After picking up a copy of Every Day by Ella Woodward, known online as Deliciously Ella, I have been working my way through the different recipes in the book. From delicious pesto beans to a chia pot that kept me full for hours, I have been loving the recipes so far.
Looking for something sweet and plant-based to make for dessert, I opted for the gooey black bean brownies. Admittedly, the idea of putting black beans in brownies did somewhat confuse me. But nevertheless, I’m always looking for recipes that will make sweet things just that bit healthier.
While the recipe makes 12 brownies, I opted to halve the number as it would be just me and my partner who would be eating them, meaning six would be more than enough.
Ella’s recipe was super easy to follow, and before I knew it the brownies were in the oven. However, it was when I took them out that the problems seemed to arise.
After leaving them for over an hour to set following their removal from the oven, they still felt rather slimy, and remained so. And while I found the brownies to be just okay, my boyfriend, who usually loves brownies, did not like them.
Even after keeping them in a tin for a couple of days, their texture remained rather strange, not like other brownies I’ve had. They would also crumble and fall apart before even making it to a plate.
While I have no plans to make this recipe again, I will be trying out some of Ella’s other dessert recipes, which will hopefully work out a lot better, seeing as this is the only one so far that hasn’t quite been to my taste.
Gooey Black Bean Brownies
Ingredients (Serves 12)
- Two tablespoons of Chia seeds
- 400g can of black beans, drained and rinsed
- 200g of ground almonds
- 200g of apple puree (homemade or shop-bought)
- 200ml of plant-based milk
- Two tablespoons of coconut oil
- Two tablespoons of honey
- Eight tablespoons of maple syrup
- Seven or eight tablespoons of raw cacao powder
- A pinch of salt
- 100g of raisins
Method
Start by soaking the chia seeds in 140ml of water for about 30 minutes. Then preheat the oven to 180C (fan 160C).
Place all the ingredients, except the raisins, into a food processor and blend until smooth. Then stir in the raisins until evenly mixed in.
Then line a baking dish with baking parchment. Pour the brownie mix into the dish and spread it around evenly.
Bake for about 40 minutes, or until a knife comes out almost clean. Then, let the brownies cool for about 45 minutes in their tin —this step is really important as they won’t be entirely set when they come out of the oven and will continue setting during this time.
Cut into 12 brownies and then store in an airtight container for up to five days.