Mix up healthy brownies with extra nutrients from black beans. They are just sweet enough, bake in about 10 minutes, and are so yummy to share with the kids!
Black Bean Brownie Bites
I’m all about easy, yummy recipes with extra nutrition, and these brownie bites totally fill the bill. I’ve made them a few times recently with my girls and they love pressing the button on the food processor and covering the kitchen with sprinkles.
They think it’s so interesting that we can add beans to brownies and can’t really taste them. Though full disclosure: My girls love black beans in almost any form, so they may be predisposed to loving these!
You can use canned beans or beans that you’ve cooked from scratch. When mixed with a few other pantry staples, you get an easy dessert or snack that stores so well.
I am partial to storing these brownies in the fridge so they are super-duper cold. And I like to use a mini muffin pan, rather than a baking pan, to make bite-size brownies. They’re fun and bake up quickly.
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Ingredients You Need
To make this easy dessert, you’ll need the following ingredients on hand. Most can be stored in the pantry so you can keep them on hand to make this whenever the mood strikes.
- Coconut oil: I usually use coconut oil (refined or unrefined both work) and it’s an easy dairy-free option, or you can use melted unsalted butter.
- Chocolate chips: I use semi-sweet, but dark chocolate chips would also work. Having these in the mix helps to balance the black bean flavor.
- Maple syrup: Pure maple syrup is my sweetener of choice in this recipe, though you can also trade in honey if you prefer for kids over age 1 or agave nectar.
- Vanilla extract: This adds flavor and balances out the cocoa powder for that classic brownie flavor you expect.
- Black beans: If you use canned black beans, rinse and drain them before adding them to the recipe. This will remove the liquid from the can (which sometimes includes salt.)
- Cocoa powder: I typically use Hershey’s Special Dark or SACO brand cocoa powder as I like their flavor.
- Baking powder: A little baking powder helps the brownie recipe rise just enough.
- Whole wheat flour
TIP: To make these gluten-free, use cup for cup gluten-free flour. If you can’t find flour, you can use oat flour.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s a look at the simple process involved in making these brownies so you know what to expect. Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.
- Melt the oil and chocolate together.
- Add with the rest of the ingredients, except the flour, to a food processor.
- Grind to blend well. Pulse in the flour.
- Divide into a 24-cup mini muffin tin lined with paper liners. Bake!
TIP: Sprinkles are optional but my kids love them!
What’s the texture of these healthy brownies like?
These are fudgy and moist rather than cakey. They hold together well even though they don’t have eggs! (And no, you totally can’t taste the beans.)
We love them so much when served cold straight out of the fridge.
How to Store
I like to store these in the fridge and we prefer to eat them cold. Store in an airtight container or bag in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can freeze in a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Let cool fully first. To thaw, place in the fridge overnight or thaw at room temperature.
Best Tips for Success
- These are not crazy sweet, so stir in an extra ¼ cup chocolate chips before baking if desired.
- Sprinkles are optional but recommended.
- To make these gluten-free, use cup for cup gluten-free flour.
- You can use canned black beans, just drain them and rinse them first, or beans that you cook at home from dry.
- The batter is fairly thick, so press it down a little when you portion out the batter into the muffin tin.
- Let cool fully before eating if you can.
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Please comment below if you try the recipe, as I’d love to hear your feedback!
Black Bean Brownie Bites
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup coconut oil (or melted butter)
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- 1/3 cup maple syrup or honey
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 14.5- ounce can black beans (rinsed and drained)
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 24-cup mini muffin tin with paper liners.
- Add the oil and chocolate chips to a heat-safe bowl. Warm in the microwave for 1 minute. Remove from microwave and stir together until the chocolate and oil are blended together.
- Add the chocolate-oil mixture to a food processor with the rest of the ingredients except the flour. Blend well.
- Pulse in the flour.
- Divide the batter among the muffin cups, using a heaping tablespoon in each. Flatten a bit with a spoon and add sprinkles if desired.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until firm to the touch. Let cool fully before serving.
Video
Notes
- These are not crazy sweet, so stir in an extra ¼ cup chocolate chips before baking if desired. (We don’t typically do that and my kids like them just fine, but just to manage you own expectations about the sweetness level.)
- I like to store these in the fridge and we prefer to eat them cold.
- Store in an airtight container or bag in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- You can freeze in a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Let cool fully first and to thaw, place into the fridge overnight or thaw at room temperature.
- Sprinkles are optional but recommended.
- Gluten-free: Use cup for cup gluten-free flour.
- To make without flour, you can grind rolled oats in a food processor or blender until it resembles a coarse meal.
- The batter is fairly thick, so press it down a little when you portion out the batter into the muffin tin.
- Let cool fully before eating if you can!
Nutrition
This post was first published April 2020.
They wouldn’t set for us! I think I’ve figured out why. Used regular flour instead of whole wheat flour, and I think whole wheat sucks up more moisture? Also, 118g of chocolate chips is more than half a cup! Half a cup was 78g. Our squidgy chocolate bean cups are pretty yummy and chocolatey haha.
Yes it is likely due to the flour difference.
These are awesome lol. They hit the brownie craving but have some fiber and protein. Haven’t tried them on my toddler yet but they’re good enough that even if she doesn’t want them I’ll gladly eat them all
Can I use my sourdough discard for this recipe? Since that has whole wheat flour in it.
I haven’t made them that way so I can’t say for sure.
How would you go about substituting cocoa powder for the chocolate chips?
I haven’t ever made them that way so I can’t say for sure, and I am not sure it’s easy to swap those two without other adjustments since the consistency is so different.
So happy to have found this recipe! Surprisingly intense chocolate flavour and wonderful fudgy texture enjoyed from the fridge. I used dark chocolate rather than semisweet, honey and did stir through the extra 1/4 cup choc chips. Oh and I made 12x larger bites using a regular muffin pan – baked closer to 20 mins.
Love these little bites, we’ve made them MANY times. I’d like to make them for my son’s birthday, do you think they’d turn out okay regular muffin sized? Maybe bake for 18-20 minutes? Thanks!
Sure! I would think 16-18. You should be able to tell by looking at the middle. Hope he has a fun birthday!
Hi! I would like to reduce the amount of chocolate in this because of the caffeine. Do you have a recommendation for a substitute for the chocolate chips? Should I do nuts? What other ingredient would work in its place?
You could do dried fruit like cherries to keep the sweetness
Hi! I would like to reduce the amount of chocolate in this because of the caffeine. Do you have a recommendation for a substitute for the chocolate chips? Should I do nuts? What other ingredient would work in its place?
Made this according to recipe (blender instead of food processor) and they turned out great! The whole family enjoyed and I loved this new way to incorporate beans. Didn’t add any extra sugar or sweetner and they were plenty sweet for us.
Absolutely delicious…
But I must have done something wrong.
Why would they totally fall apart?! Really moist bottoms and crisp yummy muffin tops, but they all came disconnected from eachother and then all fell apart 🤣🤦🏻♀️
Tasted great though
(Cooked in mini muffin silicon tray in air fryer at 170ish for about 15 mins)
I haven’t made them in an air fryer so I am not sure if that might dry them out more.
Thank you Amy! Will stick to the oven next time 😊 Thank you for your reply. Keep being brilliant!! xx
Hi Amy! Can I do without cupcake liners if I don’t have the mini size? Or, can I do in a regular size 12 cup muffin tin / how would I adjust temp or time? Thank you!
Totally fine to do without liners, just grease the pan!
I’ve made these a few times now. The 1st time I made them per this recipe in little muffin cups. The other times I’ve made them in an 8×8 glass pan like traditional brownies since my son wanted to cut them out into pumpkin shapes. I baked them for about 25ish minutes. They all turn out yummy and my kids love them! Thanks!
I absolutely love this recipe! So does my 18 month old, and husband 😀
I used kidney beans as it’s hard to get black beans where I live, and it tastes fantastic. The fudgy texture is delicious. I also added sugar for extra sweetness as suggested, which brought it up to the level I like.
Thanks for all your great recipes, I haven’t had a flop yet.
So glad to hear it!
I adore this recipe; I’ve made it several times now. It’s quick, easy to dump in the blender and go, go, go.
I happen to have a bunch of dried black beans. Have you ever used dried and prepped rather than canned beans? Any thoughts, tips or suggestions?
Thank you!!
This is an old comment but I just did exactly this — had some instant pot black beans to use up, and thought this sounded better than more tacos. I used a silicone mini muffin pan, and baked them for 12 minutes (my beans were on the softer side, since I accidentally left them too long when cooking, whoops) and they came out great.
These are dope! I may share with my kids.
Also don’t need the sprinkles. I did half with and half without. The sprinkles obviously make them more appealing to the kids, but I’d actually rather them not be too exciting.
I have always wanted to try making black bean brownies but didn’t work up the courage til today. I was really surprised! The texture was interestingly good and they were the perfect amount of sweet. Just waiting til the kids get home to try them, I have a feeling they’re going to be gone quick! Will make again!
These are awesome. Great flavor and perfect texture. It’s a nice sweet treat for the whole family without blowing our diet. I used honey for the sweetener, and regular flour for the whole wheat flour. I also added an extra teaspoon of vanilla which was a great boost. I topped each brownie with a couple of chocolate chips.
Thoughts on using mix of oats/ oat flour with the whole wheat flour?
Also- if I wanted to bake in an 8×8 pan like regular brownies, do I need to adjust bake time?
My grandkids love these. The texture is great, they taste amazing and they are the perfect size. Quite simple to make too.
I’d love to transform this into a cake ball type treat for Easter this year! Any suggestions?
I think I would look for an oval silicone mold that you could bake them in, then you could coat with a simple icing and sprinkles?
Can you use dried beans (softened and cooked) instead of canned?
Sure, just use a little less than 2 cups
My daughter liked them! She is usually a little adverse to the “healthier” version of something. Used red kidney beans because that’s what I had. Thanks for the recipe!
Instead of canned black beans, how much of dried black beans can I take for boiling them at home?
A little less than 2 cups
These were amazing! Everyone loved them and were surprised how we couldn’t taste the beans! My toddler loves these which I am so happy about because I can never get him to eat any beans. Thank you for this recipe! We will be making these many times.
So yummy! I know my 4 year old will love them. I’ll probably give my 18 month old one with dinner. I used a regular glass baking dish and I also used a high speed blender instead of a food processor. I added about a tablespoon of milk to help everything mix in the blender. They turned out amazing! I had to adjust the time for a glass dish, but I just kept checking on them. Sprinkles are definitely a must!
Hi, How long would you suggest baking for in a regular size muffin tin?
I think 14-16 minutes would be the timing for that.
yummy recipe…just made…I think next time I will definitely pick up cupcake liners because mine fell apart taking them out of the muffin pan…not sure if I made them too big or if I didn’t let them cool enough…still they are really yummy and just what I needed for my chocolate fix while still maintaining healthy habits. I did add the extra 1/4 cup of chocolate chips, and that was perfect.
These are a winner in our house. I think I like them more than my daughter does haha. So easy to make, I make a batch, let them cool, then freeze some to take out another day for an easy snack that I don’t feel bad about.
I make them gluten free so they can be a little crumbly to eat but that’s just the way it is with gluten free most of the time. They are delicious though.
These turned out amazing! Thanks for sharing(:
I love these! I bought a mini muffin tin just for them! Love that they’re egg-free for my daughter and the rest of the ingredients are simple. I was able to use my blender instead of a food processor with no problems and I used a half cup of mini chips. Thanks!
Both tot & dad loved it and didn’t know it had beans!! Very yummy. I’m impressed.
I’m so glad!
Thanks Amy, your recopies are always so helpful for busy Mums! Just checking, I don’t have a food processor but do have a blender, would that work? Could I just blend the beans then mix the rest? Thanks! X
Yes, if you can get the beans smooth or mostly smooth, that should work. You may have to stop and start the blender a few times!
I made these yesterday and had success without using muffin liners. My 22 month old really enjoyed the “chawcolette” treat!
I did use light brown sugar in place of honey and stirred in those extra chocolate chips (prob not quite 1/4 cup though). And sprinkles of course .
I also prefer them cold. Good tip.
Thanks so much
Really enjoying your site
I’m so glad to hear that and thanks so much for letting me know!
Huge hit with my toddler AND daddy!! LOL. I used spelt in place of whole wheat, and adzuki beans in place of the black beans as I didn’t have black beans on hand. She absolutely loved them!! Thank you for your great recipes and all your helpful tips!
I’m so glad!
Looks great! How much would you recommend adjusting the cocoa & sweetener if I don’t have any chocolate chips?
I think the cocoa would be the same but I think I’d use 1/2 cup honey and consider adding a little granulated sugar too. They’re really not very sweet even with the chocolate and I’d want to be sure they are sweet enough! (That is my best guess since I haven’t tried it without the chocolate.)
Hi Amy,
Thank you for your site and all the great tips and recipes. Can I substitute adzuki beans in place of the black beans and spelt in place of whole wheat?
I haven’t tried them that way but I think they should work!