These amazing chocolate cookies are my new true love! I already made them several times, and each time everyone who tried these cookies went ecstatic, especially when they found out what was the main ingredient – black beans!
Try these cookies, and I guarantee – you will also fall in love with them! Soft inside, a little crunchy outside – these amazing chocolate chip cookies give you a whole range of gustatory experience. I assure you – you will not feel any bean flavor, and this is the beauty of these cookies.
A few words about the health benefits. Beans are a great substitute for butter. They are high in protein and fiber, relatively low in calories, and very low in fat. As a result, one cookie contains only 87 calories – and at the same time tons of fiber (14% RDA (recommended daily allowance)) and iron (12% RDA).
Just imagine – the more cookies you eat, the better it is for your body. Isn’t it a perfect dessert?
Ingredients:
Black beans, cooked – 1 cup *
Peanut butter – 2 tbsp**
Milk – 2 tbsp ***
Whole wheat flour – 2 tbsp
Cocoa powder, unsweetened – 4 tbsp
Brown sugar – 1/3 cup
Cinnamon – 1 tsp
Baking powder – 1 tsp
Sea salt, coarse (for topping) – a pinch
* I used canned black beans (1 can, drained)
** You can use another nut butter – almond, cashew, sunflower, etc.
*** You can use any other milk
1. Preheat oven to 350F (180C).
2. Rinse the beans thoroughly in cold water. Drain them, add in a food processor together with peanut butter and milk. Blend until smooth.
3. In a separate bowl whisk the dry ingredients together. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix until just combined. You will get a soft and a bit sticky dough.
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Form small balls, place on baking sheet, flatten slightly. Add a few salt grains on top to complement the chocolate taste. Don’t put too much otherwise you will end up with salty cookies☺
5. Bake for around 20 minutes. Set a side a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
Basic information:
▪ Prep time: 5 min
▪ Total time: 25 min
▪ Serves: 10
▪ WW (Weight Watchers PointPlus) = 2
Do you like to accentuate chocolate with a bit of salt?
And how do you like the idea of a dessert made from beans?
Emily says:
Do you have a picture or description of how the bean/PB/milk blend is supposed to look? I don’t have a food processor or a blender so I had to use a magic bullet express. I’m not sure it’s quite right, it’s sitting in my fridge right now and I just can’t get it to be smooth.
Lana says:
Hi Emily,
The blend will be pretty viscous and it doesn’t need to be very smooth – it’s OK to have small chunks of peanuts and beans left. Magic bullet should be able to mix these well. Just make sure to add enough cocoa powder and flour to make the dough dense enough to be able to form cookies. The dough will be a bit sticky so you can wet your hands with cold water to make it easier to work with the dough.
I don’t have the option of adding images in comments so I emailed you the close up picture of how the final dough should look like.
I hope it helps.
Happy baking!
-Lana
Emily says:
Thanks so much! I just finished making them. I didn’t manage to completely blend the beans but even though there is the odd whole bean, I don’t find them objectionable at all! They’re really good, thanks for the picture and the awesome recipe.
Collette says:
Hey I bought everything to start baking these cookies but forgot whole wheat flour. Could I use regular flour?
Lana says:
Hi Collette,
Yes, you can use regular flour.
Happy baking!
- Lana
Katie says:
Do you think it would work with regular butter instead of a nut butter? Nut butters aren’t really available in my corner of the world, but I’d love to try making (and eating!) these cookies.
Lana says:
Hi Katie,
Yes, you can use regular butter. Or, you can make nut butter at home – simply grind peanuts (or other nuts) with a bit of water in a food processor for a few minutes. For example, I make a chocolate hazelnut butter (I call it Nutella) at home, it takes about 3 minutes to get the desired result: http://www.myhappydessert.com/homemade-healthier-nutella/
Happy baking!
- Lana
Lina says:
Perhaps a silly question (I’ve never subbed beans like this before) – will eating these make you gassy? I would like to make these for my mom, who has very little appetite because she’s homebound with cancer. She never had a great diet (always claimed Activia would destroy her tummy, for example) and I don’t want to shock her system with too much fiber suddenly, especially in her state. I’m trying a batch for myself now but wondered others experience. Thanks!
Lana says:
Hi Lina,
Thanks for your question. None of my friends who ate these cookies had any problems with digestion afterwards.
If your mother has a really sensitive digestive tract, drain your beans really well. Using a large colander, drain your beans and rinse them several times, to make sure all the starches are eliminated. This will make the beans easier to digest.
Hope it helps.
Happy baking!
- Lana
Annette says:
These cookies sound great but I have a wheat allergy. I just found out a couple of months ago and am still adjusting. Do you have any suggestions on another type of flour that would work well for this recipe?
Thanks!
Lana says:
Hi Annette,
You can use buckwheat flour or almond meal instead. You can also find a gluten-free all-purpose flour in most grocery stores (at least in the US) – or just order it online.
I hope it helps:)
Happy baking!
- Lana
Krystal says:
I just made these last week with Bob’s Red Mill Arrowroot flour and they turned out great. My skeptic husband and children couldn’t get enough. You can probably buy it at Bulk barn or Metro. I don’t buy it that often so there are probably other retailers that carry the brand but I haven’t checked. Enjoy!!
Rachel says:
I know this is crazy, but I don’t eat chocolate. Do you think the cookies would work with just the peanut butter? I am so intrigued by the concept and really want to try to make them. Thanks!
Lana says:
Hi Rachel,
I haven’t tried making these without cocoa but I think they may work with the peanut butter only.
The batter may be too sticky without added cocoa, so I would add more beans or some flour.
Happy baking!
-Lana
Rachel says:
Lana,
I tried a half batch without the cocoa and replaced it with ground flax seed. I think it worked pretty well. Thanks for your help!
Rachel
Lana says:
Rachel,
This is a great idea, thanks for sharing!
- Lana
chris says:
just got done making them. mine didn’t come out that good. too much cinnamon i think and kind of dry. sorry.
Lana says:
Hi Chris,
I am sorry to hear this:( If you decide to give thee cookies another try, add a bit more of peanut butter and bake them around 15 minutes. The ovens are different; so the final baking time vary as well.
Happy baking!
- Lana
Lisa says:
Really delicious. I just baked a batch and they were so good.
Isabella says:
I like the idea of these cookies. I’ve made brownies with black beans before, but would never have thought of making cookies with them.
Megan says:
I love your recipes!
I haven’t tried cookies yet, but these sure look delicious.
Jordan says:
These look awesome! Can I use other beans, or is it black beans only?
Lana says:
Hi Jordan,
I haven’t tried this recipe with other kinds of beans since I thought cocoa would match best with black beans. But I’ve seen many dessert recipes on the Internet made with various beans, so you can experiment a bit
Actaully, I love making raw candies with garbanzo beans and I plan to publish this recipe soon. Stay tuned!
Sarah says:
I am adding this recipe to my favorites to try soon!
Chocolate Lover says:
Love chocolate, even with beans.
Kara says:
Can’t wait to try.