Vegan Protein Brownies with a Hint of Mint
What do you get when you mix up black beans, oat flour, cocoa powder, walnuts, and a hint of mint? Vegan Chocolate Mint Protein Brownies!
These decadent, chewy, fudgy brownies were taste tested and approved by three snooty brownie connoisseurs. One of them thought they were, “Really good but not as cakey as the brownies that you usually make.” One thought that they were, “Delicious, but more like fudge than a brownie.” The third one didn’t give a verbal opinion, just a nod and grunt as he ate three in a row and dropped crumbs all over the kitchen floor.
Three different reactions, all of them good; what will yours be?
Why black beans in a brownie recipe? Why not?
Black beans are the perfect ingredient if you want your brownies to have a chewy, rich, fudge like texture. They also add a lot of protein. If you have bean haters in your family, this gluten-free brownie recipe with mint is a great way to sneak them into their diet.
The health benefits of these versus a typical brownie can’t be ignored. The ingredient list is simple.
Black beans
Oat flour
Flax eggs
Sugar
Cocoa powder
Walnuts
Baking powder
Vanilla
Mint extract
Water
Did you know that the iron, phosphorous, calcium, magnesium, manganese, copper and zinc found in black beans are important for good bone health?
Did you know that black beans contain potassium, calcium, and magnesium, which naturally helps to lower blood pressure?
Black beans can also help manage diabetes, help prevent heart disease and cancer, aid in healthy digestion, and help with weight loss.
Finally, one cup of cooked black beans has thirty percent of the daily recommended allowance of protein, that’s fifteen grams!
Let’s look at the benefits of the oat flour. Oats are rich in beta-glucan, which is known to reduce bad cholesterol. This healthy grain contains approximately seven grams of protein per one cup serving.
The final major source of protein in these fudgy chocolate mint brownies comes from the walnuts. One cup of these healthy nuts contains seventeen grams of protein! They’re also a great source of copper, folic acid, phosphorus, vitamin B-6, manganese, and vitamin E.
When you add those three superfoods up you can see why these protein rich vegan brownies are a perfect snack to eat after an intense workout. They’re also a sneaky way to get your kids to eat a bunch of healthy foods.
Notes on the Oat Flour: You don’t have to buy oat flour, just measure out a cup of whole oats and grind them in your food processor until you get flour. Grind the oats first and then add the beans and the rest of the ingredients to the food processor.
Notes on the Black Beans: Make sure you drain the beans and rinse well. If you soak and cook your beans that’s great, if not, try and find beans that are canned in BPA free cans.
Notes on the Walnuts: If you have a nut allergy you can omit the walnuts. You can also substitute another type of nut if you want.
Notes on the Mint: I used a mint (NOTpeppermint) extract for these brownies. I tried making them with fresh mint and they didn’t turn out as well as they did with the extract. Do NOT use peppermint extract as the flavor is not the same, it tastes almost medicinal in my opinion.
Notes on the Flax Eggs: Mix the ground flax seed and water together and let it sit for ten minutes before adding it to the brownie mix.
Notes on the Sugar: I used sugar for this vegan brownie recipe. You can use maple syrup or any other sugar substitute that you like, but I can’t guarantee that they’ll turn out the same as this recipe. There’s a lot of discussion happening right now about how different sugar sources (maple syrup, dates, agave…) metabolize in the body, and if refined sugar is worse, or no different than unrefined sugar once it begins to metabolize. I’m not a scientist and I won’t pretend to know what the facts are when it comes to food science. All I know is that to sweeten this recipe it would have taken one or more cups of maple syrup. That’s a lot of “natural” sweetener, and it’s expensive.
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Calories
Fat
Carbs
Protein
Yields Approximately 12 Brownies
Chewy, fudgy, black bean brownies. Packed full of protein, gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, and so delicious!
15 minPrep Time
30 minCook Time
45 minTotal Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 2 flax eggs – 2 tablespoons of ground flax seed + 6 tablespoons of water mixed together well. Let the mixture sit for ten minutes.
- 1 cup of oat flour
- 2 15 ounce cans of black beans – drained and rinsed well
- ¾ cups of sugar or 1 cup (more if you like a sweet brownie) of maple syrup
- 1 and ½ cups of cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons of baking powder – use aluminum free if you can
- ½ teaspoon of finely ground sea salt
- 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon of pure mint extract – do NOT use peppermint, it’s totally different. Add more if you like a strong mint flavor.
- ¾ to 1 cup of water
Instructions
- Make the flax eggs and preheat the oven to 350°. Grease a 9x9 inch square pan or line it with parchment paper.
- Grind the oats (or add already ground oat flour) in the food processor until it turns to flour. Add the black beans, sugar, flax eggs, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, salt, vanilla, and mint extract, and half of a cup of water to the food processor and process until the batter is thick and smooth. Add more water if needed. The batter should be thick but easy to spread in the pan.
- Spread the batter in a 9 x 9 inch square pan and bake for 30 minutes or until it begins to crack on top and a toothpick inserted in the center of the pan comes out clean.
- Let cool in the pan and cut into two to three inch squares. This recipe will make 9 to 12 brownies depending on how large you slice them.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
- Enjoy!
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