Opposites Attract … Brownies and Black Beans! | A Heart Healthy Brownie

When Elaine asked me on Wednesday what we could do for her daughter’s “Heart Healthy Valentine’s Day Party” at school, I got to work, searching on the web for some new twist on an old idea.

Somehow I came across the idea to incorporate black beans into brownies. Finding this idea a compelling one, I found several involved recipes, reading reviews and comments as I searched … until I came across a comment from one person who suggested just using a whole can of black beans and a box of brownie mix and that was it.

Now, I have to say, I know of a similar recipe, with a similar substitution – mixing a whole can of pureed pumpkin with a standard box of golden cake mix – and knowing from experience … this recipe is amazing (and easy and certainly trims the fat content).

So, going on this assumption, I revised my search: “Black Bean Brownies” where the top result from Spark Recipes (http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=986481) caught my eye – “Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Brownie Mix Black Bean Brownies” – for Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate Brownie Mix happens to be our go-to brownie!

Armed with a can of black beans and a box of brownie mix, I followed the recipe, step by step … modifying the recipe only slightly by draining the beans completely before dumping them in the blender and adding about ½ cup of water before setting it on “puree”.  Lastly, I incorporated the fiber-rich beans with brownie mix, poured it into my pan and baked!

And it worked, my house smelled like brownies, my kids ate them like brownies … then I brought the balance over to Elaine’s where the remainder, were tried and tested by another three kids and one suspicious husband!

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I have to say, I would make them again … so there’s something to be said for opposites attract! Try it, trust us, your family might be foiled, but they won’t be lacking!