Chocolate Kidney Bean Brownies

February 07, 2016

reading time: 1 min

Believe it or not, but this dessert is much healthier than what most people have as a main meal! It is based on kidney beans and cornmeal, sweetened with nothing but fruit and xylitol (read about the incredible - dental! - health benefits of xylitol here or here).

But if you didn't know, you wouldn't even notice.

I've already made an attempt at Kidney Bean Brownies over a year ago, which was quite tasty, but this recipe here which i got from my mom, is even better! You can't taste the kidney beans AT ALL.

My mom made these for my Dad's birthday, which paired great with my bring-along Chickpea Brownies (that was a total incident! i had no clue that my mom was also gonna make some legume brownies for my dad!) and the vegan apple nut cake we ate.

Such a delicious and filling treat!

CHOCOLATE BROWNIES made with kidney beans (again)

Preparation time: 40 mins
Main ingredients: kidney beans, cacao
difficulty level: easy
makes: 24 brownie squares
suitable for: vegan, lactose-free, gluten-free, nut-free, refined sugar free, low-fat, low-sodium

Ingredients

Brownies
250g kidney beans, canned & drained
100ml soy milk (or any other plant milk)
80g polenta (cornmeal)
3 tbsp raw cacao powder
1 tbsp baking powder
pinch of sea salt
2 tbsp xylitol
1 large banana
handful of raisins
1 apple, chopped

Glaze
vegan dark chocolate (we used 92% cacao)
chopped almonds, dates & a pinch of xylitol to garnish

Instructions

Preheat oven to 356°F or 180°C.

Drain the kidney beans and combine with the remaining ingredients in a food processor or blender. Process until it forms an even mass.

Pour the brownie batter onto a lined baking tray or into a baking pan, and bake in the pre-heated oven for around 30 minutes.

Take the brownies from the oven and let them cool down (!) and firm up overnight or for at least 1-2 hours before cutting them.

Once the brownies have cooled down completely, prepare the glaze. I use various different ways of glazing my brownies in each recipe, but this time we just melted some very dark vegan chocolate, spread it on top of the brownies and garnished it with chopped almonds, dates and a bit of xylitol sugar.

Keep refrigerated for best results. Or, you know, eat in one sitting.