gluten-free brownies with a surprise ingredient
Fridays have become brownie days in our house as I experiment with different gluten-free recipes. Fridays just demand brownies. Especially wet Fridays. With sick kids.
This one will make it into my favourite recipe collection because it tastes delicious. And you wouldn’t know it, but these brownies are made from a tin of chickpeas.
Not only do I like them and the little fella (we’re easy to please), but they also passed taste tests by DH and his parents (all of whom are very fussy eaters). I waited until after they were gobbled up (the brownies that is, not the in-laws) to announce grandly and with a flourish, they are made with chick peas!
I adapted this recipe from one I found via Pinterest on the Taste and See blog and made it ever so slightly more healthy (at least as healthy as a brownie can be – it is a brownie after all) by switching out the vegetable oil and replacing it with real butter and reducing the sugar. I ‘happened’ to have (now, how did that get there?) a block of Greens 85% dark chocolate hiding in the depths of the fridge and used that in this recipe, but any dark chocolate would do.
You can use tinned chickpeas or chickpeas that you have cooked yourself. Or you can use beans. Any beans. I have a recipe that is similar from Kitchen Stewardship’s Everyday Beans Cookbook (aff. link) that uses cooked black beans, so I can’t see why this recipe wouldn’t work with kidney, cannellini or any other bean you’ve got in the pantry. If you try it with different beans, let me know how it turns out.
150g dark chocolate
75g butter
1 tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed or 1 3/4 cup cooked chickpeas
4 eggs (next time I shall experiment with 3)
1/2 cup honey or 3/4 cup of sugar (I used 1/2 cup of brown sugar which was sweet enough for us – taste it and add more if you like it sweeter).
1 Tbsp. cocoa powder plus extra for dusting
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease a square baking pan.
- Place the chocolate and butter in a bowl and place the bowl over a pot of water. Bring the water to the boil. Ensure that the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl. Turn the heat off and allow the chocolate and butter to melt, stirring occasionally.
- In a food processor, process drained chickpeas. Add eggs one at a time and process further until smooth. If you don’t have a processor, blend the chickpeas and eggs, then transfer to a bowl to mix in the remaining ingredients.
- Add remaining ingredients and process until combined.
- Pour batter into baking pan and bake for 30 minutes until a skewer in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
- Cool in pan and cut into squares. Dust with cocoa if preferred. These taste great both warm or cold from the fridge.
Have you read these posts?
- banana, raspberry and coconut muffins (gluten free)
- gluten free almond meal and buckwheat pikelets
- bean enchiladas (with a secret ingredient)
- sugar free banana, raspberry and yoghurt muffins
- paprika chicken with a secret sauce ingredient
SAVE MONEY AND TIME ON THE GROCERIES
Yum, thanks for sharing. I am still trying to perfect my gluten free brownie recipe – I made a batch last week that came out very gloopy and not very tasty, but I iced them and they were okay.
I really like that these are grain free as well, because I am trying to limit my grain intake. Next time I make brownies I’ll try out this recipe.
Just wondering if there was a particular brand of chickpeas you used? I made them just now and used Coles brand. I just sampled them and they are…unusual! Maybe I didn’t process the peas enough, because I got a hit of the savoury chickpea flavour as I bit in. Do you have any pointers…maybe add a bit of extra sugar/honey? I really like the idea as I’m vegetarian and my MIL is Coeliac, but maybe I need to do something a bit different to perfect the recipe.
I’m a big fan of homebrand stuff except for tinned tomatoes and beans! (oh and mustard lol). I don’t find the quality or taste is as good. I pretty much buy any other brand except homebrand for beans and chickpeas, depending on what’s on special. I think in this batch I used Edgells. More and more however, I’m cooking and freezing dried beans because they are cheaper and I don’t have to think about BPA, but to be honest, I don’t always have time at the moment. A tin of beans in the cupboard is a convenience I’m not ready to give up just yet!
If you want the brownies sweeter, a bit of extra sugar or honey will do the trick. Adjust to taste. The alternative is to add extra cocoa, which will give the brownies a deeper chocolate flavour without the added sweetness. Or you could do both. It depends on your own tastes. That’s the fun of cooking (and the downside of recipes lol). I didn’t taste chickpeas, but I haven’t eaten much sweet stuff for quite a while now, so maybe my tastebuds have changed. If you’re looking for gluten free brownie recipes try googling ‘paleo brownies’. I’ve cooking this recipe a few times (http://www.paleobrownies.com/) and it tastes quite nice. Paleo is grain free eating and while I’m not a fan of the excessive meat in the diet and (personally) think it’s a bit fad, they do have some excellent grain free recipes for baking etc.
I make a nice brownie where you reduce the oil/butter and use grated zucchini instead. It is a wonderfully moist as a mud cake style brownie but without the oil. I dont make mine gluten free though, so Im not sure if it would work for you as well
Jenize
Hi Melissa,
I’m a long time reader, first time commenter. Thanks for your blog! I made the brownies tonight and loved them! I had half a tin of chickpeas left over from dinner so I just made a half batch. I added about half a cup of fresh raspberries which gave it an amazing kick! Yum!
cheers, Char
Interesting! I’ve made black bean brownies after following a pin from somewhere to somewhere (you know the rabbit hole that is pinterest!) The texture was ‘interesting’ – my colleagues ate them, but they did ask questions! I haven’t had a brownie in more than a month, I’m awaiting Easter, and then I might try these. I love strange ingredients!!
I made this recipe for my grandson who can only eat gluten free foods. He loved the brownies, so did Mum&Dad dad, auntie and friends. A piece for everyone! It was a good consistency and very moist. The wee quite surprised when I mentioned the special ingredient. I only used large free rang eggs. Great tasting!
That’s great to hear they went down well!