When I saw Lia Huber's Fudgy Black Bean Brownies recipe, it sounded too odd not to try. Undaunted, I even chose to make them for my daughter's kindergarten class non-birthday party (she's an August baby so will never have a birthday during school). As she likes frosting, we agreed to use ganache, which even her frosting-hating mother likes. I figured anything covered in ganache couldn't be too bad. And I was right! You would really never know that these are gluten-free or that they contain black beans. They were a bit chalky, but that's typical in a brownie using only cocoa powder. In my next iteration, I simple used the rest of the bag of chocolate chips I'd opened to make the ganache. That definitely solved the problem and got rave reviews, especially from my June baby, who celebrated her first birthday with a mini one of these. The coconut oil is a brilliant addition, adding a distinct and pleasing flavor.
A double batch is great and is what I show here because it makes 1 doz regular sized cupcakes and 2 doz minis, which I frosted and popped in the freezer for those days when we just need a small sweet treat.
Normally I use dried beans for everything but it seemed silly to go to the effort when they were just going to be puréed anyway, so I used canned. Eden Organic brand uses BPA-free cans.
INGREDIENTS
1 recipe Chocolate Ganache
2 15-oz cans black beans, rinsed well and drained
4 large eggs
1/3 c. (70g) Coconut oil (does not need to be melted)
1 1/2 c. cocoa powder
1/8 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1-2 c. Semi-sweet chocolate chips (just use what's left after making ganache, if using)
DIRECTIONS
A double batch is great and is what I show here because it makes 1 doz regular sized cupcakes and 2 doz minis, which I frosted and popped in the freezer for those days when we just need a small sweet treat.
Normally I use dried beans for everything but it seemed silly to go to the effort when they were just going to be puréed anyway, so I used canned. Eden Organic brand uses BPA-free cans.
INGREDIENTS
1 recipe Chocolate Ganache
2 15-oz cans black beans, rinsed well and drained
4 large eggs
1/3 c. (70g) Coconut oil (does not need to be melted)
1 1/2 c. cocoa powder
1/8 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1-2 c. Semi-sweet chocolate chips (just use what's left after making ganache, if using)
DIRECTIONS
- If you haven't already made the ganache, do so and let it set while you make the cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and prepare one full-size and one 24-count mini cupcake tins by spraying with oil or filling with liners
- Put all remaining ingredients except for chocolate chips into the bowl of a food processor
- Process for approximately two minutes until ingredients are fully blended. Scrape down bowl once in the 2 minutes
- Add chocolate chips and pulse to blend
- Fill cupcake/muffin tins 3/4 of the way full with the batter
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean-- use your judgment, though, because you might just have hit a molten chocolate chip. Larger cupcakes might need to bake 5-10 minutes longer
- Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting with ganache
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