Black Bean Brownies & a Sunday Surf
April 3rd, 2011 | 
Author: 
OK, so I didn’t exactly intend to leave off my baking until 8PM this evening…but sometimes that’s just how life works out.
In any case, it was totally worth it – I now have a pan of Black Bean Brownies, another of Nourishing Bread Pudding, and a loaf of 100% Whole Wheat Honey Bread cooling on my counter…boy does my kitchen smell good!
I wanted to share my adapted version of this Black Bean Brownie recipe, and also join in with Authentic Parenting for my first Sunday Surf! This has been an AMAZING week for blog posts…can’t wait to share what I’ve been reading!
But first things first – the chocolate!
Black Bean Brownies:
- 1 Can Eden Organics Black Beans, drained and rinsed
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 C organic unsweetened apple sauce
- 1/4 C cocoa powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 t. real vanilla extract
- 3/4 C raw sugar
- 1 good glug strong coffee (I used what was leftover in the post from this morning)
- 1/4 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350. Put all the ingredients except the chocolate chips into a food processor or blender; puree until smooth. Pour chocolate chips over the top.
Bake for about 40 minutes, until toothpick inserted into middle comes out mostly clean.
Wait for brownies to cool completely before eating (you may want to store them in the fridge).
That’s it!
I also just wanted to quickly share a few of my helpful baking secrets that I’ve come up with over the years. 
1. You can almost always use raw sugar instead of white sugar, and it makes things come out extremely awesomely.
2. It’s never a bad idea to take something out of the oven about 5 minutes or so before it’s really done. Most baked treats keep on cooking for a bit after you take them out, so this can mean the difference between perfectly soft and gooey or a crispy hard outcome.
3. You can almost always reduce the amount of sugar a recipe calls for and still have it turn out well.
And now for the Sunday Surf!
Here are some of the awesome posts I’ve picked up on over the past week (I know, like you don’t already have enough to do!) But trust me – these are worth it:
- From the Alternative Mama – Lactivism is For Everybody – Not Just Breastfeeders!
- From The Connected Mom - 4 Lies Sleep Trainers Tell You (and One Truth They Won’t!)
- From The Leaky B@@B – Breastfeeding = Breastfeeding
- From McCrenshaw – McCrenshaw’s Newest Thoughts – Random Acts of Kindness
- From The Modern Aboriginal Mama – Beat the Stress and Forgive Yourself
- From The Cloth Diapering Mama (over at The Natural Parents Network) – Skin to Skin Bonding: As Brothers Attach
- From A Little Bit of It All – Gentle Birth Choices: Book Review
- From TouchestoneZ - A March of Kindness: A Month Wrap Up
I seriously read a whole bunch more great ones but I don’t want to overwhelm you and I’m bad at keeping track - but if you do want to check out any more, head on over to Authentic Parenting to see a bunch of other folks who are sharing this week’s best in the Sunday Surf.
Do you have a favorite blog post from the last week that you’d love to share? Does the idea of making brownies with beans in them weird you out a little bit? 
Posted in Eating, Sunday Surf | 
Tags: A Little Bit of It All, Alternative Mama, authentic parenting, Becoming Crunchy, Black Bean Brownies, black bean brownies recipe, Breastfeeding, Crunchy, eden organics, Gentle Birth Choices, Lactivism, McCrenshaw, natural parents network, Sleep Trainers, sleep training, sunday surf, The Cloth Diapering Mama, the Connected Mom, The Leaky B@@B, the leaky boob, the modern aboriginal mama, Touchstonez
Thank you!
Alicia C. recently posted..I Love Spring- But Dread the Cleaning! GIVEAWAY!
Wow! I am very intrigued by the black bean brownies! And very impressed by your evening baking spree! Yum yum!
Kristin @ Intrepid M recently posted..Handmade Toys- Mini Sandbox
Thank you so much for linking to my post
Those brownies sound amazing, by the way. I've been searching for a healthy brownie or cookie recipe to make with my 3yo and I think I've just found it!
Imogen @ Alternative recently posted..Lactivism is for Everybody – Not Just Breastfeeders!
Nice work! Looking forward to trying those brownies…
hmmm…wondering if the black bean brownies are okay for kids since they have coffee in them… let me know because I am REALLY interested in making them!!!!
Jessica @ clothdiape recently posted..Conscious Parenting…huh
Oh Jessica, the coffee is totally optional…I'm sure you could leave it out with no problems.
I'll also post a little disclaimer – the texture of these brownies is not like regular brownies…they are kind of spongy/cakey. Just FYI
(I also did not tell hubby what was in the brownies until after he tasted them 
)
i have these brownies in the oven right now!! nathan is stoked!
Jessica | Cloth Diap recently posted..Wordless Wednesday- Beach Season has commenced!
Boy these are a hit! I'm so glad you liked them
For the bread recipe you linked to, do you use the shortening or do you substitute something else in place of it? I would like to make some.
Hey Julia!
I do not use shortening.
I have used both butter and coconut oil (a little bit less than the recipe calls for if you use coconut oil) and both have turned out well. I also usually use 1 1/8 cup milk instead of milk and water as I never think to buy milk powder. Otherwise I keep everything else the same. Hope you like it!
I figured you didn't use shortening.
Do you just put the butter in cold or melt it? Another couple questions…how do you store it and have you tried freezing it before?
lol definitely haven't used shortening since my mom used to put it in cookies when we were little kids!
Here's how I do the bread in the bread machine:
Milk & honey first, then the salt. I've seen it recommended to bring the ingredients to room temperature, but I usually don't and it turns out fine.
Sometimes I let the milk sit on the cupboard for half an hour or so. I put the butter in cold; just cut up into 3 or 4 pieces. Then the flour on top, and finally scoop a little well in the top of the flour for the yeast. I usually use breadmaker yeast.
And one more thing that is really helpful when you're making 100% whole wheat bread – get some vital wheat gluten (I buy the Bob's Red Mill kind) and add 1 T per cup of flour. It will keep the bread from coming out super dense.
For storing, I keep it in the fridge in a ziploc bag; if I know I won't use a whole loaf in 4 or 5 days I'll cut it in half and freeze half, then just thaw on the counter or in the fridge. If you leave it sitting out on the counter after baking it won't last more than a few days, but it does pretty well in the fridge for 4 or 5 days.
Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions!