Black Bean Brownies
Yep, steaming brownies works!
When Clara returned to Ireland to start her PhD, she lived in a small flat without an oven or microwave — just a single counter top burner. I played around with a recipe that was a favorite during the volleyball and debate years. They steam up nicely, are rich in protein, no flour, no dairy.
Moist and rich, these brownies use black beans as the base making them free of any flour–glutinous or otherwise. The addition of instant coffee or grain beverages like Roma or Pero adds further depth to their flavor.
Servings: 12 Prep Time: 10 min Cook Time: 30 mins
Ingredients
1 15.5 oz can black beans rinsed and drained
3 eggs
3 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup cocoa powder you know, the unsweetened stuff
3/4 cup organic cane sugar
1 tsp vanilla
pinch sea salt
1 tsp instant coffee or grain beverage I'm partial to Roma or Pero optional
Fresh berries
Fresh whip cream — I blended in a little mint and natural green color for fun
Instructions
To Bake - Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly grease and 8 x 8 square baking dish. Combine the black beans, eggs, oil, cocoa powder, salt and vanilla and coffee in a blender.
Blend until smooth. Pour mixture into the baking dish. Bake until the top is dry and edges of brownies pull away from the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes.
To Steam -
As pictured, I made individual brownies in 4 oz ramekins. I used a medium sized pan with a tight fitting lid and vegetable steamer basket. Fill the pan with enough water that it comes up to the steamer basket but doesn’t over flow - we don’t want water sloshing into the batter.
Lightly grease ramekin or similar dish. Fill about half full with batter. Place ramekin (or two if there is room) into pan. Cover with lid or foil. Steam for 20-25 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Carefully remove ramekins and allow to cool. Depending on the depth of your pan, steaming time, and if you have more brownies to cook, you may need to add more water to the pan for steaming.
Recipe Notes
Energetics: Full, sweet and sweet, they enter the Earth organs of Stomach & Spleen. Because of the dense complex carbohydrates and protein provided by the black beans they do not spike the blood sugar as many empty sweet desserts do. Black beans enter the Kidneys and nourish nourish yin.
