cocoa an 8-inch pan.  Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 till set - about 20 min. Allow to cool to room temperature and transfer to the fridge – they are best cold.