Rich and fudgy black bean brownies swirled with peanut butter swirl are a delicious dessert or snack. These are the real deal when it comes to making gluten-free and healthier brownies at home.
Dense, fudgy, super chocolatey and best if eaten right from the pan with a fork.
These brownies took me a couple tries to get right. This version is not at all what I was originally picturing in my chocolate-obsessed head but they work. And they work in one of those I can’t stop eating them kind of way. Which, is obviously the best way.
I originally had intended these to be more of a cupcake topped with the most luscious of peanut butter frostings going. And the cupcakes were fine. They were super dense in a weird way but fine. But the frosting.
The first batch of this so-called luscious peanut butter frosting actually turned into cookies. Actually. I tried to do this peanut butter buttercream frosting. Things took a turn for the worst after about 10 minutes in and I ended up adding in some gluten free AP flour and we are now enjoying that frosting as cookies.
Ugh!
So, plan B was a peanut butter cream cheese frosting. A little while ago I posted a no bake peanut butter cheese cake parfait on Instagram… clearly, I am still drooling over it and figured it would make the best frosting to top my insanely dense cupcakes with.
Not so much.
Friends, dense cake topped with dense frosting equals a pretty huge cake disaster. I mean, cake on it’s own was fine. Frosting on it’s own was delicious. Together…
Ugh!
The worst part being, I was right in the midst of my luscious peanut butter frosting disaster right when our friends and family who I was supposed to serve these wonderful cupcakes with the luscious peanut butter frosting to were walking in the door.
Ugh!
This past Monday, we had a small gathering of family and friends over to celebrate me and Joshua. It was a super low-key thing that turned into a really, really great day… minus the brownie cupcakes and luscious peanut butter frosting. Thankfully, everyone was pretty stuffed after a huge lunch of all things BBQ that no one was really into having dessert but I still think the most delicious brownie cupcake with luscious peanut butter frosting would have just been the icing on the cake to a really great day. Pun definitely intended.
So yesterday, in a strong effort to right the whole cake situation wrong, I came up with this.
ABOUT THESE PEANUT BUTTER SWIRL BLACK BEAN BROWNIES
First things first – Luscious peanut butter frosting was just not going to happen for me this week. And that’s fine. I switched to swirls, which are very pretty and a lot more fun.
I used some of my own homemade peanut butter, which is delicious and super easy to make (!!), for all of that beautiful swirl action. It’s super easy to do to – just drop little dots of peanut butter all over the brownie batter in the pan and use a knife or a toothpick (or anything kind of pointy) to swirl it into a beautiful design.
But the true secret ingredient here is definitely black beans. If you haven’t tried a black bean brownie before, I would have to say, you are missing out! Not only do they make your pan of brownies a lot more nutritious, they give your brownies the densest and fudgy texture going. Which, I think is awesome because that is exactly everything a brownie should be – dense and fudgy.
And black bean brownies are the ultimate in blender brownies. All the ingredients go into the food processor or blender and from the blender right into a well-oiled pan. Super easy. And because the black beans replace the flour, they are gluten-free and kind of nutritious.
These brownies are a little crumbly coming out of the pan, especially if they haven’t cooled completely. But that just gives me all the more reason to eat them straight from the pan with a fork. (Please tell me you do that too!!)
Or my other favourite way to eat these Peanut Butter Swirl Black Bean Brownies – with a scoop of vanilla ice cream! Because a warm brownie with vanilla ice cream is pretty much the best.
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Peanut Butter Swirl Black Bean Brownies
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 9-16 brownies 1x
Description
Rich and fudgy black bean brownies swirled with peanut butter swirl are a delicious dessert or snack. These are the real deal when it comes to making gluten-free and healthier brownies at home.
Ingredients
- 1 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed (from about 1 15 oz can)
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup oil (I used avocado oil)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 tablespoons milk (almond, soy, dairy, etc)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 cup homemade peanut butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and spray an 8×8 baking pan with oil or grease with a little bit of butter or line with parchment paper.
- Add the black beans, eggs and oil to the food processor and blend until fairly smooth, about 1 minute.
- Add the sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, milk, baking soda and salt and continue blending, scraping down the sides as needed, until very well incorporated, another minute or so.
- Transfer the brownie batter to the prepared baking pan.
- In a small microwave safe mixing bowl (or you can do this in a small pot on the stove) heat the peanut butter until very runny.
- Drop small blobs of the warm peanut butter all over the brownie batter. Use a knife, or spatula or a toothpick to swirl the peanut butter into the batter.
- Bake for 30-34 minutes until brownies spring back when pressed with index finger and a toothpick comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
- Let the brownies cool mostly in the pan before cutting into 9 or 16 pieces.Serve warm or cold (with ice cream or without).
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
Note: Recipe Updated March, 2017.
Can you make these and freeze for later?
My teenage children and I loved this recipe. I substituted the sugar for monk fruit because my son does not eat sugar, and it was still sweet and delicious. The brownies tasted even better the next day!
★★★★★
These are delicious !!!! I have made them twice now. Moist and perfect texture. My family could not believe they were made with black beans!!!!
So, I’ve never had a black bean brownie! I keep seeing them pop up here and there…so I’m taking that as a sign that I need to make these ASAP! I love that they’re swirled with peanut butter (obviously ;))! Also (random), that blue plate is super cute!
Thanks, Alexa!! You have to black bean brownies – they are the ultimate in gluten free baked goods 🙂
These are GORGEOUS! I’ve made black bean brownies before but adding in this peanut butter swirl— now, that I MUST try! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
The peanut butter swirl is a must!!
I keep meaning to try black bean brownies!! (I’ve done avocado ones but still haven’t tried black beans!) I love what you did here with the peanut butter swirl (chocolate + peanut butter = the best ever!)
Peanut butter and chocolate is definitely the best!! I’ve never tried avocado brownies – those are next for me!!