By Denise Zito
No, not that secret ingredient; we’re in Virginia, not Colorado. File this one under ‘now I’ve heard everything!’ My friend Rhonda joined me for dinner the other day and brought black bean brownies! ‘Oh, good’ I said politely, meanwhile thinking, ‘good heavens, what will this be like?’ The answer: delicious, moist, a bit crumbly and tasting exactly as though they contained flour.
Rhonda has some gluten-free friends (don’t we all?) and uses this recipe when she needs a dessert that everyone can enjoy.
Of course there is a bit of a downside: traditional brownies bake in about 25 minutes while these will take twice as long. They kind of violate that important rule to ‘under-bake chocolate’—which doesn’t seem to hold true with this recipe.
Can you just not wait to serve these and shock the populace?
Black Bean Brownies
- 4 oz. unsweetened chocolate
- ¾ cup butter
- 2 cups sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups mashed black beans
- 1 cup pecans (leave them whole—I think it’s much better that way)
Preheat oven to 350° F.
Use a heavy saucepan to melt the chocolate with the butter. Remove from heat and add the sugar, the eggs, vanilla, mashed beans and pecans.
Bake in a greased and floured OR parchment paper-lined 8 X 8 inch baking pan, for 50 minutes. Check for doneness using a toothpick. These brownies will always be somewhat moist, i.e. your toothpick won’t come out completely clean.