neverhomemaker: black bean

Showing posts with label black bean. Show all posts

Peanut Butter Swirl Black Bean Brownies

>> Monday, January 9, 2017

I won't make you guys wait any longer for this vegan black bean brownie recipe I posted on Instagram last week. I mean, I've already made it several times! I tweaked it from an old favorite to make it even more Weight Watchers friendly.

And -- though I'm still new at all of this -- I got this batch down to just 3-4 points per piece (depending on if you cut them into 8 or 10 pieces).

PEANUT BUTTER SWIRL BLACK BEAN BROWNIES

What you'll need . . .

1 can of black beans, drained + rinsed
1 medium ripe banana
1/4 cup unsweetened peanut butter powder*
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa or cacao powder
1 tablespoon flax meal + 2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon unsweetened applesauce
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch salt
4 tablespoons peanut butter**

* I used JIF unsweetened peanut powder
** I recommend a stir peanut butter. I used my favorite Everland Organic Coconut Peanut Butter (pictured below).

Method . . .

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Spritz a round or square baking dish with a little coconut or canola oil and set aside.
Combine all ingredients except the 4 tablespoons of peanut butter in a food processor.
Spread into your baking dish evenly. Then drop the peanut butter in half tablespoon amounts throughout the top.
Fold and swirl in peanut butter with a knife and bake in the oven for around 25 minutes. The brownies should start to pull away from the sides of your pan.
Let cool almost completely before slicing and enjoying.

Related Recipes:

Chunky Peanut Butter Chocolate Chippers

>> Wednesday, June 24, 2015

While I was home, my best friend had me over one morning and let me sample some delicious energy bars she had just made. She was also baking up a chickpea breakfast muffin, and it got me thinking about bean desserts again. They are seriously tasty . . . and surprisingly healthy. And they usually trick Ada into thinking they’re way more decedent than they actually are.

So, now we’re all hooked on these:

CHUNKY PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIPPERS

What you’ll need . . .

1 can black beans, drained + rinsed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (heaping +) crunchy peanut butter*
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 to 1/2 cup chocolate chips

* I don’t normally specify ingredients, but I highly (!!!) recommend using Earth Balance’s Crunchy Coconut Peanut Butter. Only two grams of sugar and so much good coconut flavor added to the cookies. I picked some up at Wegmans the other day and -- whoa -- it’s good.

Method . . .

Preheat to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a baking sheet with coconut oil.
Blend all ingredients (except chocolate chips!) together in food processor. It should get sticky but also sort of fluffy.
Fold in the chocolate chips. Divide into 12-16 “cookies” and roll with your palm into rounds. Place onto your baking sheet and flatten slightly.
Then -- and this is key -- press with fork tines for that classic pb cookie look. It makes them even more deceptively delicious.
Bake for 10 minutes and let cool a bit before devouring.

Chickpea Peanut Butter Blondies

Vegan + Flourless Black Bean Brownies

GF Chocolate + PB Energy Bars

Chocolate Chunk Energy Cookies

Breakfast Cookies

Chocolate Chip Banana + Chickpea Cookies

Dessert Hummus, er, Hu-Mousse!

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GF Black Bean Avocado Brownies

>> Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Here’s a sweet treat for your Wednesday. This recipe is a modification of the Healthy Chocolate + PB Brownies and Peanut Butter Blondies I posted last summer. What makes these guys different is that I used avocado in place of banana and made them super dark chocolate. Adding walnuts also made them taste even more legit. Please let me know if you try this recipe! The first ones were a huge hit, so I’m hoping this one’s a new favorite.

In pictures:

BLACK BEAN AVOCADO BROWNIES

Flourless, gluten-free, vegan, etc.

What you’ll need . . .

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 medium-large avocado, ripe
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 (heaping) cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
pinch sea salt
2 Moser Roth chocolate bars, 70% dark (from Aldi)
(or big handful dark chocolate chips)
1/3 cup walnuts

Method . . .

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a loaf or square baking pan with coconut oil and set aside.
Place all ingredients except the chocolate and walnuts in a food processor and combined until smooth.
Then pulse in the walnuts and chocolate until well incorporated but chunky.
Pour mixture into your prepared pan and distribute evenly, flatten with a spatula.
Bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool before serving.

Enjoy!

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Budget-Friendly Low Glycemic Foods

>> Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Though I won’t be going on some wild post-holiday detox, I’m getting back to the basics this week and eating vegetarian low glycemic foods to come down slowly from all that December sugar. The cool thing with this list is that these foods are triple threats. They’re healthy, inexpensive, and they are also pretty shelf stable, so food waste isn’t a concern. Better on the budget, too.

Add these 5 foods to your weekly grocery list. And consider trying some of the many recipes we have on this site. Back in the day, I posted recipes multiple times a week. More recently, those posts get around half the views of the other stuff I share -- but I think 2015 is the comeback of recipe blogging regardless. I love cooking and baking, and I can’t let pageviews always dictate my content.

Enjoy!

Oats

Oats -- in a variety of forms -- are my breakfast go-to. We have both rolled oats and steel-cut on hand, which we purchased at Aldi on the cheap. Oats contain a special sort of fiber that lowers bad cholesterol levels known as beta-glucan. Plus, they taste great and fill you up so you can get through your day.

Lentils

Quick-cooking lentils are great in a pinch because they contain potassium, calcium, zinc, niacin, and vitamin K. And they're particularly rich in dietary fiber, lean protein, folate, and iron. Surprisingly, I don’t have a lot of recipes featuring lentils on this site -- so I’d like to change that! Usually we just toss them into soups.

Lentil + Quinoa Burgers with baby kale pesto
Stephen’s Healthy Lentil Bowl
Split Pea Miso Soup (use lentils in place of split peas)
Tarka Dhal (with lentils + sweet potatoes)

Chickpeas

There are tons of health benefits you gain from eating chickpeas. They’re high in both fiber and folate. They’re an excellent source of vegetarian protein. They taste delicious prepared in a variety of ways. Heck -- you can even use garbanzos in desserts! No, really. Check out that blondie recipe and tell me what you think.

Beans

Similarly, there’s a wide array of other beans that a packed full of goodness. In fact, each cup of beans contains 15 grams of both protein and fiber. A few months back, I gave you guys an entire week’s worth of dinner ideas that contain beans as their bulk. (Oh, yeah. You can also make some awesome black bean brownies to curb that sweet tooth!)

*** To cook beans, follow these detailed instructions.

Basically, you soak overnight, drain and rinse, then cook atop your stove for a few hours on low heat until you reach your desired texture. You save money on buying cans, as well as consume less sodium and harmful BPA from cans.

Sweet Potatoes

Despite their taste, sweet potatoes are actually lower on the glycemic index than regular potatoes. When I was working my desk job, I’d often bring a scrubbed sweet potato in for lunch. I’d pierce the skin with the tines of a fork and then place it on a microwave safe dish. Cook on high for 5-6 minutes and then top however you like.

What types of recipes would you like to see this year?

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Healthy Chocolate + PB Brownies

>> Monday, June 2, 2014

After I made the Healthy Peanut Butter Blondies with chickpeas, I set my sights on the whole ubiquitous black bean brownie idea. And the recipe morphed into exactly that with just a couple substitutions! So, if you'd like to make THESE tasty, protein-rich treats -- keep reading.

Oh, did I mention they are gluten-free?

(I know some of you guys want more GF recipes!)

BLACK BEAN BROWNIES

What you'll need . . .

1 can black beans, drained + rinsed
1 medium ripe banana
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 to 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
pinch sea salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Method . . .

I preheated my oven to 350 degrees F.
Then I tossed it all but the chocolate chips into my food processor and blended until well combined, folded in the chocolate chips, and then spread into a well oiled bread pan (you can also use a square brownie dish), and let bake for 25 minutes.
I let cool for around a half hour before slicing.

The fact that these guys have absolutely no butter, added oil, flour, or huge dose of sugar in them sort of blows my mind. I was especially impressed with the texture of the brownies because I have a lot of trouble getting vegan brownies to set well. And I've made black bean brownies before (with carrot puree!), but I used flour -- so the ones above are just sort of magical to me.

Now, if you'd like a more traditional vegan brownie recipe, these Ultimate Vegan Brownies certainly take the cake -- I highly recommend them! You could even say they'll change your life, but I'll leave that up to you to decide. Basically, they are the best ever. EVER!

So, like with the Peanut Butter Blondies recipe, please let me know how these turn out for you! They are a new favorite around these parts, and I think now that I've written this post, I'll definitely need to go make a batch for an after-dinner treat.

Nom.

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Try It // Black Bean + Carrot Brownies

>> Wednesday, April 9, 2014

This recipe! As I wrote earlier this week, it's sort of like these healthy Carrot Brownie Bites meet these Red Velvet Black Bean Brownies. And they have a protein-rich, vegan baby. Which actually reminds me to address a question I often get: "You're not vegan, so why do you bake mostly vegan goods?"

Totally curious, I understand.

So, no. I'm not vegan, but I do make an effort to eat a primarily plants-based diet. I also spent the bulk of my "formative" years learning how to cook and bake as a vegan; it's just what I know how to do. When it comes to cookies, cakes, etc. and baking sans eggs -- it also has a lot to do with taste. I can usually faintly taste eggs in something, and though I love eggs . . . baking does something odd to the flavor -- at least for my palate. It's as simple as that.

So, this is a long introduction to these vegan brownies. I've had great success baking black bean brownies over more traditional varieties for some reason (and following the strict instructions for this INCREDIBLE batch). Why fix it if it's broken? I whipped up this batch the other day when I was trying to come up with something sweet that Ada could eat. Then I ended up eating almost the entire lot myself.

// BLACK BEAN + CARROT BROWNIES
Makes 12 delicious, vegan brownies with hidden health benefits!

What you'll need . . .

1 cup black beans, drained + rinsed
1/3 cup pureed carrots*
1/3 cup maple syrup
3 tablespoons olive or canola oil
2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
1 tablespoons vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup + 1-2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 handfuls chocolate chips semi-sweet
Handful of nuts, if you want more protein!

Method . . .

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a standard muffin tin and set aside.
In a food processor or blender, combine the black beans, carrot puree, maple syrup, oil, peanut butter, cocoa powder, and vanilla extract.
In another bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour and baking powder.
Then add the wet ingredients to the dry (should get really fluffy and a bit stiff). Then fold in the chocolate chips -- do no over-mix.
Spoon by big heaping tablespoons and divide evenly among the 12 muffin tin slots. Then with slightly moistened fingertips, press the tops to flatten.
Bake for 15-20+ minutes, until slightly pulling away from pan at edges and set in the middle.
Let cool before eating (the flavor develops better after cooling).
Store in an air-tight bag or container in your fridge for up to a week.

* To make carrot puree, wash and scrub a couple medium to large carrots and chop off ends. Then chop into smaller pieces and either steam or boil until soft. Puree in a food processor or blender until smooth with a tablespoons or three of water. You could also use store-bought pumpkin puree.

// Nutrition Info

Per brownies there are 145 calories, 19 g carbs, 7 g fat, 3 g protein, 80 mg sodium, 8 g sugar. Not too shabby in my opinion. Though these counts change depending on how many chocolate chips you use, if you include nuts, etc.

If you're looking for a way to use up that last cup of Roasted Carrot + Miso Soup, you'll want to check back for tomorrow's post. I love the mix even more in my hummus dip!

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