15 oz (1 1/2 cups) canned black beans, drained and thoroughly rinsed
2 Ibsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup quick oats
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup maple syrup, honey, or agave syrup
2 Tbsp sugar, equivalent amount of stevia, or increase the syrup/honey to 1/2 cup
1/4 cup coconut or vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2-2/3 cup chocolate chips (do not omit)
more chocolate chips may be added as desired for garnish
Thoroughly process all ingredients except chocolate chips in a good food processor (a blender will give a different result). Stir in chocolate chips and pour into a greased 8x8-inch pan; sprinkle with extra chocolate chips if desired. Cook at 350F 15-18 minutes; let cool at least 10 minutes before tasting. They will firm up a bit if refrigerated overnight.
From: Thurston County Food Bank
The long chatty bit
I recently had a chance to try these at a Food Bank event and picked up a copy of the recipe. They're denser and gooey-er than I like my brownies, more in the flourless, gluten-free line, but still pretty good. My first thought was that they'd make a good filling for something like Fig Newtons or date-filled cookies. I may come back to that idea sometime.
It also might be interesting to try rolling them into small balls that could be coated with cocoa powder to make a sort of truffle. I think they're sticky enough; or maybe they could be undercooked just a smidge... or, I wonder what effect, if any, pre-grinding the oats to a near-flour consistency or even using oat flour would have. Something to ponder.
Esperanta traduko: this post is also available in Esperanto, because Dana is a language geek.
