If you’ve never baked with beans before, this is a sweet place to start. Black beans might sound unusual in a sweet recipe, but once blended, they disappear into the batter. The result is a brownie that’s rich, fudgy and deeply chocolatey, without tasting remotely savoury.

Using tinned black beans keeps things simple. They replace most of the flour, giving the brownies a dense texture that sits somewhere between cake and fudge. Once baked, they slice cleanly and hold their shape, but the centre stays soft. Recipe compliments of KOO.

Prep: 25 minutes | Cook: 25 minutes | Serves: 12

Ingredients

• 1 tin black beans, drained and rinsed well
• 2 eggs
• ¼ cup oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla essence
• 1 teaspoon coffee powder
• ¾ cup cocoa powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup brown sugar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Grease and line a 20 cm square baking tin.
2. Blend the black beans, eggs, oil, vanilla and coffee powder until completely smooth.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and brown sugar.
4. Add the blended bean mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and smooth the top.
6. Bake for about 25 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the tin before slicing into squares.