Coffee and Dessert - Black Bean Brownies

Always on the lookout for healthier options for my sweet tooth, I was pleased to find this recipe via social media. I decided to make them when my daughter and granddaughter were visiting, so I was able to get the opinion of others. We all agreed they were great, and would not have know they were made with black beans if we had purchased them at a bakery. The picture below is from the online recipe (I forgot to take a photo before we ate them all). Give them a try - you will be happy you did.

Black Bean Brownies

1 - 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 avocado

1 cup brown sugar

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/2 cups chopped walnuts

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon coconut oil (plus more for greasing)

Large pinch of salt

5-1/4 ounces dark chocolate

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and grease a 12-slot muffin tin with coconut oil.

2. Drain and rinse the beans, then add beans, avocado, sugar, cocoa powder, half the

walnuts (1/4 cup), baking powder, vanilla extract, coconut oil and the salt to a food processor.

3. Melt 4-1/4 ounces of dark chocolate in a double boiler, then transfer to the food processor. Combine ingredients in the food processor for 1-2 minutes.

4. Evenly distribute the mixture into the muffin tin (roughly one heaped tablespoon per slot).

5. Cut the remaining 1 ounce of chocolate into 12 pieces and put one piece on top of each brownie, pushing down gently on each piece of chocolate so they become partly submerged in the mixture. Sprinkle the remaining chopped walnuts over the brownies.

6. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes (check at 22 minutes).

7. Leave to cool completely before gently removing each brownie. The longer you leave them to cool, the easier they will be to remove from the tin.

Gently loosen the brownies out of the tin with the this end of a fork.