Beautiful black bean brownies

Beans! Who knew? I was keen to try a healthy variation on an old favourite, and came across a recipe that uses black beans in place of flour in a brownie. My kids love chocolate (particularly my youngest, Stella) and I wanted to make them something delicious, but nutritious and healthy as well.

Today started with Sofia waking up with a fever, so I kept her home from school today. It was a miserable, rainy day outside too, so I cancelled all my appointments and decided to embrace my enforced downtime. And where better than in the kitchen, huh? I find it so therapeutic to cook and I love trying new things, so here we go - see if this doesn't impress you. A brownie that tastes yummy, but has added fibre and protein, no refined sugar or dairy, and is wheat-free? Indeed!

Ingredients:

2 cups tinned black beans, drained and rinsed
2 large, organic eggs
1/2 cup coconut palm sugar, or xylitol
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup virgin coconut oil
1/4 cup cocoa
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup coconut flakes + more for sprinkling

Method:

Preheat oven to 180C (or 160C fan-forced), and grease a square baking pan. Line with baking paper, or brush with coconut oil.
Add all the ingredients to your blender and whizz until very smooth. This mixture can be quite dense, so do this in stages if you need to.
Pour the mixture into your baking pan, smooth out the top and sprinkle with the extra coconut flakes.
Bake for around 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in centre comes out clean.