These chocolate brownies, made from black beans and maple syrup, are proof that flour, grain, gluten and dairy-free baking tastes amazing. You can replace the walnuts with dried cranberries if you have a nut allergy.
Play around with the sweetness − less maple syrup is better for you and gives a slightly more crumbly texture – we don’t add extra sweetness if we don’t need it. If you have a sweet tooth, start with the 180ml and gradually decrease whenever you make it, adding a few drops of stevia for added sweetness until your tastebuds adjust.
Makes 9–16 Brownies
2 tins of cooked black beans (drained weight 500g) or 500g home cooked beans (drained weight 200g, activated overnight)
230 g unsalted butter or 230 ml coconut oil at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
4 eggs
85 g unsweetened cacao powder
150–180 ml maple syrup
1 1⁄2 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp coffee extract or use extra vanilla extract
Sea salt
130 g chopped walnuts
Optional
A few drops of stevia, to sweeten
