Black bean brownies

No pictures! Did you notice for the last few days? I could not find the cable to recharge my battery. Finally, I found the cable. Then, I discovered the camera is not in the case where I always replace it. So, I am baffled and will continue to search for the camera.

In the meantime, you know what brownies look like. Imagine brownies with lots of fiber and no flour. You get one fruit, a vegetable, and lots of good-for-you fiber.

This is the time of year when people are on diets. I don't know about you, but I hate to give up chocolate. So, chocolate is eaten every day when I want to lose weight. Never have I been on a diet. I just change my lifestyle. Of course, a lifestyle change was what put on the weight--I gave up walking when I had a torn meniscus. Okay, I walked little and ate more.

Here we go.

Black Bean Brownies
350 degrees, 30 minutes

2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 can black beans, drained (mashed, whirred to pulp, whatever)
1/4 cup cocoa
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup instant oats (I used the whole grain Quaker oats)

Mix, use 8x8 or 9x9 inch pan, lightly greased with butter, Pam, or Crisco. Drain the beans.

The first time I made these, I was too lazy to put the beans in the blender or use a potato masher. I just gave more than few hopeful mashes of the fork and let them be.

When I tasted the baked brownies, the beans had the chocolate flavor infused into the half mashed beans. I knew there were no chocolate chips in the brownie, but the half-crushed beans tasted like chocolate chips and had the texture of chocolate chips. No matter how often I told myself I was eating beans, they still tasted like chocolate chips.

Today, will be blender brownies all the way. Only half the beans will be whirred with the ingredients in the blender. The other half of the can of beans will be just mashed a bit.

Admittedly, these do taste like bananas--chocolaty bananas. But, is that a bad thing? Not for me. Maybe applesauce could be used instead. I don't know. I might try that next time. I might put an egg white in with the applesauce or maybe powdered egg white.

When I made these the second time, I added 1/8 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp of vanilla. I could not tell that added anything to the yummy taste. Next time I will leave out salt and vanilla. Yes, I experiment.

Your turn
How did you like these? Come on, give them a try.