Fudgy Black Bean Brownies
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These rich and fudgy Black Bean Brownies are made with feel-good ingredients, like canned black beans, maple syrup, and coconut oil, making them a truly delicious gluten-free dessert. You won’t even notice the beans!
Why you’ll love this family favorite recipe!
A feel-good treat – This recipe for black bean brownies is proof that you don’t need eggs, sugar, flour, or butter to make some seriously good brownies. Bonus: they’re naturally gluten-free!
Rich and fudgy – These brownies are as decadent as my fudgy vegan brownies, thanks to the black beans (a perfect flour replacer), cocoa powder, chocolate chips, and coconut oil.
Protein! Yes, just like my cottage cheese brownies, these brownies have some sneaky protein (approx. 4 grams per brownie)! They’re practically a health food when you think about it…
Table of Contents
Brownies don’t last long in my house because I admittedly can’t resist their fudgy, chocolatey charm. It’s why I like sneaking good-for-you ingredients into my brownie recipes, like my chickpea brownies and sweet potato brownies. That way, I don’t feel so bad about eating them all!
This is why I always have a can of black beans in the back of my cupboard. It’s the perfect excuse to make these Black Bean Brownies over and over again! They’re a flourless and gluten-free treat with some sneaky protein thanks to, you guessed it, black beans.
And don’t worry, friends… Flourless brownies with black beans do NOT taste like beans. The beans are simply there as a flour replacer and for some plant protein. All you get is the rich, chocolatey goodness you crave from a classic brownie.
This is one of my favorite recipes on the internet. Every single time I make them, people eat all of them and have the exact same reaction when I tell them they’re black beans—”no way!”
– Sarah
Black Bean Brownie Ingredients
Black beans – I used a can of black beans because they were already in my cupboard, but dry black beans cooked from scratch would also work.
Coconut oil – The source of fat that makes these brownies nice and gooey. I recommend using refined coconut oil to avoid any coconut flavors. Melted butter might work as a substitute, but I haven’t tried it.
Cane sugar – My main sweetener of choice for this dessert (along with some maple syrup). Coconut sugar or date sugar will also work.
Cocoa powder – I like using unsweetened cocoa powder, but you can use natural or Dutch-processed cocoa powder if you’d prefer.
Chocolate chips – The chocolate chips add a little more sweetness to make this “healthy-ish” recipe feel like an indulgent dessert. Try not to skip them!
This list provides further clarification on a few of the ingredients. See the recipe card below for the complete ingredient list.
Variations
- Vegan option – I haven’t tested vegan black bean brownies, but you can try replacing the eggs with an egg replacer or two flax eggs (2 tablespoons ground flaxseed mixed with 5 tablespoons water). The brownies may not hold together as well, but they will still taste delicious.
- Coconut oil substitute – If you don’t want to use coconut oil, I’d opt for avocado oil instead. Olive oil might be too overpowering for this recipe.
- Add espresso powder – Adding 1 or 2 teaspoons of espresso powder is optional, but it will take the richness to another level.
- More mix-ins – Combine the chocolate chips with pretzel pieces, chopped nuts, or fresh raspberries.
How to Make Black Bean Brownies
Step 1: Mash the beans. Start by pulsing the beans in the food processor until no whole beans remain.
Step 2: Add wet ingredients. Next, add the coconut oil, eggs, syrup, and vanilla, and pulse to combine them with the mashed beans.
Step 3: Add the rest. Add the sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and salt to the food processor and pulse to combine. Remove the blade, then fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula.
Step 4: Bake. Pour the brownie batter into a baking pan and sprinkle extra chocolate chips over top. Bake the brownies until the edges are firm and set.
Step 5: Cool, then slice. Set the brownies aside to cool, then slice them into bars and remove them from the pan. Enjoy!
Erin’s Tips and Tricks
- Start this recipe by draining and rinsing the black beans under running water. This will remove as much of the bean flavor as possible.
- No food processor? Use a mixing bowl and an electric mixer to make the brownies by hand. Just make sure those beans are well mashed before getting started!
- This recipe either makes 9 large brownies or 16 smaller brownies, depending on how you cut them.
My Pro Tip
Let Them Cool
These brownies need AT LEAST 20 minutes to cool down after baking. They’ll be way too moist and soft after baking, leaving you with a big, chocolatey mess to clean up if you don’t wait!
Black Bean Brownie FAQs
No! The black beans are only there for that gooey, fudgy texture. The cocoa powder and sweeteners do a fantastic job of covering up any bean flavors.
These brownies can be a little finicky, which is why I don’t recommend making too many substitutions. However, if they’re a little too sweet for your taste, try replacing the cane sugar with an equal amount of monk fruit sweetener or reduce the chocolate chips by half.
I haven’t tested it, but one medium mashed banana or an equal amount of unsweetened applesauce should work as an oil-free substitute for the coconut oil.
Storage
Room temperature: Keep the baked and cooled brownies covered and on the counter for up to 3 days.
Refrigerator: Black bean brownies keep for up to 1 week when stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
More Gluten-Free Desserts
Fudgy Black Bean Brownies
Video
Ingredients
- 1 can black beans, (15 oz. can), drained and rinsed
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/2 cup cane sugar
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Place beans in food processor and pulse; add coconut oil, eggs, syrup, and vanilla and pulse to mix together.
- Add in sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and salt and pulse to combine. Remove blade from food processor and stir in chocolate chips by hand.
- Coat a 8×8 baking pan with coconut oil and then pour batter into pan, using a spatula to smooth and even it out.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until edges have hardened. Allow AT LEAST 20 minutes for brownies to cool before cutting and removing from pan.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Hi Erin, Is the nutrition calculated for 9 servings or 16?
Thank you and these are delicious by the way!
Good question — The nutrition info is for 9 brownies!
Can you substitute the eggs with flaxseed meal?
I haven’t tried it but you should be able to use flax eggs, yes.
These are the best brownies i’ve ever made. I replaced all the sugar with dates to help balance my hormones and blood sugar during my luteal cycle and they worked amazing! I shared them with friends too and didn’t tell them what the ingredients in them were, everyone was impressed that they didn’t taste ‘healthy’ 100/10. Thank you so much for sharing!
They’re on repeat for my monthly cycle.
I’m so happy you and your friends liked the brownies!
Do you mind sharing ratios of dates used in your adaptation of the recipe, and which ingredients the dates replace?
Thank you
I would also love to know how the dates were incorporated into this recipe! I’m truly in my date era.
These brownies are simply delicious! Made a few times, gave some to friends, rave reviews all around. I do have a question about the recipe. Since the coconut oil needs to be melted for this recipe, could a another neutral oil such as sunflower or olive oil (not extra virgin)be used instead? TIA
I’m so glad everyone has been loving the brownies! Great question – if you don’t want to use coconut oil, I’d personally opt for avocado oil. Olive oil actually has more of a flavor to it, and we don’t want to taste the oil at all.
Thank you for your quick reply. If using avocado oil, how much do I need? When using coconut oil I measure it by weight and then melt it, never measured how much it is in ml once melted! Does my question make sense? 🙂
Yes it does — I would still use 1/4 cup avocado oil! I think that should work.
Erin, I’m about to be really dramatic with this review – this is one of my favorite recipes on the internet. Every single time I make them, people eat all of them and have the exact same reaction when I tell them they’re black beans – “no way!”
I actually signed up to bring brownies for a funeral at church and the son-in-law of the person who passed came up to me at church and said “I saw you signed up to bring brownies – please tell me you’re bringing the black bean ones!!” He had them once, a year and a half before!!
I have TRIED to make these vegan by using flax eggs – they did not hold together and took way longer to cook, but the flavor was fabulous and they ended up almost being like a lava cake texture. I think with tweaks they could be easily made vegan.
When I make them in my normal life I most often use butter (because it’s cheaper than coconut oil) and often use coconut sugar instead so they’re refined-sugar free. I always add a tiny bit of espresso powder (like I do with every brownie recipe) and I think it makes them even deeper and richer.
Basically this is me saying thank you, thank you, thank you for a treat that truly delights everyone I make it for!!
This makes me so happy 🙂 I’m glad you like the brownies!!
Wow! My first black bean brownies and I love them. Touch sweet but I’ll add a bit less next time. Mine also came out very fluffy. Not fudgy as I expected. Not sure what I did wrong. Still tasted amazing!
I’m so happy you liked the brownies, Barb! That’s the correct texture — since they’re made primarily with beans, the texture is different than a traditional brownie.
Such a delicious recipe, thank you! I substituted with date sugar and it was fantastic.
Thanks Charissa! Glad you enjoyed the brownies!
One word describes it….YUMMY!I had beans that I cooked and used 1 1/2 c. I put everything in my Vitamix blender and then baked for 25 minutes. Perfect! Thank you for sharing.
So happy you liked the brownies!