Black Bean Brownie Cookies

Beans can be used for a substitute for oil in a number of recipes, provided those recipes call for some strong flavors, like cocoa.  It takes some tweaking to get the consistency right sometimes, but the health benefits are pretty awesome.  That being said, the original recipe for these cookies I first saw posted to Facebook by a friend of mine.  I couldn't just let the recipe be, even though it was already "healthified," because I can never just let a recipe be.  I just can't.  Thus here is my even healthier (I added things like flax and Greek yogurt and tweaked the sugar) and arguably yummier (at the very least, I think I improved the texture) recipe:

Black Bean Chocolate Brownie Cookies

Ingredients

• 3 cups black beans, rinsed well
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/3 cup peanut butter
• 6 T. butter, melted
• 1 T. vanilla extract
• ½ cup agave
• 2/3 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
• 11/2 cup whole wheat flour (I used fresh ground flour- it's lighter and better for you)
• 1 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup Truvia baking blend (Stevia + sugar)
• 1/3 cup (be generous) ground flax
• 1 T. baking powder
• dash of cinnamon
• pinch of sea salt
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips, plus more for sprinkling on top OR butterscotch chips (my husband's preference which I stumbled upon by happy accident).

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Combine black beans, milk, peanut butter, vanilla, agave, Greek yogurt and melted butter in a food processor and process until smooth (I used my Blendtec).
3. Combine whole wheat flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, flax, salt, and cinnamon, in a large bowl.  Stir in wet ingredients.
4. Stir in dark chocolate chips.
5. Spoon dollops of the batter onto the baking sheet and sprinkle with the extra chocolate chips.  These cookies do not spread, but just puff a little as they cook so you can get them pretty cozy.
6. Bake for 10 minutes.
7. Let cool slightly, then put on a baking rack until they are cooled completely.
8. ENJOY!!

 

Note: These should probably be kept in the fridge, if they stick around that long.  I, er, I mean, my kids wolf these down like nobody's business.