Bean and Beet Brownies

Beans. Beets. Brownies. Yup. You read that right. These brownies have kidney beans and beets in them. Beets are one of the most nutrient rich foods you can eat. Just look at how intense that magenta color is! They're full of fiber, folate, betaine, and manganese. Couple that with the antioxidants from chocolate and these brownies are essentially a health food! I love using vegetables and other healthy ingredients to make desserts because then I can get my chocolate fix in and not feel guilty about it. Plus, many people are intimidated by beets, so this is a great way to add them into your diet or cooking repertoire.

Adding beets and beans to brownies not only adds nutritional value, but also allows you to remove unhealthy ingredients such as eggs, sugar, and oil. You may think that with the low amounts of sugar that these brownies are going to taste like a health food - but no worries, that's what the cocoa powder is for! That flavor is so strong and intense that it completely masks the bean and beet flavor. All you get is the added sweetness from the roasted beets.

There is a bit more prep work involved than making brownies out of the box because you have to roast the beets. But you can just throw them in the oven and do something else while you wait for them to cook. Many people say to roast the beets with the skins on and then peel them off, but that involves more work waiting for them to cool, which I am not patient enough for. Once those beets are out of the oven I want to start cooking. I use a knife or vegetable peeler - slice off the ends and then peel the skins of the beets. If you slice them a bit then it also cuts down on roasting time.

This recipe was a big adventure for me because I generally do more cooking than baking. I like being able to tweak things as I go - experiment and fix any flavor or consistency issues. However, with baking you have to get it right in the beginning and then hope for the best! I wanted to make these gluten free, but after adding all my other ingredients together I felt that the batter was too gooey and needed some more substance, so I caved and added a bit of flour. I've failed at substituting gluten free flours for standard flour in the past so I thought I would play it safe and just use regular flour in this recipe. These turned out way better than I thought so I'll definitely continue to experiment and figure out a way to make them gluten free so that they can be enjoyed by more people.

Ingredients:
2 Beets
1/2 Cup Cooked Beans
1 Cup Chocolate Powder
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1/3 Cup Unbleached Flour
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
3/4 Cup Vegan Chocolate Chips

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Servings: 16 brownies

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Peel and slice beets. Drizzle with some olive oil, wrap in an aluminum foil pouch, and place in the oven for 45 minutes. Place them in a food processor and pulse until fine. You want them chopped up super tiny, but not so much that you make a puree.

Mash up the cooked beans and add the beets to the same bowl. Add the vanilla extract and combine them all together.
In a separate bowl combine all the dry ingredients - chocolate powder, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flour.

Add the dry ingredients to the beets and beans and mix them all together. Add the chocolate chips and fold them into the batter.

Pour the mixture into a greased (or use parchment paper) 9x9 or 8x8 brownie pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until you can stick a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean.

I've entered this recipe in the Virtual Vegan Potluck 5