Black Bean Brownies: A Tea Time Treat

Enjoy every light fudgy bite of these irresistible black bean brownies, knowing that your tea time treat is nutritious as well as delicious. Perfectly moist, rich and chocolatey, it’s hard to believe they’re made with black beans as a secret ingredient.

Post Updated March 2025

Thirteen years ago, there seemed to be a sudden spate of black beans used to make chocolate cakes. I first came across the phenomenon with a cake I spotted on What I Cooked This Weekend and then these brownies from Hungry Hinny and then I just saw them everywhere.

It seems as though the trend is back. Once again black bean brownies are filling up my socials.

The idea is that the black beans, as well as giving a bit of extra fibre, can reduce the amount of fat in the cake without making it taste less delicious. I was sceptical, but wanted to try it for myself. It took me a while because getting hold of black beans was the hardest part.

I should add that now, over a decade later, black beans are really common and ever so easy to get hold of – phew!

I adapted my recipe from one I found on Joy the Baker, who in turn got it from Martha Stewart – and so it goes on.

Dive Right In

• Why Make Black Bean Brownies?
• Black Bean Brownies
• Ingredients, Additions And Substitutions
• How To Make Black Bean Brownies
• Other Black Bean Recipes You Might Like
• Keep In Touch
• Pin It
• The Recipe

Why Make Black Bean Brownies?

Black bean brownies are just as delicious as any other good brownie. But whilst not exactly healthy, they’re healthier than most.

• Fudgy Texture – The black beans add to the rich and lightly fudgy texture that makes each bite irresistibly satisfying.
• Healthier Indulgence – With wholemeal spelt flour, reduced sugar and beans replacing some of the butter, these brownies provide a more nourishing treat without sacrificing flavour and texture. There’s plenty of dark chocolate too. It’s a great way to get a few healthy ingredients into kids and others who aren’t always keen.
• Perfect for Batch Baking – These black bean brownies are useful for batch baking as they not only last well, but are better on days two and three than they are on day one. They’re ideal for lunchboxes, afternoon snacks or even freezing for longer storage.
• Protein Boost – Eggs are high in protein and black beans add an additional source of plant-based protein as well as fibre. This makes these brownies surprisingly nutrient dense.
• Simple Ingredients – No fancy ingredients required. All you need are store cupboard staples such as beans, eggs, butter and flour which come together for an easy-to-make homemade treat.

Black Bean Brownies

I couldn’t wait for the black bean brownies to go cold before trying them, so I had my first one warm from the oven. All scepticism instantly disappeared as I bit into this most delicious, dark and moist brownie.  The crunch of toasted walnuts and spike of salt, made for a great contrast in texture as well as flavour.

Like most brownies these ones are best slightly underbaked. Over bake and they turn into cake, still very nice, but just not as nice. You need a bit of practice to get it right though as you also don’t want liquid batter. The brownies should be lightly fudgy with a lovely crispy top.

Although the fat content of the brownies is relatively small, there’s still a copious amount of sugar in the mix. And that’s after I reduced the quantity from the original recipe. So I’m not sure we can claim that black bean brownies are healthy. They are healthier than your average brownie though. And mine especially so as I use wholemeal spelt flour rather than plain white.

The first time we tried one, the salt was a bit of a surprise, especially for CT. He said he was “ambushed by my own expectations”. But once he got used to it, he approved. These days we’re much more used to salt in or on our sweet bakes, so it’s no longer the phenomenon it was.

As for the beans, it’s nigh on impossible to detect them. Despite the small amount of butter, these brownies keep really well, in fact they get fudgier with age. With commendable restraint, we manage to make them last the week – nearly!

Ingredients, Additions and Substitutions

The ingredients for these black bean brownies are all pantry staples, which makes them the sort of bake you can make at a moments notice. I’ve highlighted a few worthy of mention below.

Beans

Although the beans give these brownies their name, they’re actually quite hard to detect. Black beans are ideal as the colour blends nicely into the brownies. However, you can swap them for red kidney beans or adzuki beans instead if that’s what you have to hand. Black chickpeas also work well, but they’re a bit harder to get hold of.

Use tinned or jarred beans for ease or cook them from dried yourself. Dried beans are a lot cheaper to buy, but you do need to prepare them well in advance.

Chocolate

Dark chocolate is the one to go for in brownies. It’s rich in flavour and the slight bitterness helps to temper the sweetness of the sugar, of which there’s quite a lot, even though I reduced the amount in the original recipe.

There’s also a fair amount of cocoa powder in the recipe which helps to do the same. Make sure you use unsweetened cocoa or cacao powder and not drinking chocolate.

Flour

As regular readers will know, I like to use wholemeal spelt flour for most of my baking. You can find out why in this post, what is spelt flour and how to use it. It’s easy to get hold of these days and is a lovely flour to work with and a healthy one to eat.

However, ordinary wheat wholemeal flour is fine to use too as is a good gluten-free flour mix.

Salt

You can use either rock or sea salt for this recipe, but you’ll need flaky salt for sprinkling over the top. I use smoked salt both in and on these brownies as it gives a distinctive, but subtle smoky note which is unusual but most pleasant.

Walnuts

A walnut half on top of the brownie makes for a rather good decorative feature. But it also adds a delightful crunch to proceedings. The walnuts toast as the brownie bake and thus become exceedingly tasty.

Feel free to swap them for pecans instead though. Or, if you’re allergic to nuts or don’t like them just leave them out.

How To Make Black Bean Brownies

Brownies are easy bakes to make. This one is slightly more involved in that you whip up the eggs and sugar to create a lighter texture. An electric whisk is very handy for this. Likewise you’ll need something to pulverise the beans.

Please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full instructions, timings and quantities of ingredients used.

Step 1. Melt Chocolate

Melt the butter over a low heat in a small saucepan. Meanwhile break, or chop, the chocolate into small pieces and add to the pan. Turn the heat to its lowest setting and leave the chocolate to melt. It shouldn’t take long.

Give a good stir, then set aside.

Step 2. Add Beans

If using tinned or jarred beans, rinse them through a sieve then leave to drain. Don’t worry about them being dry, but just make sure most of the water has gone.

Blitz the beans to a purée using a stick blender or mini food processor. Alternatively, mash them by hand with a potato masher.

Scrape the bean purée into the chocolate and butter mixture, add the salt and give a good stir.

Step 3. Whip Eggs

Pour the sugar into a large clean mixing bowl, then break in the eggs. Using electric beaters whisk them together until the mixture has pretty much doubled in volume. It will take a few minutes.

You can do this by hand, but it takes a lot of effort.

Add the vanilla extract and whisk a little more.

Step 4. Make Brownie Batter

Carefully fold the melted chocolate into the egg mixture taking care not to lose too much of the air you’ve just added. Using a figure of eight motion with a large metal spoon works quite well.

Sift the flour, baking powder and cocoa into the bowl and again fold it in as carefully as you can. If there’s any bran left in the sieve, just tip it into the bowl. Keep going until you can no longer see any flour, then stop.

Step 5. Bake Brownies

Scrape the mixture into a lined brownie tin or lightly greased silicone pan. Level it with a knife or the back of a spoon, ensuring the mix goes into the corners too.

Place the walnut halves in the middle of where you expect to cut sixteen squares once the brownies are cooked. Scatter the salt flakes lightly over the top.

Bake in a preheated oven until the brownies are risen and have a nice crackly top. The top should feel slightly soft to the touch, but not liquid.

Transfer the bake from the oven to a cooling rack and leave the brownies to cool in the pan.

Step 6. Serve

Once the bake is cool or only slightly warm, cut it into sixteen squares. Stack the brownies on a platter and serve straight away. Alternatively, place them in a sealed container where they’ll keep at room temperature for five days or so.

To freeze, place the brownies in a sealed container and pop into your freezer. When ready to eat, remove from the freezer and leave at room temperature to thaw before unpacking.

Other Black Bean Recipes You Might Like

If you use a tin of beans or even if you’ve cooked your own beans from dried, you’re likely to have some left over. Here are a few other recipes that are made with black beans. These should help you use up any leftovers.

• Black bean corn salad (vegan)
• Black bean curry bowls (vegan)
• Bulgur wheat & black bean salad with feta
• Chocolate refried beans
• Stuffed squash
• Vegetarian enchiladas with homemade mole

Keep in Touch

Thank you for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make these black bean brownies, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do you have any recommendations or advice for using black beans in baking?

Please rate the recipe. If you post pictures of your creations on social media, use the hashtag #tinandthyme so I can see them.

For more delicious and nutritious recipes follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard or Pinterest. And don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to my weekly newsletter. Or why not join the conversation in our Healthy Vegetarian Whole Food Recipes Facebook Group?

If you’d like more brownie recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and generally a bit more nutritious than most.

Choclette x

Black Bean Brownies. PIN IT.

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5 from 1 vote

Black Bean Brownies: A Tea Time Treat

Enjoy every fudgy bite of these irresistible black bean brownies, knowing that you're tea time treat is nutritious as well as delicious. Perfectly moist, rich and chocolatey, it's hard to believe they're made with black beans as a secret ingredient.

Cook ModeToggle to keep screen awake

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Course: Afternoon Tea

Cuisine: British

Keyword: black beans, brownies, dark chocolate, walnuts

Servings: 16 pieces

Calories: 192kcal

Author: Choclette @ Tin and Thyme

Ingredients

• 75 g cooked black beans (⅓ cup) rinsed
• 60 g unsalted butter (¼ cup, ½ stick, 2oz)
• 140 g dark chocolate (5oz) ( I used 85%)
• 3 medium eggs
• 225 g golden caster sugar (1¼ cups) granulated is fine too
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 115 g wholemeal spelt flour (1 cup)
• 15 g cocoa powder (⅛ cup)
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp sea or rock salt smoked salt is particularly good
• 16 walnut halves
• 2 pinch sea salt flakes (I used Cornish smoked sea salt)

Instructions

• If using tinned beans, rinse and drain them well. Then blitz with a hand-held stick blender or mini food processor until smooth (ish).
  75 g cooked black beans
• Melt the butter in a small pan over a low heat with the chocolate. Stir in the beans, then leave to cool slightly.
  60 g unsalted butter, 140 g dark chocolate
• In a large clean bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together with electric beaters until thick and creamy. Then add the vanilla and beat some more.
  3 medium eggs, 225 g golden caster sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Stir in the cooled chocolate and beans carefully.
• Sift in the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt, then gently fold into the mix.
  115 g wholemeal spelt flour, 15 g cocoa powder, ½ tsp baking powder, ¼ tsp sea or rock salt
• Pour the batter into a lined 23 cm (9″) square cake tin or lightly greased silicone mould and level.
• Place 16 walnut halves in the middle of where you expect to cut sixteen squares once the brownies are cooked. Scatter lightly with the salt flakes.
  16 walnut halves, 2 pinch sea salt flakes
• Bake in a preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes at 180℃ (160℃ fan, 350℉, Gas 4). Like most brownies, these are much better slightly underdone. There should be a slight wobble in the batter once baked, but it should definitely not be liquid.
• Leave to cool in the tin, then cut into sixteen squares.

Notes

Will keep in an airtight container for at least five days.

You’ll find additional tips and info about this recipe in the main body of the post.

Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on serving size and exact ingredients used. Please refer to my nutrition disclaimer for further information.

Nutrition Estimate

Calories: 192kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 39mg | Sodium: 56mg | Potassium: 154mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 143IU | Vitamin C: 0.03mg | Calcium: 24mg | Iron: 2mg

Tried this recipe?Leave a comment below letting us know how you got on and do share a photo on Instagram. Tag @choclette8 or use hashtag #tinandthyme.

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What could say love and romance more than brownies? I could think of a few things, but brownies certainly say it for me. With this in mind, I am entering these black bean brownies into Tea Time Treats. Karen of Lavender and Lovage and Kate of What Kate Baked host this fun filled monthly tea party. This month Kate has chosen Romance as the theme.