Black Bean Brownies. I'm now a believer.

-
I have a friend who is a little too healthy for my taste. Actually she's great and wonderful and amazing, but so much that even a simple conversation with her makes me feel pretty unhealthy, like pure lard is flowing through my arteries and I have the athletic stamina of a three-toed tree sloth.
So there's a lot to be learned from this friend.
At a recent playdate she threw out this story of how she made brownies with a can of black beans.
"HA HAHAHA HAHAHA" was my response, because for someone who loves black beans, I couldn't imagine them being in a brownie. I'm a firm believer of "if you're gonna have a cookie, have a cookie."
But on a whim, I gave these BBB's try today. And like the title says, I'm a believer. Sure, they're a little different than regular brownies, but not different enough that my kids can tell. And if I can sneak it by them, for sure I can sneak it by my husband, which is really the ultimate goal, right?

Black Bean Brownies

1 family size box of brownie mix (I used Duncan Hines)
1 15 oz. can black beans

Puree the snot out of the entire can of beans, liquid and all, and stir in the mix by hand. Don't add eggs, oil, or water, just keep stirring until it's all combined.
Then bake as usual on the package.

Quote from my son, "wow, mom, these are good. Can I have another one?"
Quote from my baby ('cause these puppies are dairy-free! whoo-yah!) "mmmm bababa dada mama bbbaaa mmmm."
p.s. That photo? That's the actual brownie, just before my kid ate it. No beans visible, so the eyes will be fooled. A few hours later, though, the nose might not be. :)

Comments

Bonnie Way aka the Koala Mom said…
That's great! :) I have a cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld that has more ideas like this. My "chickpea chocolate chip cookies" failed to pass muster with my hubby, however. He says he prefers chickpeas in hummus.

BTW, dropped by your Suite 101 articles and really enjoyed them. :)
May 19, 2009 at 4:02 PM
Katie said…
I decided to make the black bean brownies while everyone was away at work yesterday. When they came home and saw brownies, they started to dig in. The all raved about them, but said they were different. "How did you make these?", they asked. I then told them they were made with black beans and they all stopped and started at me. "Really, black beans are in this?...huh...", and they ate on :) When my mom asked me how I pureed them, I told her I used the food processor. Funny thing was, she did not even know we had a food processor!

Thanks for sharing the recipe, Karrie!
August 20, 2009 at 8:27 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pepe le Pew and Cupid, too

-
            Phenology is the study of seasonal natural phenomena, especially in relation to climate and plant and animal life. Watching the way nature changes with the calendar can be a neat way to track the world and make ridiculous comparisons and conclusions about fragrant animals, diapered babies and bow and arrows, and old cartoons characters with a French accent.             Living in Ohio, we never know what the weather in February will bring. We can assume snow, but even the most astute student of phenology will tell you that weather (not climate) is not what makes most things in nature happen.             So I go to two reliable signs of February: Love and skunks.             I’m sure everyone will agree that February is the month of love, with the whole big candy-filled Valentine’s Day smack dab in the middle of it. But skunks?               If you don’t believe me that February is the month of skunk, think back over the past few weeks… you’ve smelled a skunk, have
Read more

Bedtime

-
            It is a cruel world we live in, when the time for sleep is never the time we want it to be. Ever.             There are, of course, exceptions, but speaking from my own personal experience, I’m not sure I’ve ever really been able to go to sleep exactly when I wanted. I can’t remember a single time (although I also can’t remember what I had for dinner last night) that I’ve had the pleasure of announcing, “I’m tired. I’m going to bed and no one or nothing is going to stop me.”             As tiny infants we know no better and haven’t yet adjusted to any sort of schedule. After living in darkness for all of our lives, we suddenly find ourselves with lights and sun and lovely people who are trying to train us to sleep at times when we really don’t want to, but aren’t sure why.             As toddlers and preschoolers, we start to slowly learn about all of the fun things we are missing when those big, lovely people make us go to bed. We may not understand anything like
Read more

Old mom, new tricks

-
            If you add up the ages of all of my children, I’ve been a mom for almost 38 years, which is almost as long as I’ve been on this Earth. You might think that I have most things figured out. I know I did. But as it turns out, you’re never too old a mom to learn new tricks.             This tip came from the brilliant family of the child who has the locker next to my oldest daughter. Both freshmen in high school, one day my daughter saw him pull a girly lunchbox out of his bookbag. There must have been an exchange of expressions and the explanation followed.             “I forgot my lunchbox at school yesterday so my mom packed my lunch in this princess Lunchbox of Shame. I’m never going to forget it at school again.”             Upon hearing this story, my eyes got wide and I probably stood there, mouth agape, wondering why I hadn’t thought of this long, long ago. While our children are pretty good at remembering to bring their lunch boxes home, they are terrible at r
Read more