Flourless Black Bean Coconut Brownies

The other night I had a craving for rich, gooey, chocolate brownies, with big chunks of chocolate and flakey coconut. I took a stroll down the baking aisle at the grocery store and I contemplated buying a box mix, but then read the long list of ingredients and I couldn’t bring myself to put it in the cart. I know that I can make brownies at home that taste just as good, that aren’t full of ingredients I can’t pronounce…I just didn’t want to have to work so hard.

Then I came across a picture of black bean brownies. I was intrigued….could I actually take something as nutritious as black beans and disguise them as brownies?

Turns out you can. And not only are they delicious, they are ridiculously easy to make – as in all I used was my food processor and a pan. And they don’t require any hard-to-pronounce ingredients. Everything in these I had in my cupboard (except for the chocolate. Let’s be honest, there is no way there would be chocolate in my cupboard that wasn’t already eaten).

The best part is that they are super moist and thick and rich tasting, but are actually pretty healthy too. I prefer fudgier brownies instead of cakey brownies, and these were right on the money. The melted chunks of chocolate and toasted coconut put it over the top. I bet that if you didn’t tell anybody these were made with black beans, they would have no idea. Sneaky!

What you’ll need:

1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
3 large eggs
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks
1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut (You can use sweetened, but omit some sugar)

Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease an 8″x8″ baking pan.

Throw everything into the food processor, except for the chocolate and coconut, and combine until a smooth batter has formed. Stir in half the chocolate and coconut.