These Black Bean Brownies are flourless, fudgy and delicious healthy dessert. No one will ever guess these brownies are made with black beans and are packed with protein and fiber.
Other gluten-free desserts we love are these healthy zucchini brownies, almond flour brownies and cottage cheese brownies!
Reader’s Review
My go to brownie recipe. No one ever believes they are healthy! I use a flax egg or chia egg always turn out great. Thanks for the recipe.
Mindy
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Black bean brownies have all the taste and sweetness you crave in a brownie but contain no refined sugar. Dates provide all the sweetness you need!
Black beans also have the perfect texture and color to replace flour making this black bean brownies recipe truly naturally gluten-free!
No one will be able to tell these brownies are made with black beans. My kids call them “beautiful”, they really do not have black bean flavor! We loved them so much, I now developed no bake brownies recipe with similar ingredients!
Ingredients for Black Bean Brownies
You will need just 10 simple ingredients, most of which are pantry staples and you probably have on hand right now.
- Black beans: Black beans are the basis of this brownie recipe. No substitutions, not even lentils or chickpeas. You can use canned black beans or dried beans. If you have any cooked black beans like Instant Pot black beans, use about 1 1/2 cups to 1 3/4 cups.
- Medjool dates: Most grocery stores carry 2 types of dates, “regular” and Medjool. You have to buy Medjool variety. Their meaty and moist texture adds volume and fudgy texture to brownies. And fresh is best! As dates get older, they dry out and sugars start to crystalize on the outside.
- Eggs: I used 2 large eggs. I have not tried to make egg-free black bean brownies. What might work is 1/4 cup coconut oil. But you would have to cool brownies. I think when coconut oil cools off, it will solidify and hold brownies together.
- Coffee: Brewed coffee adds more depth to the chocolate flavor but you can skip it. It’s not a crucial ingredient but if you have leftover morning coffee, save it and add to brownies.
- Cacao powder: You can use cocoa powder instead of cacao powder. It’s interchangeable in all chocolate recipes, the only difference is that health benefits of cacao powder are greater.
- Applesauce: I use unsweetened applesauce.
- Baking essentials: Pure vanilla extract, baking soda, and salt.
- Chocolate chips: I use dark chocolate chips. You can use semi-sweet chocolate chips.
How to Make Black Bean Brownies
Just blend, bake, and enjoy. Dirty one blender, not even another bowl.
Prep: I cannot stress enough that it is a must to line your 8 x 8-inch square baking dish with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Blend ingredients: In the following order, add eggs, applesauce, black beans, cacao powder, coffee, vanilla, baking soda, salt and dates to a high speed blender or food processor.
Either kitchen appliance will work, but I should caution you that it is a struggle to fit all the ingredients into a mini food processor.
Black bean brownie batter doesn’t have to be perfectly smooth and can have small chunks of dried fruit or beans in it.
Add chocolate chips: Stir until well combined.
Bake: Transfer batter with rubber spatula into the baking pan, level and sprinkle with more chocolate chips. Then bake black bean brownies for 30 minutes.
Cool: Let the brownies cool completely before slicing. These brownies taste great warm or cold and get even fudgier the next day.
Tips for Best Results
- Don’t make substitutions: Don’t skip Medjool dates or black beans. Both add volume to the batter and fudgy texture to brownies. If you skip them, your black bean brownie batter consistency will be off.
- If your dates are hard: Usually when they are older, they will be hard to blend. Soak them for 10 minutes in hot water, drain and then blend.
- Let brownies cool: It’s worth repeating multiple times. I know it’s hard, but please have patience. Again, this is to ensure that bars do not fall apart.
- Line baking dish: It makes brownies easy to cut and remove, and ensures they do not fall apart. I love these parchment paper sheets.
- Do not use any other sweetener: Any dry sweetener like sugar, stevia or xylitol will not work in this black bean brownie recipe. The same goes for honey or maple syrup.
Variations
- “Regular” dates: I tried and didn’t love the results but you can use them. Soak 15 of them in warm water for 15 minutes and drain well. One of the readers used prunes instead and she said the brownies turned out amazing! I haven’t tried, please let me know if you do.
- Vegan: Someone in the comments skipped eggs and used flax eggs. Someone else said it didn’t work. You can also try 1/4 cup melted coconut oil instead and cool brownies completely in the fridge.
- Dairy-free: As is, this recipe is dairy free, except the chocolate chips. Just use dairy-free chocolate chips and you are all set!
- Add-ins: Add chopped nuts like walnuts, pecans or hazelnuts to the batter. Top with fresh raspberries or sliced strawberries before baking. Also freeze-dried fruit will work well as an addition.
How to Store
Store: Keep black bean brownies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. But I doubt they will last that long!
Freeze: Simply place brownies in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw on a counter at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
I freeze cut up brownies right in Pyrex glass container I bake in. It comes with a plastic lid. Just lift a black bean brownie with a butter knife and defrost. Perfect!
FAQs
For rich fudgy brownies, remove when the center still jiggles somewhat. For a firm brownie, use the toothpick method. Remove when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out almost clean (a few crumbs is okay on the toothpick).
More Brownies Recipes to Try
- Oat flour brownies
- Banana brownies
- Chickpea blondies
- Healthy pumpkin brownies
- Sweet potato brownies
- Protein brownies
- Greek yogurt brownies
Black Bean Brownies
Video
Ingredients
- 14 ounces can low sodium black beans, drained & rinsed
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup applesauce, unsweetened
- 10 large Medjool dates, pitted
- 2 tablespoons brewed coffee, optional
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup cacao powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips, divided
- Cooking spray, I use Misto
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 8 x 8 square baking dish with unbleached parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.
- In a powerful blender or food processor add ingredients in the following order: eggs, applesauce, black beans, cacao powder, coffee, vanilla, baking soda, salt and dates; then process until smooth. Add 1/4 cup chocolate chips and stir to mix.
- Pour batter into baking dish, top with 1/4 cup chocolate chips and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let brownies cool for 5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely before slicing. Cut into 16 squares.
Notes
- Store: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Do not leave sitting out, mold could develop.
- Freeze: In an airtight container up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
My picky eater 36-year-old son loves this treat!
I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t made them myself! Amazingly delicious and somewhat more healthy!
Oh these look AMAZING and I agree, dates are basically nature’s candy so why add sugar?
If you get to a middle eastern market, which you probably have living near a big city they have a ton of different date varieties. For a long time I was an ignorant Lebanese person who didn’t realize how many types of dates there are. There are so many! I got sukhari dates and woah I might have a new favorite. I am definitely going to make these (along with a bunch of other recipes I’ve seen posted here)
Thanks for sharing this valuable info, Carrie!
Best brownies I’ve ever made!
For vegans, you can replace the 2 eggs with 2 flaxseed eggs! :-)))
for one egg in baking:
1 Tbsp. ground flax seed + 3 Tbsp. water; whisk together and let sit for a few minutes, then add just as you would eggs.
Thanks for a SUPER yummy recipe, Olena!! <3
Thanks for sharing, Donna!
Oh my Olena, you nailed this brownie recipe!
I have tried other black bean brownie recipes & yours is best black bean brownie recipe. I used the 1/2 cooked dry beans vs canned. I also may have “accidentally” added extra chocolate chips 🙂 . However, I won’t next time as the recipe clearly would be perfect with the 1/4c & 1/4c on top. It was chocolatey decadence w/ no bean taste or texture. The last 5 minutes, I decided to pat on a scant amount of coconut oil just because I am not a fan of the dried bean look on top of baked goods and it had an excellent sheen!
PS. I also tried your no bake black bean brownie recipe 2 weeks back and it was AMAZING! Felt like I was eating fudge which was heaven. The kids (7 & 3) loved it too which makes me super happy.
So happy to have found your site & looking forward to trying more recipes
Hi Katie. Haha, that’s awesome. I know what you mean about the dry on top look. That’s why I sprinkled sea salt last time and oh my that was such a yummy decision. I have a tray of these black bean brownies frozen from last photoshoot and pop out a few when I crave sweets. SO happy you found me too. Enjoy!!!
These were really tasty and easy to make, I will definitely make them again. Great recipe!
Awesome!
So awesome. I have tried other Black Bean Brownie recipes on the web and honestly, this one is the best. Perhaps it is the addition of eggs that makes them fluffy (for lack of a better word) but wow, so rich and tasty, just like the old days when I didn’t care about what I ate! Thanks again for another pure and yummy recipe.
LOL “just like the old days when I didn’t care about what I ate!”. You can honestly eat as many as you like. And go for a walk around the neighbourhood afterwards. And you’ll be fine.
So easy, and texture is wonderfully soft and tasty. This really is a great recipe!
These were actually really good. I made them vegan by using 2 T ground flax + 6 T water to replace the eggs.I also only used 1/8 c of mini chocolate chips. My husband really enjoyed these as a treat. He was recently diagnosed with diabetes and he’s following a low fat whole food plant based diet. These fit perfectly. To me, they are more fudge-like in consistency than brownie-like, but yummy just the same. Since I made it vegan, I got to taste the batter. It’s super yummy! And I would totally eat it as a dip. Thanks for the great recipe. Definitely a keeper. 🙂
You are very welcome.:)