I can feel you rolling your eyes at this recipe…but let me explain.  A while back, my personal trainer buddy, Jamie, was raving about a brownie she’d tried that was made with black beans.  Jamie likes to talk about food when I train with her — especially while I’m doing evil burpees or chin ups.  She calls it “motivation.”  I was intrigued by the possibility of a brownie that might be relatively healthy, and thus make me feel less guilty about eating the entire pan.  I started experimenting, and I’ve come up with a black bean brownie recipe that is delicious AND nutritious.  And if I haven’t sold you on this idea yet, further proof of their deliciousness is that my kids love these brownies (and I will NEVER tell them that they’re made with black beans.)

Ingredients:

• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed (one 398 ml can, drained)
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup oats, ground to a fine powder  (you can use a blender for this)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp instant espresso powder
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup chocolate chips plus more for sprinkling

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9×9 baking pan with non stick spray.
2. Using a food processor, combine all ingredients except chocolate chips.  Blend until completely smooth.  This may take a few minutes.
3. Using a wooden spoon, stir chocolate chips into batter.
4. Pour batter into prepared pan and sprinkle a few chocolate chips on top.
5. Bake for 15-18 minutes.  Let brownies cool completely before slicing.

*Yield: 9-12 brownies