Hello Maple Lovers, and welcome to our March edition of Recipe of the Week. In case this is your first time checking one of these out, I am Alex and I am an employee at Maple Valley Cooperative. Each month I try out a recipe that features maple syrup to save you the time of testing it out yourself. Then, I let you know how it went and what I would change!
This month I decided to try these delicious looking Black Bean Brownies from Chocolate Covered Katie. I was drawn them because they are flour-less, high in protein, and contain lots of beneficial ingredients. Yum!
There as been some confusion before when I tried out someone else’s recipe so I’m going to make it super clear today:
I can’t legally post it on the Maple Valley site, so you will have to go straight to the source to try this one out yourself.
Let’s get started!
Ingredients
I already had most of the ingredients for this one in my pantry, but I did have to run to the store for quick oats and chocolate chips. If you are avoiding oats, make sure you check out her nutrition link for alternatives. As usual, I used organic ingredients wherever possible.
Mixing the Batter
The first, and main instruction, in this recipe is to mix the ingredients together in a “good” food processor. This is where my process turned into an inadvertent food processor product testing session. I decided to use my Ninja Blender food processor attachment since it was readily available and is generally touted as a good product.
Next, I added all the ingredients and pushed “blend”.
I was very patient, but after a while it became evident that the chunks were no longer getting smaller. Apparently, the Ninja Processor was not good enough.
So, I went and got my Cuisinart food processor from storage. Now this thing is as old as the hills and was handed down to me by my grandmother. It has seen some damage and, though I love it, I have had it in storage pending some much needed part replacements. It still works though, and I decided that if the Ninja processor wasn’t good enough, the Cuisinart HAD to be.
I transferred everything over to the other processor and let it run while I got my 8×8″ pan greased and ready for batter. After a while, there was an obvious improvement in texture.
I guess we now know what Chocolate Covered Katie meant by “good”.
I added the chocolate chips to the brownie batter and mixed it up. Since the original recipe stresses the importance of the chocolate chips, I went with the highest recommended amount; 2/3 cup. I think if I make this again, i will reduce it to 1/2 cup (the lower suggested amount).
Baking
After that, it was transfer to the pan, add a few more chocolate chips on top, and pop it in the oven for 18 minutes! Here is how it looked before the oven:
And, here is how it looked after the oven & 10 minutes of cooling time:
At this point, I couldn’t wait to try these tasty treats. I was somewhat disappointed to find them completely soft still when I went to cut them. The recipe states to cool them overnight in the fridge if you have this problem. I suggest planning ahead and doing so instead of just eating them all gooey like I did. Unless, you like gooey…
The flavor was fantastic and I never would have guessed there were beans in the brownies had I not known. I think these are a total winner and worth keeping in the recipe book. Yum! Enjoy!
0 Comments