I know.  You’re thinking, “Flourless brownies?  How does that work?”  Well, I had taste-tested a recipe once at my old job during one of the on-site farmer’s markets.  I have also seen tons of recipes, but had yet to try one.  Jason was in the mood for something chocolate-y and delicious.  I was in the mood to try another new recipes.  So, I finally ended up trying flourless brownies.  This is accomplished through the use of black beans.  These are amazing!!  Super chocolate-y, pretty, easy and very moist.  Trust me.  Had I not told him they were made with black beans, he still wouldn’t know (well, until he read this).  I’ll definitely be making these again.  Without further ado, here’s the recipe.

14 ounce can of no-salt black bean, drained and rinsed

3 eggs

1/2 cup of sugar

3 tablespoons of cocoa powder

1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 teaspoon of instant espresso powder

1/2 of a vanilla bean pod, scrape the goodness inside (I tossed the leftover bean into my sugar bowl)

1 teaspoon of baking soda

The zest  from 1/2 of an orange (I used one of my blood oranges)

The juice from 1 orange (same blood orange)

A pinch of sea salt

Heat your oven to 350 degrees farenheit.

Line an 8 x 8 pan with some parchment paper.  To help the parchment stay in place, I dabbed a bit of butter on the pan and in-between the parchment layers.

Toss everything but the chocolate chips into your food processor.  Process until smooth.  It will look fairly soupy.

Pour into the prepared 8 x 8 pan.  Sprinkle with the chocolate chips.  Tap the pan lightly on the counter to get the chocolate chips to fall into the batter.

Bake for 35 minutes.

Let rest on a cooling rack until completely cool.

Use the parchment sling to pull the brownie out of the pan.  Cut into 16 pieces.

The brownies can be stored in an air-tight container in your refrigerator for up to 4 days . . . if they last that long.  Enjoy!