Coconut-Ginger infused what?!
Don’t let the title of this recipe fool you. Yes, I created my first variation of a black bean brownie recipe. No, they don’t exactly taste like coconut or ginger. Yes, they are light, chocolatey and delicious. No, they do not taste like beans.
Why?
Because I cooked the beans in coconut milk and I used a decadent, delicious dark chocolate, with a hint of ginger, in the mix
Here it is folks – the secret:
- You must make your beans from scratch.
- You must make them with coconut milk, not water.
I decided to make homemade beans in my pressure cooker. I cooked them up in coconut milk and date syrup and oh, my the subtle, sweet smell in the house was a sure sign these brownies were going to work. Don’t have a pressure cooker? Then make homemade beans on the stove top:
- Let the beans soak.
At a minimum, let the beans set for two hours; at most, overnight.- (
Optional) Rinse and drain the beans again.After the beans have finished soaking, many people like to rinse them in a colander again before cooking them. [JL's note: rinse and drain like mad!]- Drain the beans again and then add them back to the pot, filling it again with fresh,
cold water.Again, use 3 cups ofwater[JL's note: coconut milk + date syrup according to recipe] per cup of dried beans.- Bring the pot of beans to a gentle boil and let them cook until they’re tender.Keep testing the beans for doneness.
- After the beans have finished cooking, remove them from the heat and drain them.Your beans are ready to eat (or to be used in t
hat fabulous recipe you found[JL's note: In my Coconut-Ginger Infused Black Bean Brownies!) SOURCE
I'm going to tell you right now - I love, love, love these brownies! Better yet? My omnivore husband loves them even more than I love them!
Coconut-Ginger Infused Black Bean Brownies
Ingredients (Makes 12 brownies)
For the beans
- 15 ounces dry black beans (soaked overnight; weigh the beans after the overnight soak + rinsed and drained)
- 2 tablespoons date syrup
- 1 can (13.5 ounces) organic, light coconut milk
Additional ingredients for the brownies
- 3/4 cup no-sugar added applesauce
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup date syrup (if you prefer a sweeter dessert, you may want to increase this a bit)
- 1/2 cup cacao powder (I used 100% organic and raw)
- 1/2 cup millet flour
- 1/8 cup ginger-dark chocolate, chopped into chunky pieces
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
For the beans
- Place black beans (rinsed and drained), date syrup and coconut milk in a pressure cooker.
- Lock the lid into place and bring to pressure.
- Cook at pressure for 12 minutes.
- Allow for a natural release.
- Once pressure is released, remove the lid, away from you, and taste the beans for doneness.
- If necessary, simmer, lightly covered (do not lock lid in place) for 5 - 10 minutes.
For the brownies
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Pour cooked beans into a food processor, with an "S" blade, and pulse to chop up the beans.
- Add applesauce, vanilla extract, and date syrup and blend until smooth.
- Add dry ingredients, cacao powder and millet flour, and blend until smooth, resembling a cake batter.
- Add half of the dark chocolate and half of the chopped walnuts to the food processor and quickly pulse (don't blend) so the pieces are mixed in but still chunky.
- Pour batter into 13x9 baking dish, lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate and walnut pieces on top.
- Bake for 50 minutes.
- Remove brownies/parchment paper from the baking dish and let cool on a rack for 20 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy!
This recipe was a leap for me. I don't bake. Not other people's recipes and I sure as hell don't try to come up with my own baked creations. And, as you know if you're a big-time vegan blog reader, I'm not some genius here. Black bean brownie recipes abound on the internet and in cookbooks but I simply never fell in love with any of them. So I decided to experiment with subtle, less "sweet" flavors - and bring my love of using my pressure cooker for homemade beans into play - to create my own (gluten-free!) version of the bean-dessert "classic". I really enjoyed the depth of flavor and I hope you do, too!
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