These rich and super chocolatey vegan black bean brownies are so easy to make! You won’t want to eat just one and everyone will be shocked at the “secret” ingredient. Gluten free recipe, can be Top 8 Allergen Free!
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Whether you are gluten free or trying to get more healthy ingredients into your kids’ diet (or maybe your diet), you are going to love these vegan black bean brownies.
If you’ve read this far, you are at least intrigued by the thought that you can add a healthy ingredient to brownies and they still taste good. You know they taste good, because otherwise, we wouldn’t be posting the recipe.
I’ll also use this time to tell you that when I first had black bean brownies, I was super nervous.
I mean, who puts beans into brownies and still thinks they are going to taste good? I completely get it. So let me now take the time to tell you that you will be completely blown away.
The beans act as the flour in this allergy friendly brownie recipe and (promise) you can’t taste them at all.
It’s actually kind of crazy, right? Okay, let’s get into this recipe.
What ingredients do you need to make gluten free black bean brownies?
Obviously, you already know you need black beans, but this recipe needs just 10 total ingredients. It’s a really fast recipe and you are going to be shocked at how little you did to make delicious homemade vegan brownies.
The ingredients that you need are:
- black beans
- maple syrup
- coconut oil
- brown sugar
- vanilla
- baking powder
- cocoa powder
- salt
- unsweetened applesauce
- dairy free chocolate chips
How do you make vegan black bean brownies?
The first step is to drain and rinse your bean and dry them off. See below for how to do this if you aren’t sure.
Once your beans are dried, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8X8 pan.
In a food processor, add your beans, coconut oil, brown sugar, and maple syrup. Blend well. Then, add in the cocoa powder, baking powder, vanilla and salt. Blend again.
Next, remove the center of the food processor and add the applesauce. Stir to combine. Fold in three-fourths of the chocolate chips (reserve ¼ cup).
Pour the brownie mixture into the greased pean. Top with the rest of the chips. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Let sit for 15 minutes before cutting.
How do you dry black beans?
One of the most important steps is that you dry your black beans. You can do this by placing them on a baking sheet and putting them in a 300 degree oven for 10-15 minutes or so until all the moisture is absorbed.
You could also leave them on a towel to dry out. This method take about 30-60 minutes. You could speed this method up by rolling them around in the towel yourself.
Can I make this a Top 8 Free brownie recipe?
Since we are replacing the flour with the black beans in this gluten free, vegan brownie recipe we’ve already skipped one of the main allergens many have. It’s also already dairy free and egg free since all of our recipes are vegan.
The only ingredients that we would be concerned with for a Top 8 allergy free brownie recipe would be the coconut oil and the chocolate chips.
You can replace the coconut oil, with dairy free, soy free butter. We like Earth Balance soy free, in the red tub, for our recipes.
Lastly, ensure that you are using Top 8 safe chocolate chips. We are already using dairy free, but some dairy free chips contain soy. We like Enjoy Life for our recipes.
Can I prep this recipe ahead of time?
These vegan black bean brownies are good for up to 7 days, so you can prep them ahead at least that many days in advance if you are going to eat them all before the time is up.
Can I make a smaller amount of brownies?
Instead of the full recipe, you can cut it in half and instead of greasing an 8X8 pan, grease a standard bread loaf pan. Proceed to make the recipe as instructed. They will be the same thickness.
What other dairy free dessert recipes should I try?
Obviously once you try this and realize how delicious vegan desserts can be, you’ll want to try more. Here are some amazing dairy free dessert recipes that you should try:
- Dairy Free Apple Pie
- Layered Vegan Strawberry Cake
- Vegan Carrot Cake
- Easy Vegan Peach Cobbler
- Vegan M&M Rice Krispies
- Vegan Lemon Pound Cake
- The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake
Pin these vegan black bean brownies for later:
🥳 Get the Full Recipe
Vegan Black Bean Brownies
Ingredients
- 2 can black beans, thoroughly dried*
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup coconut oil **
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 4 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 cups dairy free chocolate chips **
Instructions
- Drain, rinse, and completely dry your beans.*
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8X8 pan.
- In a food processor or high speed blender, add beans, coconut oil, brown sugar, and maple syrup. Blend.
- Add in the cocoa powder, baking powder, vanilla and salt. Blend again.
- Remove center of the food processor if using and add the applesauce. Stir to combine.
- Fold in ¾ cup of the chocolate chips (reserve ¼ cup).
- Pour the brownie mixture into the greased pan.
- Top with the rest of the chips.
- Bake for 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Let sit for 15 minutes before cutting.
- Cut into 16 brownies (or desired size).
Notes
Video
Nutrition
This post was originally published on 5/27/19 and updated on 4/15/20.
Is there a typo? It says to use 2 cups of chocolate chips, but the recipe only says to add 3/4 and 1/4 cup…
Sorry that is a typo! Just the 1 cup as written in the instructions. Thanks for catching
Wow! Where has this recipe been all my life?! These are the fudgiest tasting brownies I have ever had! I did have to bake them longer, because my applesauce was runny. Next time, I will try the carrot substitute, as suggested. Thank you so much for sharing this taste of creative genius. ❤️
You’re so welcome!
Can I use chick pea flour instead? And replace the apple sauce with bananas/flax eggs or blended carrots?
Yes to your applesauce questions. Regarding the chickpea flour, we’ve never tried that and wouldn’t have the accurate ratios or flour to liquid at this time.
I decided to try and make these brownies and the batter tasted good but even after 1 hour of cooking time the brownies never firmed up. I let it cook for another 10 minutes but still no luck. I was sure to dry out the beans really good. I baked the beans in the oven for 20 minutes occasionally stirring then took them out and let them sit and cool. The beans really looked dry. Even after all that for some reason the middle did not firm after I cooled it down for half and hour. I used an 8×8 brownie pan. I used a cup of apple sauce like it said in the recipe. The batter looked pretty good and slightly thick before I added the apple sauce. Maybe I’ll try a next batch without it. What are your thoughts?
Sorry you weren’t thrilled with the recipe. Applesauce adds moisture and softness, but can sometimes go overboard pending the black beans moisture but it sounds like that wasn’t a problem for you. If the texture feels good prior to adding the applesauce, you can reduce the applesauce amount slightly or add 1–2 tbsp flour or cocoa powder to rebalance. Also feel free to check out the video so you know what it should look like.
The brownie mix seemed fine BEFORE the addition of applesauce, I really wondered about that. It was TOO moist, even after I took some out, the pan had like a film of moisture on it. Didn’t cook like a brownie should. I am going to search for that Brownie recipe by the No Meat Athlete again. It worked for me.
Sorry you weren’t thrilled with the recipe. Applesauce adds moisture and softness, but can sometimes go overboard pending the black beans moisture. If the texture feels good prior to adding the applesauce, it may be because the black beans have a lot of moisture already. Reduce the applesauce slightly or add 1–2 tbsp flour or cocoa powder to rebalance. Glad you know what works for you, and you’re always welcome to adapt my base recipes!