Black Bean Brownies/Cake
 

Let me tell, guys..I had my doubts when I started "fooling with beans" from the South Beach site..But, I have made 3 things with "beans" and it's incredible that they taste great. Full of fiber..NO FLOUR..carbs are higher, but for those of you who can do "beans", give them a whirl..And CHEAP..

I made this today:

Black Bean Brownies (TRIED AND TRUE)
Printable Version

Phase: 1
Preheat Oven: 350
Cooking Time: 30-40

1 15oz. can of UNSEASONED black beans - drained and rinsed
OR 1 1/4 cup cooked beans of any color
4 eggs (extra large)
1 cup Splenda
3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tbsp. oil or butter
1 Tbs Vanilla (FULL Tablespoon)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup ricotta cheese or cream cheese

For extra chocolatey goodness:
2 ounces of unsweetened chocolate, melted with
2 Tbs. oil/butter in the micro..
Add a couple of Tbs. of splenda..

Then mix this in the batter right before you spread it in the pan.

chopped nuts - optional (I used chopped walnuts)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients in a food processor or blender- blend very, very well. At this point, I decided it needed more chocolate flavor so I did the addition above, then mixed it in.

Pour into an 8x8 baking pan sprayed with cooking spray or oiled with canola or olive oil. Bake for 30-40 minutes. (til toothpick pulls out clean).

Mine took 30 minutes..



I also made a carrot cake using Great Northern Beans/cinnamon/walnuts/2 shredded carrots/1/4 cup of dry milk powder and the basic recipe above not using the chocolate, of course. It was REALLY GOOD..

This actually tastes like brownies? You don't taste beans?

Nope..I was SO hesitant at first..You can't taste the beans at all..Just make sure you drain and rinse your beans VERY WELL to get that bean juice off..

I used Black beans for the brownies..but you could use pinto beans, too.

Great! I have some, in the cupboard. I may have to try that.

Let me know how you like them..Be sure to check your time and put in your toothpick until it comes out clean..

I can't wait to try these,been reading about them,but I'm doing induction right now.But as soon as it's over I'm switching to SB:)

I wonder if you can sub the black beans for black soy beans?

My dh said it was the best LC cake I had ever made..I did put some almond extract in there, too.

Wanting: I don't know if you can do the soybeans or not..They are a little different texture and you have to get them totally mushed up..Give it whirl..and see what happens.

I heard that pressure cooking black soy beans will make them more tender. I will have to try this recipe.

One of my cookbooks has a recipe for black soybean brownies. I made them a couple of times. They were fuegy and good.

Do they make you toot? :laugh:

Thanks CarolynF for posting this recipe, I had a copy last year but lost it.

No they don't..They are so well mixed and mushed into a batter that something magical happens..LOLOL

Sounds different.
Are these gluten free??
Have you figured out the carbs?

Just wondering.
Thanks for sharing.

Well, they don't have any wheat in them..and I think the carb counts will depend on the type of beans you use and the type of splenda you use..Basically, the cake has around
60 net carbs..ish..Then you have to count your carbs in your sweetener..It's not terribly low carb, but divided into 8-10 pieces, this is relatively low. Remember the carbs are from beans and there is quite a bit of fiber involved.

I have a similar recipe use black soy beans that tastes great. Might try both to compare. Thanks for the recipe, OP!

Last night I used Carolyn's original recipe but subbed black soybeans and the result was pretty good! I've made a similar thing before with almond flour instead of beans, but I think the calories and carbs are a lot higher, so this is a nice alternative... here's a picture:
http://i19.tinypic.com/8eqyf6b.jpg

Is this from a South Beach recipe list?

On SB, I think you can have a serving of beans or something.

Thank you for sharing this and many recipes on this forum.:)

I ran the basic recipe using the black beans and this is what I got for 9 servings.

Calories: 123.82
Calories From Fat: 55.10
Total Fat: 6.22g
Saturated Fat: 2.76g
Total Carbohydrates: 9.31g
Fiber: 3.39g
Net Carbohydrates: 5.92g
Protein: 7.10g

Well,
that is not bad at all!

This would be a nice change in texture from the almond meal.
Although, I do love the almond meal also!

Thank you Kevinpa for looking this up!!:)

BTW, those counts are for using 1 slpenda quick pack for the cup of sweetener. Granular splenda would make the counts 2 or 3 carbs higher each.

I'm giving you a big cyber-kiss, Kevin for doing this..I would LOVE you to try this recipe..

Honestly, the texture is much better than almond flour..It's a beanie miracle..It is just like cake..Don't ask me how those little beans turn into cake..I have no idea!

Yup it's SBD. I gave this one to Carolyn since she was making a bean cake. I can take or leave the bb brownie but my stepdaughter really likes em. I'm not a paying member of their forum anymore but I'll look through my recipes and see if I can find some everyone might be interested in.

They'll all that and a bag o chips-especially since no toots involved! :rofl:

Thank you Kevinpa for clarifying that Splenda situation.

Thank you Lisa and the more recipes, the more it makes the lc woe the best there is!

I wonder about those new little Splenda mini tablets. Do you think they could be used in some single recipes like the bowl muffins etc.

I make those all the time. I have a pumpkin one down pat as to the way I love it!! I love the way you can tweak these to suit yourself.

Thank you all!!:)

I don't like them as they are a pain in the butt to dissolve especially in cold drinks. They are .5 carbs so I would just rather use the packet or Sweetzfree.

Thanks Lisa, I was wondering about that.
I too love my sweetzfree and Davinci Syrups.

I made this recipe today - I'd say way more cake-like than brownie-like, but then, I like dense fudgy brownies!

THAT being said this is an EXCELLENT cake! Better than many LC chocolate cake recipes I've tried.

I doubled the recipe, used 1 Splenda quickpack and 1 cup white Diabetisweet (would've used erythritol but was surprised to find myself out of it) and I used cream cheese, not ricotta. I baked it in a 9 x 13" pan for 35 minutes at 350* in my convection oven. It rose beautifully, fell no more than a "normal" cake would upon cooling, has a wonderful texture and the taste is very chocolate-y! I did use 4 tablespoons of Hershey's Special Dark cocoa and 2 of Penzey's Dutched cocoa because that's what I had on hand.

I'm taking it to a birthday party tomorrow for a bunch of people who are diabetic and/or low carbers so this should fit the bill perfectly! I will sprinkle the top with sifted powdered erythritol.

I took a piece over to my diabetic Mom (I'm only taking half the cake tomorrow) and she loved it.

A side note - I had one can of Trader Joe's black beans and one can of another brand and was quite amazed at the difference - the TJ's were rather brownish and thicker, where the other brand was JET BLACK and very "whole beanish" - interesting how brands differ!

I plan to try this too. In Japan they use beans a lot for fillings for mochi and desserts. So I can see how this would work and not really think you are eating beans.

Char: Glad you tried this and liked it. It is so cheap to make and has lots of fiber..:)
I do need to make another one as my almond cake is all gone..:)