Ingredients
- 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
- 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup drained canned red kidney beans or black beans (rinsed)
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 2 large egg whites
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, melted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp chopped walnuts or pecans
- 1 ounce bittersweet (extra-dark with 60-70% cacao) melted chocolate
Preheat oven to 350F. Coat an 8×8-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Place flour and salt in medium bowl. Sift on cocoa. Whisk to blend.
To make batter in a food processor: Place beans in food processor and pure. Add egg, egg whites, sugar, oil, unsweetened chocolate and vanilla, and process until blended, stopping several times to scrape down sides of the bowl. Add flour mixture and pulse several times, just until dry ingredients are moistened.
To make batter in a blender. Combine beans, egg, egg whites, sugar, oil, unsweetened chocolate and vanilla in blender, and process until beans are pureed. Add bean mixture to flour mixture and mix with rubber spatula just until dry ingredients are moistened.
Scrape batter into prepared baking dish, spreading evenly. Sprinkle with walnuts (or pecans), if desired. Bake until brownies are set around the edges and slightly soft in the center, 18 to 22 minutes. Let cool completely in pan. Drizzle with bittersweet chocolate, if desired. Let stand until chocolate has set. Cut into bars.
Yield: 20 brownies.
Per brownie (without nuts and bittersweet chocolate):
Tip: Toss the leftover beans into a salad or a brown rice pilaf.
Tip: To avoid wasting the extra egg yolks, use liquid egg whites, such as AllWhites (found in the refrigerated egg case in supermarkets), or dried egg whites, such as JustWhites (found in the baking aisle or natural foods section), reconstituted according to package directions.