The Perky Poppy Seed

Magical Beanstalk Brownies

Remember Jack & the Beanstalk?  I do:)  I remember, gee how could I forget?  I must have asked my mother to tell me that story at least a hundred times.  Mom was a trooper, she never tired of making the ‘Jack’ voice nor the ‘Giant’ voice nor the annoyed ‘mother’ voice. And to think she had 5 children that all asked her to tell that story, many, many, many times:)  Another reason to love mom, she told whatever story I wanted to hear, even if she had told it already five million times:)  Well, onto the brownie… These deep dark brownies are good enough that if  ’Jack’ were here,  he would have for sure sold them for these magical brownies, not those dumb beans…. but little would he know that these brownies contain the magical beans in them.  So , he would be  getting the magical beans and the delicious brownies … hummm, I wonder what the fairy tale would have turned like if he were to sell his cow for the magical beanstalk brownies….what would his mother said?  My mother would have said, ” What a healthy choice, Christine:)  I am so proud of you!  You really know how to get your fiber .  AND they are Gluten Free too!  Well done, my daughter, well done!”

I got the idea for this wonderful recipe from a great blog by a gal who is becoming a doctor:)   Her blog is called Domestic Diva, M.D. it is an amusing blog… the post with the original brownie recipe is http://domesticdivamd.com/2012/09/02/pot-and-brownies/

Magical Beanstalk Brownies

Makes one 9 x 13 pan of brownies

• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup cane sugar
• 1 cup black beans ( I use The Fresh Market Organic Black Beans-puree the whole can of black beans – in food processor puree the beans & liquid then measure out one cup.. save the rest of the beans for a soup thickener or to add on top of nachos or to top your eggs with.. or you get the idea… beans go with just about everything)
  

  whole can of black beans being pureed:)

• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 cup Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa (Sifted, cocoa powder tends to be a little lumpy… so sift it:)
• 1 packet of Starbucks instant coffee
• 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
• 1 teaspoon fine pink sea salt
• 1 teaspoon Saigon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 300 F.  Line your baking pan with parchment.. this is hard to do if it is not a flat surface,  well, not really:)  all you have to do is cut a piece of parchment that is slightly bigger than the shape of the pan.  Then cut inward about an inch and a half on a diagonal on all four corners.  Then gently push the paper down into the pan, then push your corners down.  They will just fold in:)

cutting parchment for baking pan…rip off a piece of parchment that is slightly larger than your pan…then just cut the corners at a diagonal

Pan with parchment pushed down … it is that easy:) 1- rip off paper 2 – cut diagonals on all four corners 3- push down parchment- There you have it .. a parchment lined baking pan:)

1. In a large bowl, put all ingredients except the Starbucks instant coffee.  Stir ingredients very well, put some muscle in it:)
2. Put the Starbucks instant coffee in the brownie mixture.
3. taste… LOL.. this batter tastes really good:)
4. then pour into a parchment lined 9 x 13 pan or a pan sprayed very well with Pam.
5. bake for 35-50 minutes (  the ones in the photo were in the oven for about 50 minutes, they were awesome, but personally, I like a wetter brownie… bake for less time if you like a wetter brownie:)
6. let cool…. when completely cool, cut & serve:)
7. Enjoy these for breakfastwith a cup of coffee… after all, they are good for you.. why not start your day off with a breakfast full of fiber:)  or lunch or dinner… or do what other people do and have them for desert:)
8. PS  feel free to frost these with your favorite frosting:)