Coconut-Ginger Infused Black Bean Brownies

Standard / by / August 20, 2012 / 12 Comments

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:

  1. Let the beans soak.At a minimum, let the beans set for two hours; at most, overnight.
  2. (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!]
  3. Drain the beans again and then add them back to the pot, filling it again with fresh, cold water.Again, use 3 cups of water [JL’s note: coconut milk + date syrup according to recipe] per cup of dried beans.
  4. Bring the pot of beans to a gentle boil and let them cook until they’re tender.Keep testing the beans for doneness.
  5. 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 that 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

by JL Fields @ JL goes Vegan

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

  1. Place black beans (rinsed and drained), date syrup and coconut milk in a pressure cooker.
  2. Lock the lid into place and bring to pressure.
  3. Cook at pressure for 12 minutes.
  4. Allow for a natural release.
  5. Once pressure is released, remove the lid, away from you, and taste the beans for doneness.
  6. If necessary, simmer, lightly covered (do not lock lid in place) for 5 – 10 minutes.

For the brownies

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. Pour cooked beans into a food processor, with an “S” blade, and pulse to chop up the beans.
  3. Add applesauce, vanilla extract, and date syrup and blend until smooth.
  4. Add dry ingredients, cacao powder and millet flour, and blend until smooth, resembling a cake batter.
  5. 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.
  6. Pour batter into 13×9 baking dish, lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate and walnut pieces on top.
  7. Bake for 50 minutes.
  8. Remove brownies/parchment paper from the baking dish and let cool on a rack for 20 minutes.
  9. 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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12 thoughts on “Coconut-Ginger Infused Black Bean Brownies”

  1. I LOVE black bean brownies! I do one that’s a spicy Mexican version. It’s not vegan though – I need to try this one out, as I LOVE vegan baking.

  2. I tried adzuki bean brownies recently (my only bean brownie experience) and they were quiet delish! But I used canned beans. I bet they’d be even better with homemade beans.

  3. Those look like brownies worth trying. I’ve always been a bit scared of the bean brownies but I think it’s time to feel the fear and do it anyway! I’m a little confused about weighing the beans after they’ve been soaked and drained. They’ve already been weighed in the beginning. Which 15 ounces do I use? Dry or after soaking, rinsing, and draining? Am I thinking too hard about this?

    1. Karen, I hope you try them.

      Yeah, I wasn’t quite sure how to explain the bean situation. See, I had a bunch of beans in bulk and just tossed them in the bowl with water to soak over night. I wanted to be able to provide an exact amount of beans -this is scary baking, after all, when numbers matter LOL – so I weighed them the next morning, after rinsing and draining them. Beans do weigh more (they plump up a bit) after soaking. So, I suggested weighing them the morning after you soak, after rinsing, just like I did, so that you are using exactly the same amount as I did. Does this help…or make it more confusing?!

  4. Hi, Irene! I think you could easily sub another gluten-free flour. If you do, let me know how they turned out!

    1. Finally made these tonight! I went with whole grain buckwheat flour, tasted excellent but then again, I love buckwheat. ;D Cooking the beans in the coconut milk and syrup really elevated the flavours, like magic! I’ll be trying this recipe again with less substitutions (used carob powder, left out the chocolate, I’m not a big fan haha) because mom’ll go crazy over these brownies, I guarantee. Thanks again for the creative recipe JL!

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