Vegan Protein Brownies with a Hint of Mint
What do you get when you mix up black beans, oat flour, cocoa powder, walnuts, and a hint of mint? Vegan Chocolate Mint Protein Brownies!
These decadent, chewy, fudgy brownies were taste tested and approved by three snooty brownie connoisseurs. One of them thought they were, “Really good but not as cakey as the brownies that you usually make.” One thought that they were, “Delicious, but more like fudge than a brownie.” The third one didn’t give a verbal opinion, just a nod and grunt as he ate three in a row and dropped crumbs all over the kitchen floor.
Three different reactions, all of them good; what will yours be?
Why black beans in a brownie recipe? Why not?
Black beans are the perfect ingredient if you want your brownies to have a chewy, rich, fudge like texture. They also add a lot of protein. If you have bean haters in your family, this gluten-free brownie recipe with mint is a great way to sneak them into their diet.
The health benefits of these versus a typical brownie can’t be ignored. The ingredient list is simple.
Black beans
Oat flour
Flax eggs
Sugar
Cocoa powder
Walnuts
Baking powder
Vanilla
Mint extract
Water
Did you know that the iron, phosphorous, calcium, magnesium, manganese, copper and zinc found in black beans are important for good bone health?
Did you know that black beans contain potassium, calcium, and magnesium, which naturally helps to lower blood pressure?
Black beans can also help manage diabetes, help prevent heart disease and cancer, aid in healthy digestion, and help with weight loss.
Finally, one cup of cooked black beans has thirty percent of the daily recommended allowance of protein, that's fifteen grams!
Let’s look at the benefits of the oat flour. Oats are rich in beta-glucan, which is known to reduce bad cholesterol. This healthy grain contains approximately seven grams of protein per one cup serving.
The final major source of protein in these fudgy chocolate mint brownies comes from the walnuts. One cup of these healthy nuts contains seventeen grams of protein! They’re also a great source of copper, folic acid, phosphorus, vitamin B-6, manganese, and vitamin E.
When you add those three superfoods up you can see why these protein rich vegan brownies are a perfect snack to eat after an intense workout. They’re also a sneaky way to get your kids to eat a bunch of healthy foods.
Notes on the Oat Flour: You don’t have to buy oat flour, just measure out a cup of whole oats and grind them in your food processor until you get flour. Grind the oats first and then add the beans and the rest of the ingredients to the food processor.
Notes on the Black Beans: Make sure you drain the beans and rinse well. If you soak and cook your beans that’s great, if not, try and find beans that are canned in BPA free cans.
Notes on the Walnuts: If you have a nut allergy you can omit the walnuts. You can also substitute another type of nut if you want.
Notes on the Mint: I used a mint (NOTpeppermint) extract for these brownies. I tried making them with fresh mint and they didn’t turn out as well as they did with the extract. Do NOT use peppermint extract as the flavor is not the same, it tastes almost medicinal in my opinion.
Notes on the Flax Eggs: Mix the ground flax seed and water together and let it sit for ten minutes before adding it to the brownie mix.
Notes on the Sugar: I used sugar for this vegan brownie recipe. You can use maple syrup or any other sugar substitute that you like, but I can’t guarantee that they’ll turn out the same as this recipe. There’s a lot of discussion happening right now about how different sugar sources (maple syrup, dates, agave…) metabolize in the body, and if refined sugar is worse, or no different than unrefined sugar once it begins to metabolize. I’m not a scientist and I won’t pretend to know what the facts are when it comes to food science. All I know is that to sweeten this recipe it would have taken one or more cups of maple syrup. That’s a lot of “natural” sweetener, and it’s expensive.
Do us a favor, we want to show the world that plant-based foods are delicious and exciting. So let's connect and share all of this awesomeness with the world. Hop on over to our Facebook page and give it a like, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter, and follow us and share this and other Veganosity recipes on Pinterest. We'd be so grateful if you did. If you like this recipe and can't wait to see what we're going to share next, subscribe to Veganosity. Just fill in the subscription box above our picture in the top right corner of the page. And, Alex and I love hearing from you, please leave a comment and let us know what you think of our recipes.
[mpprecipe-recipe:342]
Trish says
Darn it, Linda! I'm trying to get my house prepared for my out-of-state guests arriving tomorrow and you go and post this!! Now I have to put time aside from scrubbing my house down to make these brownies - sigh ... 🙂
These friends of mine are the opposite of vegan. They are the opposite of eating healthy. They are the opposite of eating clean. My husband will be bbq-ing meat for them - urgh! I'm making these brownies though and some vegan sides to show them vegan food is not only healthier but tasty too! Needless to say they are very overweight and have an abundance of health issues 🙁
Linda Meyer says
LOl! Sorry, Trish. 🙂 The good news is that you can make them in your food processor so it's an easy clean up. Sorry to hear about your friends, it's so tough to watch unhealthy people consume unhealthy foods. Maybe you can convince them that plant-based foods actually taste good. Let me know what you think of the brownies. Just remember that the texture is slightly different than a cake brownie. Have a wonderful weekend!
Strength and Sunshine says
You know chocolate mint is my favorite thing...I'd eat one every day...okay...maybe every hour, but I don't want to get selfish 😉
Linda Meyer says
Go ahead, be a little selfish. 😉
Christine | Vermilion Roots says
Bean brownies are amazing! Love that they are high in protein. 🙂
Linda Meyer says
Yes they are, thanks so much!
Natalie says
If I want cake then I just make cake. When it comes to brownies, I want them to be as fudgey as possible!! These look like they are killing it on fudgey-ness factor, and with mint in the mix too. Perfection! Healthy chocolate perfection!
Linda Meyer says
My favorite brownie texture is somewhere between cakey and fudgy, but it's hard to get that with black bean brownies. But we're talking chocolate here, so I'd take any texture and love it! Thanks, Natalie!
Mel | avirtualvegan.com says
They look pretty perfect to me. Brownies have to be fudgy, or they might as well be cake!
Linda Meyer says
So true! Thanks, Melanie. 🙂
Christine @ Run Plant Based says
Such a great recipe, love the addition of black beans and anything chocolate mint. Thanks!
Linda Meyer says
Thank you! Black beans are amazing in brownies. 🙂
Molly Kumar says
Sounds delicious and I'd have never guessed they had black beans.
Linda Meyer says
Thank you, Molly! It's impossible to detect the beans.
Hannah (BitterSweet) says
Looks like pure fudge to me, which is not a bad thing at all! I can never get enough mint-chocolate anything.
Linda Meyer says
They're super fudgy, and like you said, that's not a bad thing. 🙂 Thanks, Hannah!
Anna Pace says
I only have a small capacity food processor, is there another method of mixing that can be use to make these brownies? I have a vitamix what about a cuisinart mixer? Looking forward to trying this recipe.
Linda Meyer says
Hi Anna! You could definitely try it in your Vitamix, it should work just fine. I hope you enjoy them. 🙂
DeShield says
What is the nutrition breakdown for the brownies? I saw 758 calories per serving with a serving being 4 brownies but that seems off to me.
Linda Meyer says
Hi DeShield,
Thank you for asking this question! We're in the process of updating all of our older recipes and haven't gotten to this one, yet. You're correct, this is totally off. We ran the ingredients through our new nutrition calculator and here is what it said:
145 calories per 40 g serving
1 g saturated fat
13 g sugar
1 mg iron
29 g carbs
171 mg sodium (if you use salt free beans this number will be significantly lower)
2 IU Vitamin A
5 g protein
183 g potassium
4 g fiber
57g calcium