Vegan Gluten-Free Black Bean Brownies

I’ve made these twice now (once for my yoga retreat) and everyone loved them! I baked them in a standard square baking dish lined with parchment paper for easy removal and cleanup for 30+ min–then turned the oven off and let them sit in the oven to cool. Topped with walnuts, cacao nibs, coconut shreds and large flakes of sea salt. A real winner.

Ok hear me out.
WAFFLES
Yea, I waffled this recipe. They were DELICIOUS

I am not vegan, so used a regular egg. I also used maple syrup to sweeten, that’s more my style. To give it a bit more structure I added 1/4 cup cassava flour. I’m not convinced this was necessary, might add half that next time. Because there will be many next times.

I made them in my mini dash waffle iron brushed with a bit of coconut oil. They took 5 minutes. I used a slightly heaping 1/4 cup per waffle and it made 8.

I might also cut back the maple syrup next time, they were very sweet. But as this is something I would only rarely make, I’ll probably leave as is and just enjoy.

Served with blueberries and pecans and a bit more maple syrup.

Yum!

I made these earlier this week, and they were so much better than I expected! I threw in some chopped up gf mint Oreos and chocolate chunks, and the recipe made 11 brownies. I didn’t try them straight from the fridge yet, but I expect them to be AMAZING cold. Thanks for a good, healthy recipe!

I don’t like beans. But maybe this recipe will help me eat beans. Thanks!

I cannot believe how much I love these! They are very different from my normal treats. Followed the recipe exactly and they are wonderful. I’m on chemotherapy and supposed to increase my protein intake. These black bean brownies are a great way to help. I’ll be making these often and sharing with others. Thank you for the recipe!

I substituted 2.5 ounces of agave syrup for the cane sugar and used standard size muffin tins (made 8 muffins, each filled about 2/3). Had to bake a few more minutes – turned out slightly crisp outside, gooey chocolate interior. Yum!

Unreal. Without a doubt the best black bean brownie recipe I have ever tried. I have made all of the other more popular ones (won’t name names) and they always fell short. For some reason I wanted to give them another try with this recipe and I am SO glad I did!! These are not only the best black bean brownies, but also one of the best brownies I have ever had. I’ve been vegan for 8 years so take it as you will. Best vegan brownie hands down and I have tried all the ones loaded with vegan butter and the whole nine yards these are healthier and you would never know. I also love the size. Makes it so easy! I froze them and they lasted really well. Try this recipe!

Not bad, but definitely the texture of mashed beans shines through. Very fudgy/moist. I took mine out when they were just starting to pull away from the silicon muffin cups; wish I had left them in a couple minutes longer. Used Rancho Gordo black beans cooked on the tender side with just a little salt and drained well, Ghiradelli cocoa and melted Kerrygold butter because I had some to use up. I miss the chew of a brownie. Stashed in the freezer (because frozen brownies are so good!) and look forward to a supply of healthy-ish chocolatey treats, but won’t try this again.

Best brownie recipe EVER! Thank you so much for all the amazing recipes you offer :) I’ve shared this recipe with so many people who all equally love it.

I’m going to try to make these with maple syrup instead of sugar and add a bit of GF flour– will update!

Used 2 c adzuki beans, home cooked. 1 apple chopped, 1 1/2 TBSP coconut oil. Slightly less than 1/2 c sugar, ground close to powder like. 1 tsp psyllium husk. Baked in 8 x 8 glass pan, parchment lined. Pressed in chopped toasted walnuts and chocolate chips to top. Baked about 25 minutes. Very soft after overnight in fridge, more like a very thick chocolate mousse. But delicious! My 3rd time making, first 2 I followed recipe strictly and very good.

I don’t know how to thank you enough for this. So so good. The only adjustment I did, because I like firmer brownies, was to bake them in a large tin, so that the batter spreads thinly. They are excellent, thank you!

I use a lot of Minimalist Baker recipes. I saw the picture of your brownies with dips in the middle. To your recipe I added 1/4 cup Gf flour and 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum. I put chocolate chips in the batter and walnuts on top. They kept the rounded top and were still chewy and moist.

I made this as directed. These were amazing! I put nuts and chocolate chips on top. So moist and excellent texture. You would never guess there were black beans it, but I appreciate a dessert that has some fiber and nutrition! Wow. I will make these often. Thank you!

I’ve made these so many times and have loved them every time. I will say it is way better in my experience to use a food processor instead of a blender as the skin of the bean seemed to stay intact with the blender. Making them again now and can’t wait!

I topped it with salty peanuts and it was so deli!!

I made these and they were a hit!
I will definitely make again.

This is one of my go to recipes – naturally gluten free – moist and delicious. Plus it is fast and easy – all in your food processor.

I was bored and stumbled upon this recipe. I had everything in my pantry so I figured I might as well give it a try. Omg…. I was shocked at how good these are! The texture is so moist and fudgy. As a vegan I’ve ended up making a lot of date based brownies, but these are beyond compare. I found that they get a little too soft (almost oily?) when left out, so I personally prefer keeping them in the fridge.. but either way you can’t go wrong!

Really enjoyed the fudgy texture and flavor of these. Were a little like a mini brownie lava cake but that definitely wasn’t a bad thing. My husband ate three in one setting so I don’t think we’ll have leftovers for long! Were definitely a win and will likely make again.

This brownies are amazing!!!! I love how heathy they are while tasting JUST like a classic brownie. I also love that they don’t have much sugar! They are so rich and gooey. My family loves them. Thank you soooo much for this recipe!

Fudgy and delicious! I must have filled the muffins tins up a bit more because these only made 7 brownies for me, so I just baked them for longer!

Shockingly good recipe! Will have fun trying all the variations! Having a sensitive tummy: the low fat, gluten free, and low ph (7) of the dutch process cocoa makes it a winner for me! Thanks so much for a healthy alternative for my chocolate obsession😍

I’ve made these brownies many times and they are always a big hit! I don’t pre-grind the sugar and the brownies are always super smooth. I’ve topped with walnuts, almonds, and chocolate chips but I think the walnuts are my favorite. I’ve also frozen them (for about a week) and they thawed perfectly. Amazing recipe!!

Yummy! Rich, chocolaty. Crispy on the outside and moist on the inside when baked in cupcake pan. So delicious and I’ve made these many times.

I made it as a whole cake instead of muffins (as i dont have the forms) and used only half the sugar (but i guess my cocoa powder comes a bit sweet). I cooked for 20min and it worked out great, everyone was surprised to hear there was a full can of black beans in there. It is super rich and delicious.
Will definitely do again

These turned out great! Perfect for nut-free school snacks!!

Delicious, they tasted better after being stored in the fridge! Boyfriend gobbled more up than me. Nice sweet treat!

First and foremost I’ve been making recipes and keep coming back to this site for the past 5-6 years. I’m trying this recipe for the first time. They’re still in the oven but I did get a sneak taste YUM. I did not have black beans, only white. I followed the recipe as is after that with a couple of optional additions: chocolate chunks and walnuts and topped the brownies with some flaky sea salt and a sprinkle of raw sugar for crunch and texture. All I know is your raw brownies have had my health conscious friends BEGGING me for the recipe they’re insane. Most recipes that I make from your site receive “need-to-have-recipe-now!” reactions from friends and family 😍 You never disappoint. I’m not vegan but I absolutely love and make a ton of your recipes! And it does help me incorporate more plant based meals and snacks in my life.

I have made these brownies several times. I love them and so do my friends and family. I do NOT use any oil. I have substituted either apple sauce or date paste for the oil. I subtract 1 tablespoon of water from the flax eggs since I am adding the date paste/ applesauce. I make everything in the food processor and it comes out great. The batter is thick ~ almost like a frosting. I spoon it into silicon heart shaped muffin molds about 2/3 full. My batch makes 8 brownies. I bake them for about 25 minutes. Cool BEFORE removing from silicon molds, the centers are moist but not raw. These are RICH with a deep chocolate flavor. I use 2 kinds of coca powder when I make them. They are sweet but not too sweet. I add about 1/2 cup walnuts. SO delicious.

Dates and a little extra water worked great! Very decadent.

I will try apple or banana blend in lieu of oil to approach guilt free.

Many thanks!

Wow! What a recipe. i thought it looked a little odd but it certainly works – not for the fainthearted perhaps as it’s very chocolatey but I think this will be my new go-to for any need-all-the-chocolate-now situations. I am commenting in case it may help others in terms of the can of black beans. I can see how the recipe might not work it you don’t carefully check your can. Cans in the UK are a standard 400g. I weighed out the drained beans and got 215g beans. I disregarded the 15g for the purposes of weight (though added them into the mix) and had to do a bit of maths for the rest of the ingredients by taking away 1/5th of the grams of each ingredient (I worked out what the drained weight of your can of beans might be via another website), I could see it was one of those recipes where winging it might not work first time round. Glad I did this as it is perfect, fluffy-fudgy and delicious :-) Thanks.

i would definitely recommend baking for at lesst 26 minutes. best way to remove from pan is to turn the entire pan upside down and tap them out because the brownies are extremely “fudgy”

I doubled the recipe using the convenient servings dial, however I did not realize that the flax egg recipe within the recipe does not scale when you change the servings. It’s still unclear to me if the 2 T flaxseed flour to 6 T water is for a single egg, or for the default recipe asking for 2 eggs.

Result was very underwhelming. Perhaps due to the incorrect number of flax eggs, or maybe because I’m not vegan and I expect brownies to taste a certain way with a certain consistency and texture.

Was craving a nice gf vegan brownie and these definitely hit the spot. Best part was that they were super quick to whip up and didnt require mixing bowls! I added chopped walnuts and a few mini vegan chcoclate chips which were really good in the recipe.
Your recipes never disappoint!

This recipe worked out perfectly for me! The only substitution I had to make was to use coconut sugar as I didn’t have any cane sugar. Ran the ingredients through the food processor for 3 min. and the batter was the perfect consistency. I really liked the fact that they were made in individual muffin cups – great, easy family pleasing recipe!

These are fudgy and delicious! I used a Ninja blender, and it was a bit difficult since the Ninja cups are tall and narrow. It was only blending the black beans at the bottom that were closer to the blade, and it wasn’t able to reach the top beans since it was a thick batter (even with a bit of added water). I’m gonna try halving the recipe next time, so that hopefully the Ninja can handle half the amount of beans better. I also used 2 eggs, and mixed in cranberry & walnuts, and both me and my partner loved them!

These are SO delicious! I made them as is & subbed chick peas for the black beans the next time. I doubled the recipe & spread the batter in a brownie pan. Wow, those were great if not even better! Thanks for a new favorite fudgy chocolate recipe! My whole family loves these!

These weren’t actually too bad!! I thought they’d be weird considering black beans but the I love the texture that the beans give. I used half 1:1 sugar substitute and half granulated white sugar (105g in total), and used a zig zag potato masher instead of a food processor since it was in use. I’m not sure if it’s because of the substitution, but the end result was way too sweet for me, but it was good with my parents. Also recommend following the recipe and using a food processor because potato mashers just can’t get it that smooth and although we didn’t mind the occasional piece of black bean, it definitely could’ve gone better! Will try this again with slightly less sugar and an actual food processor next time! Should turn out pretty good :)

These are unbelievably good. Put them in the fridge before eating them if you like it dense and fudgey! I bought a food processor just to be able to make this recipe!! No regrets!!! Thank you so much!

I’ve been making this for years. You can change out the coconut oil for peanut butter for oil free. So delicious! We love it as is, or with date caramel & toasted coconut on top.

SO chocolatey and delicious! I subbed 2 chicken eggs for flax eggs. The batter looked a little dry, so I added another tablespoon of oil. I baked in a glass brownie pan for 25 minutes. The results were cakey and still a little dry somehow, but tasty! My guess is that the added protein from the eggs affected the resulting structure. Perhaps one egg will work better! Putting them in the refrigerator to firm up.

Love these! I made them today for the first time and they were a hit, even with my husband who once asked me never to serve him black bean brownies for fear of what a bean might taste like in a dessert 😂 I don’t have a large food processor so it took a little longer, but I made it work using my small food chopper to grind up the beans, and then my immersion blender to mix all the ingredients together. Total cook time was 27 minutes in my oven. These are super fudgy and moist, I can’t wait to make them again. Thanks for the recipe!

I have made these Brownies several times and I think they are delicious. Today I am making them again, but will freeze half for another time. I love this website and I really enjoy so many of the recipes I have picked up from this site.

I have been doing a lot of non vegan non plant based baking this past year of this pandemic and it sure has shown up on my labs. I just found out that my Cholesterol is starting to climb which is not unusual in someone of 68 years but I am positive this past year of mega baking and eating is the cause.

Thank you for all that you do to offer us healthy alternatives to the foods we all love.