Posts tagged happy herbivore

So my quest to discover local vegan protein sources today was thwarted by the most unbelievably snotty nose you ever did see. Not mine, mine is just cute as a button. The two-year-old was drowning in his own fluids today. I’m sure the rest of the house will be fine though; it’s not like he was hand feeding his baby sister peas, sticking his fingers in his big brother’s nose, kissing his Dad’s eyes, or open mouth tongue kissing me…wait a minute! That’s exactly what he was doing, dammit! Oh playgroups, you are a pandemic’s loose girlfriend.

But the day was not a total loss. I got a chance to monkey around with Happy Herbivore’s low-fat vegan black bean brownie recipe. Having little kids who are sometimes great eaters and other times waging a hunger strike for a cause known only to themselves, I love a recipe that looks like a treat but eats like a meal. These brownies have a respectable amount of sugar and are packed with fibre and protein.

My first attempt fell victim to the very pitfall that the author forewarned: even after I nearly doubled the baking time, my brownies were still gooshy-smooshy, moderately pasty and decidedly fudge-like. Also, there were heavy banana overtones (on account of the bananas) that kind of took away from the chocolatey-ness of the concoction.

That said, the kids LOVED them, ate the whole pan in a day and were nary the wiser that I was really pumping them full of goodness. The big one didn’t care for the “icing,” which is odd, because there was no icing, but I think he was referring to the texture.

So I’ve tweaked the recipe a little for Round Two.

Black Bean Brownie’s With a Twist

Ingredients:

• 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 package flavoured dessert tofu such as Sunrise Coconut Dessert Tofu
• 1/3 cup apple sauce
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (or coconut extract)
• 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 to 1 cup raw sugar
• 1/4 cup quick/instant oats
• 1/4 wholegrain flour (wheat or rice)
• 1/4 cup wheatgerm
• 1/4 cup vegan chocolate chips (optional)
• 1/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Combine all ingredients, except oats and flour and optional add-ins, in a food processor or blender
3. Blend until smooth, scraping sides as needed
4. Stir in the oats and flour and add-ins, if using
5. Pour into a greased 8×8 in pan
6. Bake approx 30-45 minutes, toothpick test
7. Allow to completely cool before slicing

Keep in mind I am about to try this right now so this is by no means a surefire hit of a recipe. I’ll let you know how it turns out tomorrow!

VeganMofo yo!