Best Black Bean Brownies (Vegan, Gluten Free)
No flour is to be found in these delicious, healthy, vegan and gluten-free black bean brownies. They are so moist and fudgy, you won’t believe your taste buds! They really are the best brownies.
These Black Bean Brownies are the healthier alternative you’ve been looking for and so much more! Made with only the best vegan and gluten-free ingredients such as black beans, avocado oil, rolled oats, and coconut sugar, these brownies are definitely loaded with nutrients such as protein and fiber.
Aside from being healthy, these brownies are absolutely delicious! These brownies have a dark rich chocolatey flavor that’s not overly sweet and a thick, moist, and chewy texture (basically, everything that we crave for in a brownie). With it’s decadent taste, you wouldn’t even know that these brownies have beans in them.
This recipe is definitely perfect for kids and the whole family, as well as for any occasion. Once you’ve tried these Black Bean Brownies, you’ll surely never have enough of them!
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Rich in nutrients – The ingredients used in this recipe are healthy and rich in nutrients! Black beans are specifically rich in protein, fiber, and antioxidants.
- Vegan and gluten-free – This recipe is 100% vegan and gluten-free! Make sure to use gluten-free certified rolled oats, as necessary to your diet.
- Easy to make – You’ll only need a few ingredients, a blender or food processor, and you’re ready to go. These brownies are easy to make and will be ready within less than an hour of prep and cook time!
- Tastes delicious – Rich and decadent, these brownies have a delicious flavor and moist and chewy texture that you’ll love.
- Also – Dairy-free, nut-free, soy-free. No flour! No eggs!
🗒️ Ingredient Notes
Black beans: The main ingredient in this recipe, we are using canned black beans to replace flour and to add nutrition to this recipe. Black beans are full of protein, fiber, antioxidants that will help turn this brownie recipe into a healthy treat. Make sure to use a blender or food processor to have a smooth brownie batter and to fully combine black beans with other ingredients. The beans also replace what would normally be regular eggs in a conventional recipe.
Cacao powder: No brownie recipe will be complete without this ingredient. Use quality unsweetened cacao or cocoa powder to deepen the chocolate flavor of this healthy brownie recipe.
Coconut sugar: This recipe uses coconut sugar, but feel free to use granulated sugar as you wish. This will help sweeten and caramelize your brownies and help them achieve that moist and chewy texture. If you would love to use a liquid sweetener like pure maple syrup, I would advise using half liquid, half granulated for best textural results.
Oil: I use avocado oil in this recipe, but feel free to use any neutral oil that is available to you. Vegetable oil, coconut oil and sunflower oil all work well. Oil serves as the binding ingredient in this recipe and makes sure that your brownies have a good texture and won’t turn into a crumbly mess.
Vanilla extract: Using pure vanilla extract will help enhance this recipe’s flavors. Alternatively, you can use vanilla bean powder if you prefer.
Baking powder: This ingredient helps these brownies rise a bit and adds a bit of a cakier texture. For this recipe, we want to have more thick and fudgy brownies, so we are only using one teaspoon of this.
Salt: Salt helps balance out the flavors and enhance the sweetness of the recipe. I like to use Himalayan pink salt.
Rolled oats: Use only certified gluten-free rolled oats, if necessary. Adding rolled oats adds texture and makes your brownie mixture more fudgy and cake-like.
Chocolate chips: No brownie would be complete without chocolate chips! Add chocolate chips to these brownies for a more satisfying, chocolatey result. We add them inside and sprinkle them on top for ultimate chocolate deliciousness. I like to use dark chocolate chips, but semi-sweet chocolate chips work well, too!
♨️ Instructions
- Prep – Preheat the oven to 350F. Line an 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper then set aside.
- Combine ingredients – In a blender or food processor, combine all ingredients except for ¼ cup chocolate chips. Blend until you have a mostly smooth batter (it’s okay to have chocolate chips dispersed throughout batter).
- Pour into baking pan – Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan, then top with chocolate chips.
- Bake – Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the edges are firm and the center is just firm to touch (no jiggle).
- Serve – Let cool completely before slicing. Enjoy!
🥡 Storage
These brownies are best eaten fresh within 1-2 days of baking. For proper storage, you can place these brownies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. If you want to keep them for longer, place them in the refrigerator and they can last up to a week. Brownies taste better and can last a bit longer if stored unsliced.
To reheat the brownies stored in the fridge, simply preheat your oven to 350ºF. Place your brownies on a baking sheet and reheat them for 3-10 minutes depending on how many brownies you are reheating.
💭 Top Tip
For nice and thick brownies, you can double the ingredients and bake for 15 minutes longer.
❓ FAQ
Yes, absolutely! You won’t actually taste the black beans in this brownie recipe since you have used your food processor to combine all the ingredients for your brownie batter. These Black Bean Brownies will taste like your normal rich and chewy brownies (except they are healthier!) and your kids wouldn’t even know that this recipe has beans unless you tell them!
So many! Black beans are a nutrient-rich ingredient that are high in protein, fiber, and low in carbs. It also has antioxidants such as vitamin A, calcium, folate, magnesium, iron, and potassium. Black beans can help people who want to control their weight, regulate their sugar, and reduce their cholesterol for a healthier heart.
Yes, these brownies freeze well! You can either freeze the batter before baking or freeze the brownies after baking.
To freeze the brownie batter before baking, place the brownie batter inside a freezer bag. If you want to keep the batter flat and even, you can lay the freezer bag onto a flat sheet pan before placing it inside the freezer. Make sure to remove any air from the container. You can freeze the brownies for up to a year.
To freeze baked brownies, you’ll need to allow them to cool first. Next, you’ll want to remove your brownies from the pan and then wrap them unsliced either in aluminum foil or plastic wrapping. You can freeze this for up to three months.
Remove your brownies from the freezer and allow them to thaw at room temperature before reheating them in the oven at 350ºF for five minutes. If you want to eat your brownies immediately, you can also microwave them straight from the freezer in 15-second intervals until they are warm and soft.
🍪 More Gluten Free Desserts
Gluten-Free Strawberry Shortcake
Flourless Chocolate Chip Tahini Cookies
Black Bean Brownies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 15-ounce can black beans drained and rinsed
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder or cacao powder
- ½ cup coconut sugar or any granulated sweetener
- ½ cup rolled oats certified gluten-free if necessary
- ¼ cup avocado oil or any oil of choice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup chocolate chips of choice plus ¼ cup for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper then set aside.
- In a blender or food processor, combine the black beans, cocoa powder, sugar, oats, oil, vanilla, baking powder and ½ cup chocolate chips.
- Blend until you have a mostly smooth batter (it’s okay to have chocolate chips dispersed throughout).
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan, then top with ¼ cup chocolate chips.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes (I find 27 to be the sweet spot) or until the edges are firm and the center is just firm to touch (no jiggle).
- Let cool completely before slicing. Enjoy!
This was such a unique brownies recipe. It’s full of healthy ingredients so I don’t feel bad if my kids keep eating these.
My family loves these brownies! It’s a great treat for my kids when they come home from school. So glad they couldn’t tell its made from black beans!
I am honestly shocked at how good these are. I don’t even like black beans but my husband wanted to try these and they are delicious. You can’t taste the beans at all!
You had me at chocolate! These were wonderful and the extras froze really well.
This recipe really is the best. Do you think I could get my toddler to eat black beans EVER? Nope. But now? Mwahaha 😉 Not to mention, these taste just like delicious classic chewy fudgy brownies.
Kristen,
Thank you for another delicious healthy high altitude recipe for those of us who live at an higher elevation. Awesome!
Waw it’s looking so yummy thanks for sharing this yummy creation
Thank you! 🙂
i keep meaning to try black bean brownies and this looks like a good recipe to try. I was just wondering if a nut butter could be used in place of the oil. Do you think that would work?
thanks.
Hi Jacquie – I actually think that would work wonderfully! I haven’t tested that out in this particular recipe, but I have in similar recipes. If you try it, I would love to hear about it. 🙂
Thanks for getting back to me. Can’t wait to try it out.