Chocolate Brownies with Almond Butter Topping
Why would you want beans in your brownies? Easy! You want beans in your brownies because they make them simply more delicious! That may surprise you, but beans when cooked and processed down to a paste can be a fantastic ingredient for baking. They also easily absorb the flavors paired with them within a recipe, while adding volume, moisture, and softness to many baked goods. Our recipe for Chocolate Brownies with Almond Butter Swirl has beans!
However, those aren’t the only reasons to look at beans as an ingredient for baking. Beans, part of the legume family, are rich in fiber and protein. Since bean paste usually substitutes for flour in baking recipes, the swap is very advantageous for those looking to meet some important nutrient requirements while indulging in a few positively memorable treats.
There are a few tricks to keep in mind when it comes to making brownies or other recipes using beans. Choose your beans wisely—for example, black beans may be used for recipes that will include cacao powder since they accentuate the dark color of chocolate. Conversely, you wouldn’t want to use black beans for a chocolate chip or peanut butter cookie since the dough would turn out too dark. For those recipes, something like northern beans or chickpeas are more appropriate.
When using beans for a recipe, an easy short cut is to go with canned beans. Just remember that canned beans can sometimes have other ingredients included. Choose canned beans when and where the ingredients are the beans only, and perhaps a little salt added as preservative, something which you can rinse off before using. That’s it!
If baking with beans is something you really enjoy and will do often, you may want to consider cooking your own beans, then processing them while still warm, and dividing them into one cup portions in glass containers that can be frozen and stored. This way you’ll always have them ready to use, and you will know that there are no added ingredients to worry about.
You’ll find that whatever you bake will have a higher content of protein than a comparable item, minus this genius ingredient. Our chocolate brownies were also made with flax eggs to ensure they are a good option for vegans. They are also naturally gluten-free!
These are brownies you can eat as a pre-work out or post-work out snack. For a more indulgent dessert, top them with a scoop of your favorite vanilla flavored ice-cream and drizzle some additional Once Again Almond Butter atop this nutritional extravaganza.
We also have a chickpea brownie recipe!! Try our Almond Butter Cookie Brownie.
Category
Dessert
Servings
12 mini-brownies
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Author:
Carolina Jantac, MS, RD, LD
A brownie bite covered in almond butter swirls that will satisfy all of your chocolaty cravings with a healthy twist. These brownies are made with the most unexpected ingredient: beans! No flour brownie recipe that is gluten-free and vegan too. Just too good not to make them today.
Ingredients
Directions
- Start by adding beans to food processor; then combine eggs, coconut oil, and vanilla extract.
- Once well blended, add sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, and baking powder. Next, mix in the chopped almonds.
- Pour the mixture into a muffin pan designed for bite-sized brownies (makes 12) or in a 9x9 pan.
- To finish, add about ½ teaspoon of almond butter to each muffins and swirl around in the batter with a fork.
- Place in a preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes or until edges darken. Remove brownies from the oven; and let them cool before serving.
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