Healthy Brownies?!

A few years ago, I found a recipe for black bean brownies.  Sounds pretty gross, right?  They were awful!  Chunks of beans and not enough sugar...a real mess.  Even some of my nicest, most brownie-loving friends tried them and were disgusted.  Today I decided to try again.  I found a recipe online and tweaked it to include kale since my garden is full of it and kale is packed with nutrition, and an egg because I am not vegan and in my opinion, you just can't have brownies without eggs.

I just put all of these things into my NutriBullet and blended it until it was a smooth paste...

1 can of black beans drained and rinsed very well
A big handful of kale leaves
2 1/2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup honey
2 Tbsp sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup coconut oil (it will be hard this time of year, and that's ok)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking powder

Once that mixture is really smooth and creamy, stir in 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and pour into a small baking dish. I baked them at 350 for 15 minutes, let them mostly cool, and then realized the bottoms were still pasty. So I threw them back into the oven at 300 for another 10 minutes. Then they were STILL weird, so I refrigerated them for a couple hours and now they are amazing! Fudgy and delicious. Mmmm

Black beans are high in fiber and protein, low in fat, and rich in nutrients such as folic acid and magnesium.  Kale and coconut oil are both superfoods that are packed with all kinds of good stuff.  These brownies are the perfect treat for when you're craving chocolate but don't want to feel guilty about eating junk food. 

Fun activity:  Offer a brownie to someone who wasn't around when you made them.  Give them a moment to really get into it, and then watch the look on their face when you tell them they are eating beans and kale!  This is especially fun if it is a teenager or a man.   :)

Enjoy!