Meet Monique
Girl behind the blog. Ambitious by nature. Passionate about pancakes, life, and laughter. Here to inspire you.
Food Photography
Popular Posts
Crunchy Cashew Thai Quinoa Salad with Ginger Peanut Dressing {vegan & gluten-free} 
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies {flourless, no butter} 
Nutella-Stuffed Brown Butter + Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies {my favorite cookie ever} 
Healthy Chicken Chickpea Chopped Salad 
Flourless Chocolate Chip Chickpea Blondies with Sea Salt {vegan, gluten-free & healthy} 
Brown Butter Snickerdoodle Cookies 
Kale, Edamame, and Quinoa Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette 
Best Ever Vegan Avocado Chocolate Birthday Cake with Vegan Chocolate Ganache 
Vegan Detox Green Monster Smoothie {with kale, strawberry, cucumber, & banana} 
Strawberry Coconut Chia Seed Banana Bread
Black Bean Avocado Chocolate Chip Fudge Brownies {gluten-free & low-fat}
I was planning on giving you a recipe for hummus today, but after making these brownies I knew that I had to share them with you immediately! In fact after I ate half of the pan for dinner, I’m quite certain that these brownies are some of the best I’ve ever had.
I don’t even feel guilty about getting chocolate wasted with these bad boys.
I had heard about black bean brownies before, so I’ve been experimenting for a few weeks with various recipes and came up with this to surprise and delight you.
After baking these, I stood there smiling with chocolate all over my face because I had finally perfected a recipe for fudgy healthy brownies that taste AMAZING. Yeah, okay I know you’re doubting me right now. You might even think I’m super weird (which I totally am).
But can you just trust me on this one?
Seriously I made the brownies 2 hours ago and there’s only one left. It’s taking all of my willpower for that brownie not to say hello to my mouth. I’m still in awe; how can brownies made with black beans and avocado be THIS freaking good?!
I even tricked my Godkids into thinking they were the homemade fudgy, buttery brownies. When I told them they were made with black beans, and avocado, they stared at me and told me I was lying. I just laughed and showed them the empty can of black beans.
Bake these! I promise they’ll surprise you in a very good way.
Alright. I need to devour the last one.
Black Bean Avocado Chocolate Chip Fudge Brownies {gluten-free & low-fat}
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
A delicious low-fat and naturally gluten-free fudgy brownie made with black beans and avocado. Unbelievably delicious! These even fool kids!
Author: Monique of AmbitiousKitchen.com
Recipe type: Dessert, Brownie, Gluten-free, Healthy
Serves: 12 brownies
Ingredients
- 1 – 15 oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 large egg
- 2 large egg whites
- 1/2 of a large extra ripe avocado
- 1 teaspoon olive or canola oil
- 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (important to use a VERY good quality powder!)
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup brown sugar OR 1/4 cup brown sugar sustitute, such as Splenda brown sugar blend
- 1/3 cup chocolate chips of choice, plus 2 tablespoons for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 8×8 inch baking pan.
- Place all ingredients besides chocolate chips into blender or food processor. Process or puree until ingredients form a smooth batter. If the batter is WAY too thick and won’t process then add in a teaspoon or two of water. This batter needs to be very thick in order to produce fudgy brownies. Add in 1/3 cup chocolate chips and fold into batter.
- Pour batter into prepared pan, sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of remaining chocolate chips. You can also fold in nuts or swirl in peanut butter. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out somewhat clean and top of the brownies begin to crack.
- Cool pan completely on wire rack then cut into 12 delicious squares.
Nutrition Information
Serving size: 1 brownie (1/12th of recipe Calories: 124 Fat: 4.6g Carbohydrates: 18.5g Sugar: 9.9g Fiber: 3.5g Protein: 4.7g
 |
Ohhh Great. I liked.
Thanks
Murat
I live in Guatemala right now, and black beans and avocado are EVERYWHERE. I’m soo trying these this weekend. Thanks!!!
Pingback: Black Bean Avocado Chocolate Chip Fudge Brownies | YouPlusStyle
Oh yum! Must try this, sound easy enough and without lots of expensive ingredients! Thanks!
I made a black bean brownie recipe once before but they were just okay…. These look delicious! I might have to try
Can I make these with apple purée instead of avocado?
No the avocado provides the fat for the recipe, which is needed for moisture and adds to the texture!
These look amazing, so chocolaty. I have always wanted to try making brownies with black beans, and now I think I have to!
I haven’t done black bean brownies before, but I’ve done black bean cake and it turned out great! These look tremendous!
One of the best vegan/GF desserts I make is a chocolate mousse, made from avocado. So creamy and amazingly rich! I have never gotten into beans in my treats though but you have me tempted!
SO…I couldn’t find a large avocado only medium, so I am wondering how much of it should I use, 1/2? Thank you! Can’t wait to make these!
1/2 would be perfect.
Pingback: Cray cray for chocolate. « Quirk On.
These were not good. I’m kind of sad that I wasted the avocado. The batter was good, though it had a bit of a bean-y aftertaste. Once baked the flavor was less than stellar… kind of bland, in fact, and not at all decadent or brownie-like. So much for the dream of a healthy brownie.
Loved them! I plan on making a batch for Thanksgiving and not telling my family what they are made from.
oh my god! I loved them. I swirled in some almond butter, subbed in 1/2 c of agave nectar for the sugar and added walnuts. SO DELISH!!!! Thank you! I’ll never make regular brownies again
Just made these and they turned out great! I was a little worried because my avocado wasn’t very ripe so it took a long time to blend it into the batter. So delicious though and didn’t taste like beans at all! I’m glad I have a potluck to take them to otherwise I would eat them all! Thanks :]
would you recommend applesace or bananas if I wanted a lighter substitute for the sugar???
Super ripe bananas, then wait until the next day to eat the brownies as the sugar from the bananas will grow stronger overnight.
okay thankyou! I will definitely be trying these today (:
I could not get my black beans to form a puree. Any advice? It seems like it would have been awesome if I could have gotten a smooth batter instead of a lumpy one. :/
Hi Joany… Hmm I’m not sure why you wouldn’t be able to get them into a puree. You might need to mix them up with the egg before putting them in the blender or food processor. Also use a spoon to help scrap it down the sides.
I still couldn’t get them to process smoothly. I’m wondering if maybe my blade isn’t sharp enough (though the other day it sliced through me just fine..). I’m going to try again with my blender. If that doesn’t work I’m not exactly sure what I should do…
Did you use a food processor, because if so you shouldn’t have an issue.
I’m thinking that maybe it isn’t a food processor… I started looking on amazon to look at pictures and my unit looks a lot like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-72600-Fresh-Chopper/dp/B0007KQZX4/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1359268668&sr=8-9&keywords=hamilton+beach+food+processor
If I don’t have a food processor, is there a brand that you would recommend. I would really LOVE to have these brownies without the floating skins.
Kitchen Aid, Black and Decker or CuisineArt are all great brands.
Pingback: Burrito…Brownies?! « healthygirlandthecity
Love it!
Made these last night and they were deeeelicious! Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Monique!
Hope you are very well.
I tried your recipe and the brownies were amazing! One of the best that I have ever had!
I have a question: if I wanted to make this recipe vegan, what can I replace the eggs with?
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe with us!
Have a happy and lovely day,
Vivi
Hi! I think you could use 1 tablespoon flax seed as the binder, or try 2 tablespoons of almond flour! Others have had success with using 1/2 a banana!
Pingback: {Heelllooooo, Out There} | CommonThought
Thanks so much for your feedback, Monique!
Have a great day,Vivi
Made these two times: 1st time was rich and had an amazing texture and aroma but a bit beany. Realized I used kidney beans though and didn’t puree enough. 2nd: PERFECT! I put the eggs into blender first, then black beans and mixed until it was smooth as possible, then the other ingredients, plus half a ripe banana and coconut flakes. I also used “Green and Blacks” organic cocoa powder – AMAZING! Thanks for a fab recipe Monique!!!!
Aren’t they so good? Uhhh my favorite!
Even though it didn’t call for much, I left out the oil and used a 4 oz. cup of unsweetened apple/cinnamon sauce and cut the sugar back to 1/2 cup. I also used dark chocolate chips for the chocolate chips. These turned out soooo good; very cakey and delicious. my 8 year old son is seriously begging for more. I’ve made black bean and avocado brownies before and the texture was “weird”…. thank you- great recipe! next time I’m going to cut the sugar back even more just to see how much can be cut and still taste good.
Great! I’m glad to hear that using applesauce worked for you.
Pingback: Chocolate Fudge Brownies… with Black Beans and Avocado! | Ski Boots in the Kitchen
Hi Monique, Does the vanilla extract have to be pure? If yes, why?
Joyous.com is looking for experts for their site. Food is one of the categories. I think you should apply! Your recipes are amazing!
Joyus.com, sorry autocorrect changed it.
Pingback: The Best GFDF Brownies you’ll EVER have! | Glutenairy Free
Please keep creating healthy, delicious and out-of-the-ordinary recipes likes this! You’ve created the perfect recipe to satisfy my chocolate addiction while appealing to my health/fitness fanaticism!!
Lady, these were amazing. I doubled it and added a little Nutella on top of each one, no more than 1/2 tbs… Hope the picture works for you! And thanks, I’ve been wondering how to do this. I used egg beaters and changed just a couple things and was very pleased with the results. So was my husband!
Just looking at these is making me nuts! I am breaking out the black beans tomorrow and making these! I CANNOT wait!
I found this blog through a friend on facebook who liked this post. I was curious as to what I could use as an egg substitute, or if it is even really that important? I have kids with egg allergies and was just wondering.
Thanks!!!
Flax eggs!
Pingback: Best Ever Vegan Avocado Chocolate Birthday Cake with Vegan Chocolate Ganache | Ambitious Kitchen
Hi Monique, can I use honey instead of sugar? If yes, how much would be an even substitution? Thanks!!
Sounds great!! Can I substitute apple sauce for oil like you can in most baked goods? or is the oil not used for moisture? let me know! Thanks for the recipe
I wouldn’t. It’s really such a small amount of olive oil. If you are going to do it, I would sub half of the oil for applesauce. I’m not quite sure how it will come out, but let me know if you try it!
Hi Monique, I’m excited to try this! I have two questions: 1. do you use low-sodium or sodium-free black beans? I just wondered if regular black beans would make the batter too salty. 2. I want to make this NOW but don’t have an avocado on hand. Can I substitute with coconut oil or butter? If so, how much should I use? Thanks!!
Hi! Yes, use low-sodium if possible. You rinse the black beans any way so they shouldn’t be too salty if you just have regular on hand. Use 1/4 cup of butter or oil in place.
These are amazing Monique! My family and I are really loving your recipes. Just made these and off to now make your healthy chickpea salad for a dinner party tonight. Keep the goodness coming
.
I love these brownies. They are delicious. I wish that my blender didn’t break so I could puree the black beans more. Other then that I loved it. I will deff makes these again.
Oh my gosh! SO GOOD! I made them vegan by changing out the egg and two egg whites for 1/4 cup of applesauce, 1 extra teaspoon of baking powder, and half a banana! Amaaaaazing!! Thank you for such a delicious recipe!
soooo you’re saying i can eat these for breakfast? awesome.
Is the Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa powder a good enough quality cocoa powder? That’s the only kind at the store here =/
I just made these tonight. I tried one warm, and it was amaaazing! My husband didn’t notice any difference haha. I used Hershey’s powder and they turned out just fine. I still have to try them again when they cool down, and next time, I might try adding a mashed banana for more sweetness/moisture.
I just made these, they tasted alright but weren’t good enough to substitute my regular brownie recipe. I *might* be willing to try them again since I didn’t have chocolate chips on hand and thus omitted them from the recipe. They might’ve been sweeter and more brownie-like had I thrown them in. Would they have masked some of the bean-y aftertaste?
I would say that chocolate chips are a pretty crucial part of the recipe.