Does it mean I’m getting old when I haven’t even thought about Halloween except for what kind of treats I can make for the blog?
In my younger years (…my early 20’s?) used to have a costume picked out, a multitude of parties to choose from, plans, excitement, the whole thing. Maybe, subconsciously I just don’t care about Halloween anymore because my mind is already focusing on Christmas. Yep, as soon as Thanksgiving is over, my focus = Christmas!
Well my Halloweening days might be over for the time being but at least I can reminisce on the year I dressed up as a Ninja Turtle, right?! That was the BEST.
Seeing as Halloween is only a couple weeks away, I thought this recipe would be coming in right on time!
This recipe might in fact remind you of another recipe from the NITK archives… my Raspberry Goat Cheese Swirl Brownies. Why? Well because they have the same secret “you-put-what-in-these?!” ingredient!
The mighty Black Bean. Yes, black beans, and just like the brownies, you’d never guess they are the staple ingredient that lends these cookies their ooey, gooey, chewy, and rich fudgy texture!
These chocolaty, rich, dark cookies are full of fiber and because they are free of flours, they are also grain and gluten-free. They do not contain any refined sugars (I used organic coconut sugar instead, a fantastic low glycemic, slow releasing sugar) and come in at less than 100 calories a pop!
…Not that low calorie = healthy, but in this case, these are healthy AND lower in calories, so you can enjoy one, two, or even three for a snack, and not risk overloading your digestive system like you would with a commercially prepared Halloween cookie!
I used Sunspire Sundrops for the little orange cookie topper decorations that I picked up from Planet Organic, a local organic health foods store. I love these little chocolates because they are made with all natural ingredients and do not contain any artificial flavors, glucose, refined sugar, modified cornstarch, or other unpronounceable ingredients like another very similar candy we will keep nameless…
Want to amp up the flavour a little? Try adding chia seeds or raisins, a peanut butter swirl, or even shredded coconut! It’s always fun to experiment with healthy ingredients in the kitch, you never know what you might come up with!
- 1.5 cups cooked black beans
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 tbsp natural almond or peanut butter
- ¼ cup unsweetened almond milk
- ½ cup organic coconut sugar
- ¼ cup unsweetened cacao powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 60 orange organic chocolate Sundrops* (optional, but accounted for in nutritional info, you can also use a dairy-free chocolate chip)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Rinse the beans thoroughly and drain.
- Add beans to a food processor together with oil, nut butter and almond milk.
- Blend until smooth.
- Sift together coconut sugar, cacao powder, baking powder and salt and add to the bean mixture. Blend again until all is combined.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease a baking sheet and spoon 12 evenly distributed dollops of batter.
- The cookies may need some help shaping into rounds, so just smooth them out with a spoon.
- Bake 20 minutes.
- The cookies will still be soft when you take them out of the oven, so while they are still hot and soft, place sundrops in the tops, gently pushing them down into the soft cookie.
- Set a side for a few minutes to harden before transferring to a rack to cool completely.
- Enjoy!
Happy Sunday!
Christal
Nutritionist in the Kitch
**This post was originally published in October of 2012 and has been revamped and updated for accuracy, comprehensiveness, and your enjoyment!**
Not only do these cookies looks so soft and pillowy, but they are super adorable! I need to find those sundrops because I love the addition of color to these cookies!
Thanks Bethany! I think even just little chocolate chips would look great too! 🙂
Black beans in cookies? What an interesting idea. I can’t wait to try them. Thanks!
I know! It sounds odd but it’s great!
Such cool combination of flavors and colors!
Thanks Medeja!
Yum! I have a recipe for chili-chocolate-black bean cookies on my blog so I know exactly what you mean by their ooey, gooey, fudgeyness! These will be perfect for Halloween though – thanks!
Mmm! That sounds awesome Michele, I will check them out!! 🙂
Is there a way to order these Halloween chocolate cookies already prepared? Please advise. Thank you.
No, Sorry Diane! They are very easy to make though!
Are they suppose to be brownie consistency? Thats how mine turned out
:/
They are definitely softer!
Can these be made with brown sugar? I had to use white sugar and milk. I used Unreal chocolate coated candy. These were quite good! They were really thin though.
Yep you could use any granulated sugar you like!
how do i keep them from being so thin?
Hi Helen – you can try adding more baking powder to the recipe, that will allow them to rise more.
We just made these- and the kids loved them. They crumbled a lot though, they were so delicate that they kept breaking apart in our hands. Do you have any advice? We’d love to try making these again.
Hey Theresa! They may have needed a bit longer in your oven to keep them together, and you also have to make sure they cool completely before digging in! I had a few crumbly ones in my batch too, but I dug in while they were still a bit warm! 🙂