Kimble’s Super Special Secret Brownies

Usually I am a sucker for anything savory, but today I was having a craving for sweets, particularly chocolate.

I normally have a bar or two of dark chocolate in the freezer for days like these, but today I was out and after spending an afternoon watching Cupcake Wars while cleaning the kitchen, I was in in the mood to bake. I decided to test my baking skills and take on the challenge of making a “healthy” tasty brownie.
With the help of the addicting little website Pinterest I was able to find a recipe which suited my needs and did not call for a trip to a grocery store, since I had everything I needed in my house already. I also decided to tweak the flavors and sweetening methods to suit my needs. While I wanted something sweet and chocolaty,
I wanted to avoid using refined sugar, oil, dairy, and flour. What I did want was a fudgey brownie full of rich chocolate flavor and the added bonus of protein and fiber. I also wanted to avoid the typical “Swedish Chef” cooking mess from happening, which in my case is usually inevitable.
The stars must be aligned today though!! My brownies came out tasting delicious, and since I only had to use my food processor, a muffin tin, and no flour in the brownies, my kitchen stayed CLEAN!!!

So here is the recipe for what I am dubbing as

Kimble’s Super Special Secret Brownies (Mom tested and kid approved)

1  15oz can low sodium black beans drained and rinsed

3 large eggs

1/3 c. chia gel (recipe listed below)

1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

2 t. vanilla

1/3 c. local honey (I used wildflower honey)

1/4 c walnuts

1/4 c. shredded coconut

2tbsp cinnamon

2 pinches cayenne pepper

Handful dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Spray muffin tins and set aside.
Combine beans, eggs, chia gel, cocoa powder, vanilla and honey in a food processor and let it run until all the ingredients are mixed together and the beans are completely pureed.
Mexican Chocolate Brownies:
For the Mexican chocolate flavor brownies add about 2tbsp of cinnamon and a couple pinches of cayenne pepper to the batter and blend until the spices are incorporated.
Walnut Coconut Brownies:
Fold 1/4 cup chopped walnuts and 1/4 cup of shredded coconut into the batter. The batter will be chunky but don’t worry they taste fantastic!!

Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins and bake for 30-35minutes or until set in the center. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Store in fridge for future enjoyment!!
Since I made two flavors with one batch of brownie mix, I split the batter in half and then added the different ingredients to each batch. I then sprinkled dark chocolate chips on the Mexican Chocolate brownies and shredded coconut on the Coconut Walnut Brownies in order to tell them apart and add a little flavor topping.

Chia Gel – Mix 1/4 cup of Chia seeds into 2 cups of water (4 parts water, 1 part chia). Mix well. Let stand and mix again in 5 minutes. Keep in refrigerator in a sealed container.  It will last for about 2 weeks. Add to smoothies, salad dressings, BBQ sauces or butter.  It is not gritty and will not change flavor.

Enjoy and happy eating!!!