Flourless Brownies with Craisins and Pistachios
About a year ago, I saw this recipe for Black Bean brownies over at my friend Colleen’s blog, My Dairy Free Gluten Free Life. I pinned it to try later and just got to the point where I wanted to do it. Only, instead of making it just like she did (with a Peppermint flavor added to the chocolate), I decided to create flourless brownies with craisins and pistachios.
The family had mixed reactions to my creation, but I will say that this mama is loving it for a healthier chocolate fix!
I just might try to make a batch that comes out more like fudge (leaving out the eggs and baking powder.)
The upside for that route is I can enjoy the blender scrapings or taste it to see if the overall flavor is fine before baking.
Making Flourless Brownies with Craisins and Pistachios
Colleen’s original post had flourless brownies with Peppermint essential oil added to the batter.
I am a huge fan of peppermint with chocolate. However, I wanted to try something a little different.
Changes I made to her recipe include:
adding Craisins and pistachios
boosting the protein content with chocolate protein powder
adding more fiber through ground flax seed
boosting flavor with vanilla extract.
There is a little prep required for this recipe.
I chopped the Craisins, pistachios, and larger chocolate chips up before adding to the mix.
Otherwise, it is pretty much a measure and add to a blender or food processor.
I let my pan of flourless brownies cool on a cooling rack before using a dough cutter to slice through the still soft concoction.
Storing them in a refrigerator seems to be a common recommendation for brownies made with black beans.
As my 6-year-old decided he loves this batch, I don’t think they’d be around long to spoil!
Flourless Brownies with Craisins and Pistachios
One bite of these flourless brownies and you won't even miss the wheat!
Ingredients
- 1 (15 ounce) can of black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup sugar source (you can use liquid sweeteners or other options following their chart for equivalency)
- 1/3 cup coconut oil (I melted to measure mine)
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp. ground flax seed
- 1/2 cup chocolate protein powder
- 1/4 cup pistachios, chopped
- 1/4 cup Craisins, chopped
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips or diced dark chocolate
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Place all ingredients except the pistachios, Craisins and chocolate chips into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
- Add Craisins, pistachios and chocolate chips into the brownie mix and stir to blend.
- Pour into a greased 8X8-inch pan. You can top with chocolate chips and pistachios if desired.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Test by using a toothpick in the middle. If it comes out clean, then the brownies are done.
- Let cool and then cut into pieces.
- Store in the refrigerator or freezer.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
16Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 163Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 24mgSodium: 47mgCarbohydrates: 17gFiber: 2gSugar: 12gProtein: 5g
Have you tried brownies or other baked goods using beans instead of flour?
For more Pinterest remakes, visit a few of my favorite bloggers:
- Berry Sipper Mocktail by Confessions of an Overworked Mom
- Starbucks Cup Gift Card Holder by Homemaking Hacks
- Ice Lanterns by Upstate Ramblings
- Lip Scrub by Mom Always Finds Out
- The Best Homemade Vanilla Extract by How Was Your Day?
- The Best Crockpot Chili Recipe by Food Fun Family
- Vintage Cheddar and Gruyere Mac and Cheese with Polish Kielbasa by A Day in Motherhood
- DIY Hot Chocolate Mix Recipe by Just 2 Sisters
- Tiger Nut Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies by Home and Garden Cafe
- Bang Bang Chicken by Jennifer Sikora
- Frozen Banana Yogurt Peanut Dog Treats by 2Boys+1Girl=OneCrazyMom
- Dark Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Oatmeal by Sincerely Mindy
- Garlic Monkey Bread Recipe by Gator Mommy
- Homemade Vanilla Orange Mint Sugar Scrub by Baby Loving Mama
- Valentine’s Day Strawberries by Sizzling Eats
- All Natural 2 Ingredient Lip Gloss by The Socialite’s Closet
- Pantry Tomato Pasta by The Guavalicious Life
- How to Make Strawberry Pecan Bread by Mommy Snippets
More Chocolate Recipes from Laura
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Blissful Chocolate Orange Cake
Chocolate Chip and Almond Flax Cookies
Decadent Tuxedo Cookie Bars for the Holidays
I would love to try this – I’m a huge fan of using beans in recipes, desserts included. These sound delish and healthy!
This looks like a good recipe but it has coconut oil which I can’t have. I guess I’d have to substitute something else instead of that oil.
Jeffrey,
Any oil with mild flavor should work in this recipe. I just prefer coconut oil.
These are really healthy brownies. I like to make these and see how good they taste. We love brownies in our house and flourless would be a great change for me to try. Thanks for sharing.
This looks good love to try them
This is a great combination of flavors!
This sounds unique and delicious. Thanks for sharing!
I seriously love black bean brownies. When I taught nutrition classes, we called them “secret ingredient brownies.” I had never thought about adding craisins and pistachios. I’ll definitely be trying this recipe soon.
I’d seen some recipes with peppermint essential oil which sounds yummy, too. However, I like a little crunch in my brownies at times and wanted something out of the ordinary. I am betting if I cut out the egg and baking powder to make them more fudgy that they’ll be scrumptious.
I’ve never tried brownies without flour before but this looks like a good recipe to start with. I think the combination of craisins and pistachios sounds yummy too. Nice remake!
I’ve always wondered how they made these.They sound like a great treat!
They are good, but I need to tweak it a bit more as the boys prefer fudgy compared to cake like. However, I can say that these taste better than some flour based brownies I’ve had. The upside is you can play with the sweetener source and really knock calories to the curb.
Those look delicious. I can’t believe there’s no flour involved! What a cool recipe, definitely worth giving it a try.
My 6 year old was skeptical when he saw I was using beans to make them. But, he’d eat an entire batch if I let him!
I’m definitely trying the fudge route the next time to see how those come out. (And, my eldest asked if I could make them sans Craisins and pistachios.)