Vegan Gluten-Free Black Bean Brownies

I made these exactly as written then topped them with mini chocolate chips and walnut pieces. They were delicious! I took them to a concert in the park and shared with my non-vegetarian friends and now everyone wants the recipe!

These are the best brownies I’ve ever eaten! The family can’t even tell they are healthy! I’ll never make another type of brownie! Thank you for sharing this!

Tried these last night, and they turned out great! I added shredded coconut on top before I baked which took it over the top. I also didn’t have enough flax so I used half flax and half chia seeds tor the ‘eggs’, kept it nice and chewy.

These are delicious! I substituted 1 egg because I didn’t have flax meal and chickpeas because I was out of black beans and they still turned out well. Thanks for the great recipe!

I really want to give these a try. I just made some low kal, gluten free brownies and they turned out really tasty, it’s hard to believe that they are so healthy.

I attempted these tonight. Used one whole egg instead of flax eggs but kept everything else the same. They came out dry and powdery. Couldn’t even hold one without it falling apart! :( they tasted good. Really chocolatey minis the powdery consistency. What went wrong!? I did add a little water to get it to blend and cooked for 24 mins. Let cool before attempting to remove. I’m so disappointed. Any suggestions so I can give em another go!?

Excellent recipe. I am not a brownie fan, but I enjoy these. especially with extra nuts. They are very chocolatey and not too sweet. My extra picky brownie loving husband even liked them.

Made these as a gift for a vegan teacher. Have never eaten anything vegan.
OMG they are delicious and I hope she will think so too!

First attempt at bean dessert, plus the use of flax “eggs”. Tasted great, but the batter was super-runny and did not look anything like brownies or cakey. King of blobbed together. What might I have done incorrectly? Did I just not let the flax eggs set long enough? Thoughts? I’d like to give these another try. Thanks!

I never say this, but- Oh. M. G. These are — they’re so good I don’t even have the words. I’m eating a huge piece as I type and I’m trying to eat it slow because I don’t want this bliss to end… I baked them for my husband and his sceptic friends, “Michael! She’s putting black beans in the $&@#in’ brownies!” And needless to say the pan is completely devoured. They’re like vegan flourless chocolate cake, healthy dark chocolately goodness. Well done. Can’t wait to try your other inventions :) and my husband is in love with brownie batter blizzards (though they’re pure junk so he hasn’t had one since he was in his teens) so I’m most likely making that next. You made my night, thanks ;D

I loved the ingredients in this recipe and made them last night, right before Mad Men. I had to restrain myself from eating more than 1.5. They were very fudgy and delish and my boyfriend (non-vegan brownie maniac) ate one and proclaimed them delicious. I didn’t even mention how good for him they were. I also topped them with cocoa nibs for the crunch factor, worked out swell.

I made this brownie! Totally a keeper recipe! I didn’t think a half a cup of sugar would be enough for us… so I had to add more after tasting. After baking…I still will add more sugar next time and believe me… we aren’t big sugar users.. but that just wasn’t enough for us. Otherwise… excellent!
Allison

ok. bare with me. im a regular guy and i dont bake ( learning tho. )
this looks like a simple desert. but what rack to use in the oven?
Im going with the middle one.
will let u know how it comes out.
the batter tastes good tho.

I was wondering if I could use an over ripe banana and reduce the sugar?

I didn’t see anyone saying anything in the prior posts.

Thanks!

I just pulled these brownies out of the oven, and am waiting for them to cool a bit. However, if they are half as good as the batter tasted, they will rock! I did not have flax seed, so used 1/2 cup applesauce instead.

Oooohhh!!! :) I’m making a pan of these for a picnic on Friday, and I can’t wait to see how they turn out. All I can say is, they smell de-lish!! ;) thanks for the recipe…it might be used again…and again…and again. :)

:D

Hi you use the letter T next to coconut oil … is that for teaspoon?

Made these to add to your chocolate ice cream recipe and they are SO good! I’ve made black bean brownies before, but this is by far the best recipe! And the fact that they’re gluten free is so perfect. I think I’ll even add some mini chocolate chips next time. Thanks for a fantastic recipe!

OMG! I was craving a rich chocolate brownie and thought I’d try this. I love making favorites foods even healthier! These were AMAZING! I am a chocolate snob and they were perfect taste and texture without the sugar taste or sugar crash afterwards! I try tons of online recipes and this is the first comment I’ve ever written! THANK YOU!

This is so delicous, thank you so much for the amazing recipe! Totally in love with them and don’t feel guitly eating a little too much! So delicous, i’ve converted my family and can’t wait to bring a batch for my friends without telling them what’s in it! The worst thing is waiting for them to cool, I still sneak in one while warm but it’s so much yummier once cooled!

I tried these tonight w/high hopes that were quickly extinguished. I did sub in dates for the sugar (after looking up and verifying several times how to do it). I am going to try once again following the directions to a tee this time and adding perhaps a bit more sugar than called for. Honestly, it kind of tasted like bitter mush, w/no other flavor. Hoping changing the sweetener makes the difference as I really want these to work.

oops…forgot to rate the recipe….5 STARS!

I just made a double batch of these babies for our house warming party!
This recipe is gorgeous & just the perfect proportions.
Great recipe, I’ll be making a lot of these goodies !

Keep em comin,
Brooke in Toronto

OMGosh!! AMAZING!! I made using 1/3 cup honey, 10 drops of Chocolate Stevia, 1Tbs of GF flour & I flubbed on the “flax egg” making with only 2Tbs flaxseed meal & 4Tbs water…(but it worked) everything else per the recipe..sprinkling w/chopped walnuts. Baked for 22 min & next time will bake for only 20, as the center wasn’t quite as gooey as I like, but still AMAZING & DELICIOUS!!! I’ll put them to the test serving to friends that are neither GF or plant based to see if they notice a difference.

Thanks for posting such a healthy, delicious & GF dessert recipe!!

For the imperially challenged among us, also I wasn’t able to find tinned black beans, so used chickpeas (400 g) instead. I also substituted maple sirup for the sugar, added more cocoa approx. 1 cup as you mentioned; and added approx. 3 tsp Hemp flour. They would have turned out perfectly had I cooked them another few minutes but they were looking ready. Thank you very much indeed for a great recipe.

I’m going to try my hand at these tonight, but since all of the reviews are raving about the recipe as is, I am going to follow it to a “t”. I don’t need them to be vegan (just gluten free), but I have no clue about these “Flax Eggs”! In the recipe, does “2 large flax eggs (2.5 T flaxseed meal + 6 T water)” mean that the 2.5 T flaxsee meal/6 T of water make one “flax egg” or is the amount for the 2 flax eggs the recipe calls for?

Made these… Exactly according to the recipe. They are edible, not amazing. The texture is good. They taste about as good as a chocolate diet bar. While the beans aren’t detectable, the high fiber taste is there. I am so disappointed, all these comments got my hopes up. But apparently commenters are not comparing these to real brownies. Headed to the bakery to buy real brownies, can’t take these to a luncheon.

made these yesterday. very impressed. loved them. and making more this week. used regular eggs.

I tried this recipe and they turned out great! My friend made them too and had similar success. Thanks for posting!

I do have a question though:
You mentioned that you had trouble with another recipe setting up. I have this problem all the time but I can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong! I feel like it has something to do with the flax but I can’t seem to find a pattern – do you have any insights?

Made these exactly as directed and they were amazing! My (very picky eater) kiddos devoured them…what a great recipe! We will be making again and again!

These look great. We intend to bake a few dozen to sell for fundraising at the Relay for Life in Salinas on June 8th, 2013. Would it be appropriate to print and distribute the recipe in case any of the walkers or visitors want it? I would print it as it comes off the web, with credit to the author. I just don’t want to presume. Thank you.

I substituted the oil for applesauce and they came out amazing! Great recipe! Delicious! Thank you!

I’m in the process of making these brownies and was just wondering… I thought vegan excludes eggs…

I just made these with dark red kidney beans,1&1/2 real eggs and added a hand full of fresh spinach…they are great!! I topped them with melted choc chips for my kids. I love this recipe! Thank you!!

Has anyone tried to sub the sugar for stevia? if so how much would you use?

Thanks

Just made these and they were delish! Didn’t have any black beans so made them red kidney beans and they turned out yummy! Also left them in for 20 mins and probaby could have even done them for 15 to get them more fudgey. But yum!

These are SO good!! I made them with a regular egg, since I’m not vegan, just avoiding gluten and dairy and they turned out amazing! I almost ate the whole batch before I even baked it, so I made double the quantity :)) My whole family, none of who are vegan or interested in eating healthy even loved it! It was hilarious when I told them the ingredients, haha I’m making more today :D
Thank you for this recipe! I honestly like these more than regular brownies!

I was skeptical about these, because of the beans, but they are absolutely amazing! So fudgy and delicious, you can’t taste the beans at all.

This was the best bbb recipe I had seen and had to try. Made them a couple of days ago, only I substituted 2 eggs for the flax egg (although I do have flax on hand and will try that also in the future), and organic agave nectar for the sugar. Love them – they are so dark chocolaty and I don’t feel guilty eating two of them with a glass of red wine! Hubby likes them also, but he has no idea what’s in them!

This are amazing! I think I added a bit too much water – but not too bothered as they taste like a cross between fudge and a brownie. A winning recipe – many thanks!!

Thanks for the prompt response! I’ll try the recipe as is, it makes sense to use plenty of cocoa to hide the bean flavour.

Wow I really love the looks of these. Do you think I would have success with baking these in an 8 inch square pan? Also that looks like a lot of cocoa. Is the amount of sugar enough to offset the bitterness of cocoa? I love bitter chocolate, but sometimes when I try to reduce sugar in recipes, the bitterness tends to be off-putting. I’ll be trying these asap!

1st attempt: in the oven now, I was so surprised that the flax and water, after sitting had the egg consistency. I could not help but to eat the batter, oh my goodness. If the finished product is anything like the batter… well lets just say it totally fooled me. I will bring these to family functions and then tell them after they eat it. Thanks for sharing, I am now subscribed to your emails. Looking forward to trying other recipes.

These brownies were absolutely amazing! I used stevia instead of the sugar for reduced calories.. everybody in my house loved them so much! Thank you for a great recipe!
All the best from Amman, Jordan

Wow…amazing! I wouldn’t have said so yesterday when they came out of the oven (not set and crumbly at the same time), but after sitting in the fridge overnight they are fudgy fantastic! The texture is perfect.

I used some black beans I had around with onions and chipotle peppers in them (tried to pick it out) and that little chipotle kick is amazing! Just the batter was so awesome, I knew these were going to be great.

To make them healthier, I used coconut sugar. I want to try using dates next time like Dr. Fuhrman’s recipe. You would never know they are made with beans, really!!!

OH MY GOD. I made this last night and they are unbelievably good!! Even though I have a very small food processor, which started smoking and smelling weird, and I had to blend the beans with a hand mixer, and then I miscalculated the temperature conversion and nearly burnt them, and even though I almost forgot to put the beans in at all…..

This is a failsafe recipe. Despite my ineptitude, the brownies are sticky, fudgy, rich and gorgeous. Next time I think I’ll add some chopped dates as well. Mmmmmm. Thank you so much!

Since we are vegans who don’t use sugar, we tried substituting erthyritol sweetener for the sugar. It was awful! Had an aftertaste so bad we had to throw them out. I am sure it must have come from the erythritol. I am wondering if agave syrup or stevia would be more healthy?

THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!
Due to my daughters allergies we’re on a strict no dairy, egg, wheat or soy diet which has made baking quite the hassel… These brownies however are a true enlightenment! We no longer miss “real” brownies. I don’t think I’ll ever want to bake “traditional” brownies ever again!
Love from Germany,
Jazz
P.S. I couldn’t get black beans so I subbed cannellini beans. Works just fine!

You left out part of the directions. After making the flax egg and adding the beans (step 4), you proceed to scraping down the sides and putting in the pan! Is the order of adding the rest of the ingredients important? You might want to change your directions to include the other ingredients so us linear-thinking folks can understand it. Thanks, Beth

As a preschool teacher, I’m always looking for awesome healthy projects to bake with my kids! I made a batch of these at home last night and they are seriously DELICIOUS. Skeptics, take heart! It would be impossible to detect the black beans in these. I also added chocolate chips for my sweet-tooth hubby, and replaced the cane sugar with coconut palm sugar – more nutritive and lower glycemic. I’m definitely using this recipe for my next baking project at school! Also great because the kids can lick the bowl as much as they want :)
Thanks for an awesome recipe!

I made these on Sunday because I simply could not stand the curiosity anymore! I used one real egg instead of a flax egg and they were PERFECTION! I think I like them better than “real” brownies. Thanks for the recipe!!

AMAZING!! Fantastic recipe :) I had not tried anything like this before, but am soo happy I did! Super easy to make, and took hardly any time or effort, but they turn out soo decadent and look like you’ve been chained to the stove for ages :)
Hubby was super impressed, and shocked even more when I told him the ingredients ;)
(Only thing I did different was chia instead of flax, and coconut sugar instead of raw)

I tried some black bean brownies the other day and decided to look for a recipe. This looks great.

Delish! I added a pinch of instant coffee (to take the edge off the bean taste) and accidentally forgot to add vanilla… still fantastic – couldn’t taste the beans at all. Can’t wait to try them WITH vanilla. :)

Question: I don’t have raw sugar… can I use granulated sugar? Or would brown sugar be a better substitute?

Thanks for the great recipe. I just made these. Because I don’t eat chocolate I substituted organic dehydrated coconut powder for the cocoa. They turned out FANTASTIC. I almost didn’t give them to my grandchildren because I like the muffins so much. In the end I did, because I know how to bake and they don’t.

Hubby LOVED them! No reason to let him know they’re made with black beans…LOL The next day out of frig the taste is even more intense…YUM! Thank you for posting the recipe.:)

In the oven as I write this and none too sooner…my hubby just walked through the door! Told him I’m making him brownies. I tasted the batter and no way will he even suspect black beans!! LOL They smell DELISH!

These are so good!!! If I hadn’t used two eggs because I was too impatient to wait for the flax ‘eggs’, my 3 year old and I may have eaten the entire bowl of batter.
I used my Magic Bullet, so I had to pour each ingredient out into a bowl and then combine it with a spoon. I’m not a big fan of any kind of sugar, so I would like to try maple syrup next time. Has anyone had any success subbing maple syrup in this recipe?

Ummm… how much baking powder do you use? Definitely want to make these!

Just made these, delish! I only changed two things, one: I lined my pan with If You Care cupcake liners and two: I threw in a handful of 60% cacao chocolate chips into the batter while it was whirling around versus putting them on top before baking. I sprinkled with pecan chips, baked…and they are wonderful. Thanks for such a great, healthy alternative to regular brownies! Love your website and always look forward to the emails.

Question: Did you use sweetened or unsweetened cocoa powder?

Um… Am I right to assume that these aren’t canned beans?

What are your thoughts on subbing unsweetened applesauce for the oil? I know that making that switch often results in more cakey rather than fudgy baked goods, but since these are already flourless and pretty fudgy I’m wondering if they’d still be nice and fudgy with the applesauce instead of oil. What do you think?

Can you clarify how much baking powder to use?

The first batch came out a little dry, but I added some applesauce and olive oil and oh my goodness, moist brownie heaven. I’m eating these for breakfast tomorrow.

Just lovely! Talk about wonderful photos too! Amazing.

I also have a few black bean recipes that I adore but I am totally diggin’ these. Great job! I am sooo hungry now. :)

Hey! I have yet to try out any of your recipes but they look so good! I have a 7 year old cousin with gluten allergy and I am definitely trying the recipes out for her when I visit her this summer. :)
Can you subsite dates instead of the sugar? I have a lot of dates in my house (I try to eat a date a day) and I noticed that some of your recipes use dates instead of sugar. I was wondering if I could use some of my dates (especially the slightly dryer ones) in the recipe

These look fantastic! Do you think using Egg Replacer would be ok, instead of flax seeds? I don’t have flax seeds, but have everything else ready and waiting in the cupboards! Thanks xx

I made these and loved them! I did however put 2 tsps vanilla instead of 1. I also added a little honey and pecan bits to the mix . So good! I dont feel so guilty eating these brownies so Thank You!! :)

These look great, but where in the intructions does it mention the rest of the ingredients? I dont see any mention of cocao powder, salt, vanilla, or sugar.

Black bean brownies are the best! LOVE.

You are my healthy baking Goddess!!!!!!!!!

This recipe is great! Just made them today, and wanted to ask, can they be frozen and saved for later? Did anyone try this?

Great recipe! Think this would work in a brownie pan (8×8 or 9×9)? Would the cooking time vary in that case?

need to incorporate black beans more often into my desserts. that looks insanely delish!

These are delicious and so easy!

Dana, you have such a way with desserts with extra nutrition “snuck” in! The texture of these looks amazing, and I just love that they are made in a muffin tin – such perfect little rounds!

Holy. Crap. Dana, these look amazing! I’ve made black bean cake before, but these totally look better. I like the use of the flax eggs too. Must try!

Oh man I have to make these as soon as possible. Brownies are my ultimate weakness.

I’ve made black beans brownies before and you’d never know. In fact, they’re super tasty!!

I just made the original black bean brownie bite recipe for easter. Eager to try the new and improved updated version now.

Oooh I am so excited to see the new recipe next week!! :D I am sooo looking out for it!

Oh I want these so badly. You’re killing me with all the deliciousness you’ve posted recently!

Okay, just made these and they are all gone. My 3 kids and husband scarfed them up! They came out perfect, looked just like your picture. Nobody knew they were gluten-free, or made with beans. Shhh our secret!

I’ve recently made the similar version and LOVED them! I used coconut sugar and it worked great. SO YUMMY!!!

Just made these! They really are the perfect brownie, no joke. I’m a dark chocolate lover and these have a really rich taste. I licked quite a bit of the batter out of blender and even without baking they tasted great: no bean flavor.

Can you substitute chia for flax and maple syrup for sugar?

Oooh yum! These are similar to some chocolate black bean cookies I’ve made. I added cacao nibs to those so I might have to add them to these, too!

Can you substitute using 2 eggs?

I made your black bean brownies the last time you posted them and they were incredible. Since then I discovered Vegan Sweet Potato Brownies too, essentially subbing out the black beans for cooked sweet potato. They’re fudgy, decadent and completely yummy too.

These look great! I haven’t made black bean brownies before, but I have used chickpeas in a similiar idea. These look a LOT better though.

Can I ask what editing software you use for your photos to add texts? Photoshop? Thanks! :)

I second Tiffany’s question.
I am also scared of using beans in desserts! But hopefully I will become brave enough to give this a try. :)

Are the beans cooked or dry? I am new to all this and didn’t know. Thank you.

I made black bean brownies yearrrrs ago and brought them into work. People freaked out (like, became grossed out) after I told them what was inside. It was funny! I’ll have to give them another go as I feel like people have been perfecting them over the years. The ones I made were like eating pure fudge. These look great!

Can you substitute 2 fresh eggs for the flax eggs? We have chickens you see….

Fabulous! Making these this weekend. :-)

I can not believe I still have not made black bean brownies!!! Yours just look to tempting not to make!! Plus, I have been craving brownies for weeks!

These look delicious. I made a chickpea chocolate cake not long ago and it was delicious. Beans make awesome cakes! I’m definitely going to give these a whirl. We have a long car journey coming up in 2 weeks and these would be the perfect snack!

These look so good but I’m scared of putting beans in brownies! However if I manage to find any I definitely want to try it!
Totally get what you mean about baking fails, waste of time and expensive ingredients! Tried wholewheat chocolate cake bars and they were not to mention completely disgusting but also wasted some pricey high quality coconut oil, cacao and flours!