Okay.
Prepare yourself.
I see a potential food baby in your future.
The good news? It will be a healthy, all natural, fiber-packed food baby.
Oh, and the journey there will taste out-of-this-world amazing, too.
All jokes aside, these cupcakes are seriously addicting.
I’ve dabbled with sweets built on a chickpea base (and looooved the results!), but this was my first foray into baking with black beans, and I was shocked at how moist and incredibly nommy these little gems turned out!
In fact, I want to make (and eat!) these again and again.
Every. Single. Day.
Black Bean Brownie Cupcakes
(Yields 9 cupcakes)
Ingredients:
- Just a bit of virgin coconut oil to grease your pan
- 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 5 oz. ripe banana (about 1/2 very large)
- 2 T date sugar
- 1/4 cup pure, unsweetened cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. sea salt
- 1 egg
- 1 T pure vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup cacao nibs (or dark chocolate chips, if you prefer), plus extra for sprinkling
- 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/3 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
- 1 batch Healthy Yogurt Cheese Frosting
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Place the black beans, cocoa powder, date sugar, baking soda, sea salt, egg, and vanilla extract in a food processor. Blend until smooth.
While the cupcakes cool, place the frosting in a zip-top sandwich bag. Cut the tip off one of the bottom corners of the bag. Gently push the frosting out of the cut tip and swirl it onto the cooled cupcakes.
Sprinkle the frosted cupcakes with extra cacao nibs, if desired.
OH, and if you should somehow manage to have leftovers, refrigerate in an airtight container. 🙂
*This recipe was featured on Foodie Fridays!
Special Price! - Virgin Coconut Oil, Gold Label - 2 pints - Buy 1 Get 1 FREE!
They look so delicious!
Thanks so much, Megan! You have to let me know if you try them! 🙂
These do look divine! Question for you: I don’t eat chocolate… I wonder how you think black bean brownies would turn out without the cocoa and cacao nibs? Can you think of something else that could be used in their place?
Hmmmm…do you substitute with carob often? I haven’t really done much baking with carob myself, but I have a friend who is allergic to chocolate, and she often uses carob powder and carob chips as substitutes. I know the carob would lend a different taste, but I still think it would turn out well…if you like carob, of course!
Another option would be to use chickpeas instead of black beans, leave out the cocoa powder and cacao, and add in a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg…then you could have banana bread cupcakes with yogurt cheese frosting! Yummmmm!!! You’ve actually just made me want to try this myself! I see a future blog post coming soon… 😉
What can I substitute for date sugar? Also, what do cacao nibs taste like? Is it an acquired taste?
I just stumbled on your website and can’t keep away! There are so many recipes I’d love to try, like coconut milk, flour and butter! Do you happen to have a post of items that you buy on a regular basis and where you buy them? I feel like I need to buy a few things, such as coconut flakes, date sugar, cacao nibs for a few of the recipes that I’ve seen.
Thanks so much for stopping by! I’m so happy that you’ve found some recipes to try. You must let me know what you think once you’ve tried them. 🙂
You can easily substitute a different sweetener of your choice in place of the date sugar. I love date sugar because it’s simply ground dates…so you get their natural sweetness along with all their nutrients! You should be able to use the same amount of a granulated sweetener — such a sucanat or brown sugar. If you decide to go with a liquid, like raw honey, you may need to play with the amount a little bit, as the liquid may change the consistency of the cupcakes.
I don’t yet have a pantry list up, but I’m working on it! I hope to have it up on the site by next week! 🙂 In the meantime, you can usually find links for any “special” ingredients in the recipe. I order many of mine from Amazon in order to save on costs.
I just realized I forgot to touch on the cacao nibs! If you like extra-dark chocolate, you will LOVE them! If dark chocolate is too bitter for you, than you may want to start slowly until you acquire more of a taste for them. The great thing about cacao nibs is that you get all of the antioxidants, fiber, and nutrients from the cacao without any of the additives that often come with processed chocolate.
I love black beans and chocolate together! I don’t use coconut or bananas but it soulds like a great addition!
Thanks so much, Cindy! Definitely let me know what you think if you try them! 🙂
Now I can post on here as on my computer… These sound delicious, although I don’t have some of the ingredients… so will either have to change them or buy them. Thanks for sharing on Foodie Friends Friday.
I can’t say it often enough – I love baking sweet treats with beans!
Pinned this one and have to make it asap!
Thank you so much for sharing this at Wednesday Extravaganza! Hope to see you there again this week with more deliciousness 🙂
Me, too! They work so beautifully! 🙂 Thanks so much for making me a part of your Wednesday Extravaganza!!
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