Toasted Hazelnut and Dark Chocolate Black Bean Brownies

It's Friday - finally!! I'm so excited for the weekend... catching up on sleep, trashy tv, and some cooking. Good Times! I'm excited to announce that I am participating in my first Blog Hop sponsored by ABpetite. Blog hopping is basically a chance to check out other blogs and expose your blog to their readers as well. So check out her site if you are interested in participating the next go around. Some of the other bloggers in the blog hop are: Real Food Runner, Ape's Eats, Skinny & Delicious and Bargain Bites. Please check out their sites, show some love and subscribe if you'd like!

 Now about those brownies....

I have this one recipe for black bean brownies that always turns out great but I wanted something with a little less fat and sugar. My original recipe calls for 2 sticks of butter and 1 cup of pure maple syrup. So I went in search of a "better" recipe. I found this one on the Whole Foods website and it sounded like my kind brownie - fudgie. Another great thing is that these are gluten-free! Awesome! I adapted the recipe by reducing the sugar and add my own mix-ins. I love Nutella, but it is really sweet. The flavors of hazelnuts and chocolate together is on of my favorite combos. These are really something else... and I'm totally digging it! The texture is perfect and I'm so glad I made these.


I used a dark chocolate (70%) that I found at Whole Foods sold by the chunk. It's great, not too sweet and flavored with a little vanilla. Great find! I also purchased the hazelnuts from the bulk section, so no need to purchase large quantities of those ingredients. Just buy what you need. I ended up only needing to bake mine for 30 minutes, so check them to make sure you don't over cook! 

Toasted Hazelnut and Dark Chocolate 
Black Bean Brownies

Cook Time: <35 minutes
Prep Time: < 10 minutes
Serves: 16 small squares


Ingredients:

• 1/4 tsp coconut oil
• 2 cups cooked black beans (or 1- 15oz can black beans, rinsed and drained well)
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1/4 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract 
• 1/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 2oz dark chocolate, cut in chunks/pieces
• 1.5oz hazelnuts, toasted and chopped finely
• powder sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease an 8 x 8 baking dish with a little coconut oil. Set aside. 


In a small pan, toast the hazelnuts over medium heat on a dry pan. This should take maybe 5 minutes, just keep swirling the pan to prevent burning. Remove from heat and chop finely. Set aside. 

In a large bowl, combine the black beans, eggs, butter, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla and brown sugar. Using a food processor, puree the mixture until it is completely smooth (about 5 minutes). 

Then stir in the dark chocolate pieces and toasted hazelnuts. 

Pour the brownie batter into the grease baking dish and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the center is set.

Allow the brownies to cool before cutting. 

Nutrition Info per Brownie Square:
Calories: 125 ; Fat: 8g ; Carbohydrate: 10g ; Fiber: 2.5g ; Sugar: 4g ; Protein: 4g 

Recipe adapted from Whole Foods