Black Bean Brownies (No..this is not a joke!)

For those who don't know us very well, Awesome Sauce and I are quite enamored with the perfect food known as the Black Bean. Awesome Sauce may take credit for my introduction to this wonderful food. The Black Bean has significant amounts of carbohydrates, protein and fiber. I love Black Beans and will put them into almost everything. We have put Black Beans in pasta, in couscous, on pizza, as the "meat" in quesadillas and burgers and have made several versions of Black Bean salsa. Without a doubt, the Black Bean is one of my favorite foods.

It is no wonder that when a friend introduced me to a recipe for Black Bean Brownies, I was absolutely obligated to give them a try. I originally saw the recipe posted at www.101cookbooks.com and can be found here:

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/amazing-black-bean-brownies-recipe.html

(A quick note on 101cookbooks.com...this is one of the best recipe journals I have ever seen. I have made many recipes from here and have almost always been highly impressed with this site. I strongly recommend that everyone peruse this wonderful resource!!) This particular recipe originally came from a cookbook by Ania Catalano titled "Baking with Agave Nectar: Over 100 Recipes Using Nature's Ultimate Sweetener" (I believe that 101 Cookbooks and Ania Catalano call these "Amazing Black Bean Brownies."). Trying this recipe (especially because I love Agave Nectar) has made me wish to try out this cookbook. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for a copy sometime soon.

Awesome Sauce and I made these brownies for a movie night. They were a hit! We had fun making everyone try to guess the "special ingredient" (we knew there would be no allergies...these folks have eaten our Black Bean creations before). It was a little odd to serve cold brownies, but they still definitely worked.

I was very impressed with these brownies, but I don't think I would make them again. First, there was a LOT of butter in them. Second, agave nectar is expensive...this was a bit too much to use on one recipe. Finally, as good as they are, when I want a brownie, I want a Real Brownie. I would rather have the real think then a bunch of ones that just don't quite hit the spot. Still, this recipe was inventive and lots of fun to try.

As usual, here are your photos:

Black Bean Brownies are being eaten!

Up Close and Personal View!

Ratings:
The Clumsy Gourmet: 5
Awesome Sauce: 5

So, we made the recipe. On our friend's recommendation, we did cut down a bit on the