The other night, I got an email from reader Kristin saying that she had just done an odd thing, and that she recommended that I try doing it, too. What had she done?
She’d added a can of black beans to instant brownies.
I was mystified as to why anyone would do this, but then did a bit of research and discovered that making brownies with black beans ups the healthy quotient and significantly lowers the calories without sacrificing taste.
The other night around American Idol time I got chocolate-hungry, and since I had some instant brownies in the cupboard (I am a die-hard instant brownie fan; I just love them and I love that they’re ready…instantly) as well as a leftover can of black beans from my chili-making, I thought I’d try Kristin’s suggestion. Really all you do is rinse the beans, put them back in the can, fill the can to the top with water, puree them, and then add them to the brownie mix (I also added an egg just because it seemed like a good idea, but you don’t have to).
And you know what? They were totally delicious! Very dense and fudgy, and with no bean-y taste whatsover. Who knew?!
(For a from-scratch Dr. Oz recipe, click here.)
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