November 4, 2015
CHOCOLATE!
People are coo coo for cocoa.
Me? I like it. Sure.
But I wouldn’t consider selling my offspring for the last bar on earth as some people I know might. It’s good. I enjoy a quality piece of dark chocolate or a chocolatey dessert as much as the next girl, but when I like chocolate best is when it’s paired with something else, for example, peanut butter, raspberry, or in this case PUMPKIN!
If you’ve never had chocolate and pumpkin together, you’ve been missing out! The warm spices we associate with pumpkin taste great with the rich chocolate. This recipe calls for healthy whole foods like black beans and pumpkin, uses very little flour, and no refined sugar or oil, and no eggs or dairy of course. The only not-so-healthy part is the chocolate chips but we only use 1/4 cup. I really like to use the Wonderslim cocoa powder as it’s lower in fat and caffeine than typical cocoa powder.
Go ahead, make these.
And try not to eat the whole pan.
I dare ya.
- 1 can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie filling
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup + 1 TBS flour I use a gluten-free blend
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 TBS ground flax seeds
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg I prefer freshly ground
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 cup mini non-dairy chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie filling
- 3 TBS maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 cup raw cashews soaked at least 30 minutes
- 1 TBS arrowroot or cornstarch
- Preheat oven to 350 and lightly spray an 8x8 baking dish with cooking spray.
- Place all brownie ingredients, with the exception of the chocolate chips, in a food processor or blender and process until smooth and well blended. Transfer to a bowl and fold in chocolate chips.
- Spread brownie batter into baking dish. (See Notes)
- Using a blender, combine pumpkin ingredients until smooth.
- Pour pumpkin evenly over brownie and swirl using the handle of a spoon or whatever works best for you, incorporating the brownie batter and pumpkin together without actually stirring it up.
- Bake uncovered 45 minutes. Cool before slicing.
If you want some pumpkin as a filling in addition to a swirl on top, spread half the brownie batter into the pan, cover with half of the pumpkin, and top with the rest of the brownie batter. This will take some finesse as you want to keep them as separated and layered as possible. Top with remaining pumpkin and swirl. The other way is easier, but I love the way these look when you slice into them. 