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!**
Hi great blog 🙂 Could you use black eyed beans in this recipe instead?
Sure! Others have had success with different types of beans, I just probably wouldn’t use kidney beans!
Hi, can these be made with Borlotti beans? It’s all I have in my cupboard currently and I cannot be bothered to head out for different beans… lazy!!! Thanks!
I haven’t tried it but I am going to say yes! I have seen cookies made with chickpeas, black beans, and white beans, so I am going to assume the Borlotti beans would work too!
The borlotti beans totally worked! They were sweet, luscious and rather dreamy! The batter was kinda liquidy so I added about 1 tablespoon of coconut flour and oh WOW!!! My husband is only grumpy that I didn’t double the batch! I won’t be making that mistake again.
Oh and they do freeze really well. It’s a scorcher of a summer down here in Australia so the freezer is the best place to keep ’em!
Great idea with the coconut flour Kylie! I will have to give that a try the next time I make them! Thank you so much for the feedback! 🙂
Can these be frozen?
They sure can! I wouldn’t eat them frozen though, they will need a little thawing time 🙂
I made it from canned beans, and it was too soft, but we ate it with spoons 😀 I used plain vegetabel oil and brown sugar, maybe this was also to liquidy, but I really loved it, I’m gonna try it again tommorow. Amazing recipe! Thanks! 🙂
It could have been because you used vegetable oil – coconut oil is solid at room temperature so it would firm up the cookies more! Maybe next attempt try melted butter instead! 🙂
Thanks Christal!
The main problem was, that last time I baked it from canned beans and I did not dripped them enough.
For the second attempt, it was amazing 🙂 I’m gonna try it with coconut oil also, but now with the dripped beans it worked oit fine, even with vegetable oil 🙂
Thanks again! I love this very much! 🙂
Oh good!! I’m glad you had success this time! 🙂
Yummy, I have cravings already!
I know! I need to make more! 🙂
So cute! What a great idea for Halloween!
Thanks Julia!
hi christal , in russia hard to find coconut oil what is the proper replacement!
Hi Venkat, you could use melted butter instead.
Hey Christal, can I use soy milk instead of the almond milk?
These look AMAZING!!! Thanks! 🙂
Absolutely!