Black Bean Brownies (Gluten free, Sugar free)

Lifestyle change.  Sounds better than saying I'm on a diet right?  Many will argue, it's not a diet!  So, that is what I'm doing.  A lifestyle change.  WHY? It's well overdue.  But I still needed a push... okay a big shove.  I got it.  My bongga cousin S is finally engaged and I'm thrilled and honoured she asked me to be co-MoH (along with the other bongga cousin Ice) at her bongga wedding. THE PROBLEM?  The total dress size for the other four in the bridal party will still be less than my own ( 0+1+2+3 < Me ).  Unless I do something about it, I will literally (figuratively and physically) be the elephant in the room.  I have one year.  Help me.

A cousin (I have 53 first cousins #truth) from T dot gave me this recipe about a year ago but I never tried to make it.  One of my main problems was I don't have a food processor.  Super Momma J kindly let me borrow her Cuisinart during spring break and I fell in love with the machine!  I made many things: brownies, muffins, dressings, even quinoa chocolate cake.  One success was these shockingly delicious and fudgy brownies.  It's not shocking for brownies to be delicious or fudgy but when they are made with black beans and are sugar free, yes, it's shocking.  The key was to make sure you process them until very smooth.  Scrape the sides down as needed.  Also, make sure you let them cool completely in the pan.  I love fresh outta the oven baking.  I made the mistake of trying these then and they were um... pastey, beany, gummy...not good. So, just wait.  Cool them completely before trying.  I promise they will have a soft, fudgy texture like you would expect from brownies.

Black Bean Brownies

Prep Time: 10 min Cook Time: 15 min

Yields: 24-30 mini brownies

Created by: Sonja Secker

INGREDIENTS

1 can (14 fl oz) black beans, rinsed, drained

⅓ cup coconut oil, melted (I used Canola oil)
⅓  cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
15 pitted dates (if too hard, soak in water first to soften)
3 eggs (lightly beaten)
⅓ cup walnuts (chopped – these are optional)
½ cup chocolate chips (get real chocolate chips – again choose organic)
⅛ tsp sea salt (I used Trader Joe's pink Himalayan salt crystals because it's pink)

METHOD OF PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Place all ingredients in a food processor except for the choc chips and walnuts and blend until smooth
Fold in chocolate chips (and nuts)
Drop by the spoonful into a mini muffin tray (greased) and sprinkle sparingly with sea salt

Bake for 15 minutes
Allow to cool completely before removing form pan

Banana Oatmeal Muffins (Flourless and Sugar-free)

I'll be honest.  I'm not ever interested in making any gluten/dairy/sugar/blah-blah-blah free recipes.  I love using flour, real butter, real chocolate and actual eggs in my baking.  I'm always doubtful when I see a recipe for "Gluten-sugar-dairy free Cookies and it tastes great."  Really?  Really, it tastes..."great"?  I think it tastes bad or okay, maybe even almost good.  But I have yet to try one that I can say tastes "Grrrreat!".   I say pick one evil and leave the rest of the good stuff.  For example, French macarons.  (And that's macarOns, not macarOOns...for goodness sake get it right, this drives me CRAZY!)  They're gluten free. And if you know me, I definitely think they taste great.  Even if you make a failed batch, it may look like crap, but they still taste great.  If you've ever attempted to make French macarons, you know exactly what I mean by failed batches.  Once, I forgot to add 1 cup of sugar to Lemon Blueberry Muffins.  They still tasted great!  Like a scone.  My friend, Super Momma J baked flourless chocolate cookies with pink sea salt.  They were amazing!  So, the lesson is...leave one bad thing out and you can still indulge on something great.  Ha, that's my logic.

Oh my, I got distracted.  So, I found this recipe for Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins that said no flour, no white sugar and tastes great.  Hmmm.  Well, I had all the ingredients on hand so I thought, why not give it a go.  I love muffins, I like the oatmeal + banana combo and I don't need them to be sweet so I was optimistic I would like these.  As usual, I made a few tweaks to the original recipe.  I did not use a food processor, just my KitchenAid mixer.  Why take the extra step of grinding the oats?  I did not add nuts.  I reduced the honey because I knew I was adding an entire package of Ghiradelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Chips.  These muffins are great!  Tender, moist and good chew from the oatmeal.  The girls and I taste tested when they finished baking, then I shared some with AKRams, then the girls and I ate them for breakfast.  I need more.  Looks like I'm making my second batch in 1 week.

I love this cannister I got for my birthday!

Banana Oatmeal Muffins
Prep time: 5 mins Bake Time: 20-25 min
Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:
2.5 cups old fashioned oats (buy gluten free oats if you want)
1 cup plain low fat greek yogurt
2 eggs
1/2 cup honey (reduce to 1/4 if adding chocolate)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp ground flax seed
1 tsp vanilla
2 ripe bananas
1 pk chocolate chips or chopped chocolate (optional) use the good stuff!
chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 dregrees.  Grease or line muffin tray with parchment.  Put all ingredients in a mixing bowl except nuts and/or chocolate.  Mix for 2-3 mins.  Fold in the nuts/chocolate.  Scoop into muffin tray.  Bake for 20-25 mins or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Enjoy warm or at room temperature.

Look at the beautiful texture of this muffin.