Although I hadn't intended on baking this week, sometimes the urge just hits to try something new.
That something new turned in to one of my new favorite ways to make brownies. For the last nearly two years, my favorite brownies have been Black Bean Brownies - vegan (more by chance than intention), and higher in fiber and protein than other brownies. I've also experimented with another version of vegan cake mix brownies with walnuts and dried cherries (also delicious). But these I think take the cake - literally.
What you'll need:
1 chocolate cake mix (be creative, I use dark chocolate)
1 T. instant coffee
1/3 c. hot water
1 can black beans (drained)
1 (5oz) container of lite blueberry yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c. wheat bran (optional)
1/2 c. chocolate chips
3/4 c. dried blueberries
Start out by first soaking the blueberries in hot water for ~15-20 minutes, then drain. Dissolve the instant coffee in hot water and process with black beans in food processor until smooth. Add everything together and mix, adding chocolate chips and blueberries last.
The first time I didn't have the blueberries, but dried will work much better than fresh since their favor is more concentrated and won't add so much additional water to the batter. Soaking them will also make them not so chewy as the texture of the brownies is fairly soft.
Preheat the oven to 350F and bake in a lined 9x13 pan for 35 minutes.
Let cool slightly and enjoy!
They are very moist and slightly crumbly. They are today's lunch time dessert. *delicious and relatively nutritious.
Nutrition: 1 bar = 1/24 pan
144 kcal, Fat 3g, chol 1mg, sodium 143mg, carbohydrates 26g, fiber 3g, protein 3g,