Flourless Vegan Black Bean Brownies
Flourless Vegan Black Bean Brownies- made with nutritious ingredients like black beans and avocado, these gluten-free brownies make for the perfect healthy treat. Each one contains 4mg of iron and 4 grams of protein!
Last summer we had the pleasure of visiting Chattanooga which is just a little over a 3-hour drive from Athens. During our visit, we had some pretty incredible food but our favorite spot by far was a little plant-based cafe named Cashew.
We were only in Chattanooga for 3 days but we ate there twice because it was just that good. One of the desserts that I was most impressed with was their Flourless Black Bean Avocado Brownie. Sounds so healthy, right? Yeah, not only was it packed full of nutritional goodness but it tasted amazing to boot.
Naturally it took me several months before I perfected the recipe because I really wanted to make them entirely oil-free, while keeping the consistency and flavor as close to their version as possible.
How to Make Flourless Vegan Black Bean Brownies
You will need either a food processor or blender to make this recipe as that is what breaks down the black beans.
- Combine a can of drained and rinsed black beans with the remaining ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
- Stir in the chocolate chips by hand.
- Transfer to a lightly greased muffin tin and bake.
- Drizzle with melted chocolate or peanut butter (or both- this step is optional, of course) and enjoy!
Can you taste the avocado or black beans?
I’m confident I could serve these to anyone and they would not know they are made with avocado and black beans. The maple syrup and cocoa powder do a fine job overpowering them.
That said, they don’t taste just like Betty Crocker so set your expectations accordingly and I promise you’ll be pleased.
More vegan and gluten-free desserts
- The Best Vegan and Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Silk Chocolate Pie
- Healthy No Bake Carrot Cake Bars
- Easy Chocolate Avocado Pudding
- Vegan Gluten-free Sugar Cookies
- Fudgy Grain-free Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
- Vegan Gluten-free Gingerbread Men
Flourless Vegan Black Bean Brownies
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons ground flax seed
- 1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
- ¼ cup avocado, roughly 1/2 medium-size avocado
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup dairy-free chocolate chips, divided
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together maple syrup and ground flax seed. Allow to sit for 5 minutes.
- To the bowl of a food processor, add the black beans, avocado, cocoa powder, coconut sugar, baking soda and salt. Pour in the maple syrup and vanilla extract.
- Blend on high, adding apple cider vinegar as you blend. Continue blending until mixture is as smooth as possible, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl intermittently. Lastly, stir in ½ cup chocolate chips by hand.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F then grease a muffin tin for 12 brownies. Spoon the batter into each muffin tin and top with additional chocolate chips. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes, until firm on the edges. Set aside to cool.
- Melt the remaining chocolate chips in a double boiler or by using small bowl in the microwave in 10 second increments, stirring in between. Drizzle melted chocolate over top of each brownie. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Oh my goodness Sarah these look amazing!! I am going to have to try this!!
Can’t wait to try! I don’t have flaxeed meal at hand, what can I use as a substitute?
I wish I could recommend a substitute with confidence but I can’t think of anything else without having to change other components of the recipe. Flax adds moisture and binds the brownies and while you could use a starch (like cornstarch, arrowroot, etc) you would need to increase the liquid ratios. That would require several rounds of testing and it took me like 10 to get to this point, haha! Needless to say, unless you want to play around with testing the recipe then my recommendation is to get your hands on some ground flax and then make them. :)
I tried this recipe with flaxseed and halved the coconut sugar. The end result was absolutely delicious! I loved the gooey fudge-like texture and I’m about to make a 2nd batch. Thanks for creating and sharing something so yummy!
I definitely will be trying these soon! They look fab, and I haven’t baked with black beans in too long.
Loved these and 7-year old approved!! They are definitely not as rich + sweet as traditional brownies, like was mentioned in post. My daughter referred to them as “brownie muffins” . However, it was exactly what we were looking for, an alternative option that wasn’t overwhelmingly sweet, with some good-for-you ingredients added in. You delivered with this one~ Thanks!!
Made them, so amazingly delicious
Thank you for the recipe
I never leave a comment on recipes but I had to leave one on this recipe. I have made black bean brownies before, but these are AMAZING!! You cannot know that you are eating something healthy, my husband ate one without knowing what it was made with, and he said that it was really good. That says a lot because he is very fussy. Make these, they are excellent!
Score! Thank you you so much for the feedback. It helps me so much! :)
Do you think that these could be made in an 8″x8″ baking pan instead of in individual muffin cups? If so, would the recipe have to be altered in any way? I look forward to making this recipe, as it is a good balance of nutrients in the varied ingredients, eg using maple syrup and coconut sugar together, and avocado for the healthy fat content. I am a fan of your recipes for this reason and as well as others, making them my go-to recipes. Thank you!
Thank you for the kind comment, Peg! I haven’t tried them that way because the muffin version tends to cook the inside more thoroughly than a bigger baking pan. But if you don’t mind a potentially undercooked/extra fudgy texture then it should be fine!
they turned out so delicious…. Love the healthy ingredients, plan to keep making them.
I’m so glad to hear that! Thank you for the review!