Black Bean Brownies - Who Woulda Thunk

So I was thinking the other day - just because I'm on this 8 week craziness, doesn't mean I can't have a healthy treat once in awhile, right?  I've been hearing a lot about black bean brownies lately so decided to give 'em a whirl after I saw them on my bootcamp's blog. 

Pretty darn tasty!  I can't really taste the beans and they have a rich, chocolate-y flavour to them - almost slightly bitter like dark chocolate.  Don't get me wrong...they're not quite an nice ooey gooey fudge-y brownie...but as a close substitute, they're awesome!  I like that they're relatively low in fat (you could make them even lower by using applesauce) and you get a fibre/protein punch from the bean.  The texture is different so be warned...slightly grainy but I'm used to that kind of texture as it's similar to Chinese red bean buns (which I adore).  I left out the chocolate chips, but if you put those on top, I think you might be able to fool even the most avid chocoholic!

Black Bean Brownies - from BDHQ blog

1 (15.5 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
3 eggs
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup agave syrup
1 teaspoon instant coffee (optional)
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8x8 square baking dish.

Combine the black beans, eggs, oil, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla extract, agave, and instant coffee in a blender; blend until smooth; pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top of the mixture.

Bake in the preheated oven until the top is dry and the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes.
 
My changes:  I cut back on the oil to 2 tbsp and left out the chips - and they still turned out great.  Next time I might add some nuts or something to oomph up the texture. Two thumbs up on this!