Healthy Grain Free Brownies

2 cups cooked black beans* (or 1 can of no salt added)

3 lightly beaten eggs

1/3 cup melted coconut oil (or melted butter)

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup honey (or other equivalent sweetener)

1/2 cup chopped up bittersweet chocolate (or semi-sweet chips if you don’t mind the added refined sugar in them)

1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts –optional

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease an 8×8 pan. Toss all but the final 2 ingredients (the chopped up chocolate and walnuts) into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Fold in the chopped chocolate and walnuts. Pour into the pan and bake for about 30 minutes.

*  Ideally, you should soak the beans overnight. (You can soak the beans for 10-24 hours).  Place the beans in a bowl, and cover with warm filtered water.  Add 1 TBSP per 1 cup of beans of any of the following: apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, buttermilk, kefir, yogurt, whey.  (One bag of beans is 2 cups, so add 2 TBSP per bag).  After the beans have soaked, drain any remaining water and rinse.  Then you are ready to cook the beans!  They don’t take very long at all to cook if they have been soaked (10-20 mins maybe).  For more information about soaking beans, visit:  http://www.keeperofthehome.org/2008/06/baby-steps-cooking-dry-beans.html