Just Imagine My Bliss

Hey there, guys!

I'd say it’s me again but, with internet posting, you're kind of aware of the fact that it is me.  Then again, I guess someone could be posting as me, but I am doubtful that it would happen.  Besides, you'd know; the tone of it all would be wonky and it wouldn't seem like me.

Just like the over-thought going on right here.  Right, enough of that.  Let's jabber about chocolate!

Remember a short while ago when I was so high on getting to bake flourless brownies?  If not, brief refresh: I was pumped to bake flourless brownies, I gathered the ingredients then realized that there were absolutely no cocoa in my pantry and cried a little.  To soothe my disappointment, I baked cookies and prepared some mini-desserts for my week.  It really soothed my will to create, but left a well because it didn't involve chocolate.  You can chuckle, but I (<3) my chocolate.

So, this past weekend (not to be confused with the one that has technically started), you can bet I made sure to have chocolate - or, rather, I got myself some cocoa.  Good cocoa.  And, frankly speaking, enough to make plenty of haystacks and brownies for a good while.

Oh, cocoa and butter...  A pondering for another time!

I had my doubts about this recipe: could brownies still be good if they didn't have a lot of butter and no flour?  You have to understand, I grew up with traditional baking and, really, the healthier versions always tasted like cardboard.  For the really good cookies (meaning the ones you only got at Christmas when people feel more generous with their time) were made with sugar, butter and flour.  Shortbreads?  Three ingredients in that one.  Banana bread?  Butter, flour and sugar!  Muffins?  BFS!  So, when looking at this, I wasn't sure it was going to work out.  I was 'approaching with caution' as they say.

And...

They turned out pretty darn good!  Moist, chocolaty and approved by office mates.  Healthier options, in this case, scores some bonus points!


Flourless Brownies

Is there anything greater than chocolate?  Personally, I like my chocolate dark.  I don't even get out of bed for anything less than 60%.  I jest (of course) because its black coffee for which I'm getting out of bed!  On a serious note, next time I make these, I'm going to leave them out and make sure that they are totally cool.  As you can see, mine went a little shinny even though they seemed cool.  Then again, my kitchen is a little small and retains heat incredibly well...

What You'll Need:

• 1 (19-oz) can black beans (I used the Unico brand because they were taking some pocket change off of them but I don't think this recipe is too picky about that one.)
• 3 large eggs (I brought them to room temperature before I used them.)
• 1/3 cup melted margarine (Kitchkem in the ... kitch with a microwave and a glass bowl.  Somehow, this "Clue" reference seemed a lot cooler in my head.)
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder (For the win, I might add.)
• 1/8 tsp kosher salt (At that small a measurement, its pretty much equivalent to a pinch, really.)
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

(Note: Walnuts can be used here but I left them out because I find them yucky.  Yes, that is the technical term.  If you want to use them, the original recipe says 1/3 cup.)


How It's Done:

Okay, before we start off with how it’s done, I just want to say that I don't have a food processor so this recipe was a little trickier than I had initially intended it to be.  I mashed the black beans by hand and then proceeded onto the mixing.  I suppose this note in a nutshell is that if you don't have a food processor, its still do-able.  I also made these more like 2-bite brownies so the instructions are going to be a little different than the original recipe.  Sorry!

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Drain the black beans in a sieve and rinse briefly with water.  (Gotta toss these about a bit so that most of the water will actually come out but not so roughly that the beans get squished.)
3. Toss the black beans in a large mixing bowl and mash until beans are as homogeneous as possible.
4. With electric mixer in hand, slowly add in the eggs, one at a time and fully incorporate.
5. Add in the melted margarine and continue to mix.
6. Slowly pour in the sugar to the mixture and mix until the sugar is incorporated throughout.
7. Add cocoa powder, salt and vanilla to finish off the mixing.
8. Line the cups of a miniature muffin tin with liners and half-fill the cups.
9. Drop in 2-3 chocolate chips in each cup.
10. Fill the cups until near the top, covering the chocolate chips previously added.
11. Transfer the tray to the oven and let it bake for 13-15 minutes. (The poke test should come out crumbly but not wet.)
12. When they're done baking, let them cool in the pan for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.  (The 'cooling completely' is pretty key here as the brownie gets this hardness on the surface to disguise the chewy goodness underneath.)

Makes a total of 32 two-bite-sized brownies for your enjoyment!


The recipe is courtesy of Whole Foods Market, whose site has a bunch of different recipes not only for baking but for cooking as well.  Like I mentioned before, their recipe uses a food processor that I don’t have but these still turned out regardless (so no worries all you food-processor-deprived persons like me, you can still pull it off!  And, I might add, no one knew the difference or noticed that there were black beans in there!).  I’ve never had the chance to physically go there because there isn’t a location near my house, however, an acquaintance mentioned what the interior was like in the New York branch so I wanted to at least check out their website.  I’m thinking I want to see if there’s one nearby my zio’s house so maybe I can stop there on the way home after a visit!