The BEST Black Bean Brownies Recipe ever + a video! I make these embarrassingly often because they are the perfect healthy dessert that’s ready in 30 minutes and are delicious straight from the oven.
Sometimes I factor dessert as part of my meal. I’m not kidding either. I plan how much I will eat at dinner based on the amount of dessert I’m in the mood for that night. That’s why I focus on making healthy sweets…because if you’re going to eat dessert every day it probably should be good for you! 😉 And it’s no secret that these Black Bean Brownies are my all-time favorites.
I mean really, if you follow my stories on Instagram then you know how often I blend up a batch of these beauties. Topped with this Vegan Peanut Butter Frosting, they’re one of my top 3 favorite desserts ever. They are loaded with protein and fiber and are gluten & dairy-free! So you can feel good about enjoying a little chocolatey treat!
Have I mentioned how much I love my Vitamix? Oh I have? Well humor me for another minute! {Side note: I have taught autocorrect the word “Vitamix” on all my electronic devices. I obsessively wax on about my blender not a vitamiN thankyouverymuch}. Any who, the Vitamix takes unusual ingredients and turns them into something beautiful. Like a can of beans mixed with other seemingly unrelated pantry staples…into these irresistibly fudgy {is there any other kind of brownie?}, insanely chocolatey, black bean brownies….(sigh).
These are the only black bean brownies I have ever made that taste good directly out of the oven {and I’ve tried tons}. I still like to let them cool a little bit so they retain their shape better. But if patience around brownies isn’t your forte, feel free to dig right in.
How to make Black Bean Brownies
Here are a few notes about making this recipe:
- Warm ingredients. Be sure that your ingredients are room temperature before adding them into the Vitamix. Rinse the beans with warm water, not cold. Melt the coconut oil before adding it to the container of your blender. This will ensure that your mixture blends easily and becomes silky smooth!
- Don’t over-blend. If you blend the mixture for too long it will start to get very warm. This becomes problematic when the chocolate chips melt when they’re added to a warm batter! Blend just until the mixture in homogenous {the same throughout} and smooth.
- Storage. Store these black bean brownies in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Warm them in the microwave for about 10 seconds to restore the fresh-from-the-oven taste!
Black Bean Brownies: Substitutions
To be totally real with you I never make substitutions to this recipe. I always follow it exactly as it’s written because it’s literally perfect {to me}. There are a few potential substitutions, but again, please try to follow the recipe!
- Coconut oil. Melted butter or ghee can be used in place of coconut oil.
- Coconut sugar. Any granulated sugar should work in place of the coconut sugar, however I have not tried using any others.
- Honey. Maple syrup can be used in place of honey if desired!
- Chocolate chips. One of my favorite variations of this recipe is using half chocolate chips, half peanut butter chips…YUM!
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Black Bean Brownies
Ingredients
- 1 15 ounce can black beans, drained, and rinsed
- ¼ cup honey
- 1/3 cup coconut oil melted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup chocolate chips divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8x8" baking pan and set aside.
- Put beans, coconut oil, coconut sugar and honey into the container of your (Vitamix) or food processor. Blend until well combined.
- Add cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and vanilla. Blend until smooth.
- Add in eggs and blend until just combined.
- Mix in ½ cup chocolate chips by hand.
- Pour into greased 8×8-inch pan and top with remaining ¼ cup chocolate chips.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top is set and brownies are just barely pulling away from the sides.
- Let cool, cut and ENJOY!
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat for 15 seconds in the microwave to restore the fresh-from the oven gooeyness.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
I thought I would share this recipe with you before Valentine’s Day. Because I love them. And you will love them too. And Valentine’s Day is all about love. Plus, you need some time to test out what recipe you will enjoy with your special someone on that special day {yes, Ritch loves these}! They’re also perfect to serve at a Galentine’s Day brunch!
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Gina L.
I followed the recipe exactly and the brownies turned out great! Couldn’t taste the black bean at all and it was very fudgy and chocholatey! I liked that it didn’t have a bunch of harder to get ingredients like avocado, almond flour like some of the other recipes I found. I was afraid of the brownies sticking to the bottom of the pan so I did line just the bottom with parchment paper but that was a mistake on my part. The side edges had a nice firmed edge but the bottom was quite gooey and stuck to the parchment paper. It tasted wonderful though. Thank you so much for a great recipe! Will definitely make it again!
Dawn
Awesome,
I omitted the coconut sugar and increased the honey to 1/3 cup. Also added 1/2 tsp of cinnamon which I think plays well with chocolate.
I will be making these often! Nice chocolate flavor and not too sweet.
Thank you for the recipe.
Dawn
Laura
I’m so glad you love the recipe, Dawn!
Amanda Kay
I didn’t have a Vitamix and didn’t want to break out the food processor lol but I did end up blending the beans in my NutriNinja and it worked just fine really blending them up and spooned into a bowl and then added liquids and then cocoa and such & used beater. I will say batter looked really thin for others wondering bit when baked it sets like a fudgy cake omg these were soooo YUM!!! It took all o had not to eat the whole pan and I was making them for my love for Valentines Day ….oh well guess I’ll just have to make another batch
Laura
Another batch is always a great idea! 🙂
Lauren
These turned out great! Not beany at all. I’ve made other recipes in the past and they ended up tasting like sweet black beans. These just tastes like good brownies. Definitely making again.
Laura
Thank you Lauren! No sweet beans coming out of ovens around here! 😉 I make these all the time and love them too!
Noelle
You might want to use caution in calling these dairy free, most chocolate chips, including the Ghirardelli ones you link to, contain milk. But they were still delicious with the chips omitted.
Laura
Hey Noelle! Thankfully there are many varieties of dairy-free chocolate chips to choose from on the market today!
Liisa Andreassen
do you use sweetened or unsweetened cocoa powder?
Laura
Unsweetened!
ANGELA KIRALY
FABULOUS Black Bean Brownie recipe … awesome flavor!
Can’t wait to double the recipe … made 1 batch, which didn’t last the day 😉
PS: They were pretty crumbly … how do I get them to come out more ‘fudgy’ & less crumbly?
Laura
Hey Angela! They can get crumbly if you over bake them! I suggest baking for a shorter time next time you make them!
ANGELA KIRALY
Will do … I used a cupcake/individual pan & didn’t quite know how long to bake them for … will try to bake them for less next time. Thanks 🙂
Taj
I used cocoa powder and white sugar and loved this recipe! I can eat the whole thing and not feel guilty.
Laura
YAY! I’m so glad you love them!
Roxy Haynes
Can the salt be left out? Would it make tok much of a difference?
Laura
I don’t recommend leaving out the salt! You could decrease the amount if you’d like!
Jen Lyons
These are so completely amazing! No one could guess that there were black beans in there!
Linda W
Has anyone tried making these in silicone cupcake or mini cupcake cups?
Laura
Hey Linda! I have seen readers make these in muffin cups! You just need to adjust the baking time (decrease it according to the size of your cupcake tins)!
Jess
Thank you for the delicious recipe! I only had white navy beans, but they still turned out fantastic. I used maple syrup, dark brown sugar, and added chopped walnuts on top. Super moist and chocolatey!
Gigi
Has anyone tried flax eggs to make these vegan? If so, how’d they turn out?
Brandy
Trying this out right now actually! Will keep you posted. 😊
Marci
How did it turn out without eggs? Want to try.
Nicole
When doubling the recipe, how long should I bake them for? They’re in the oven right now. 😱
Laura
What size pan did you use?
Georgette
FANTASTIC!!! My kids (and my husband and I) just gobbled these down. Incredibly yummy! Thank you for the recipe!!!
Laura
Woo hoo! So glad you loved them!!! These are one of my favorite treats!
Chris in VA
I just made my second batch of these wonderful little goodies in less than a week! It was my early Mother’s Day gift to myself! I have shared the recipe with soooo many people! Thank you Laura for such a delicious recipe! So glad I found your website ❤️
Chris
I just made these and they were really good!!! Totally shocked that you don’t taste the beans! Super moist! Can’t wait to share this :). Thank you 🙂
Laura
So glad you enjoyed them Chris! These are one of my favorite treats! 😉
Lisa
These were so delicious!!! It is only an 8×8 pan but they were gone that same day between the 4 of us.
Ariana Sloan
I was skeptical about making brownies with black beans… like WHAT? Guys… you can’t even tell that theres beans in it! These are delicious and SO ADDICTING. I substituted cocoa powder for cacao powder and added butterscotch chips to my batter as well and it’s very yummy!