How You Bean? Brownies

I recently ordered Tastefully Simple's Delicious Done Light collection, which is a special host and client collection for January 2013.  The collection comes with Mama Mia Marinara Sauce Mix, Roasted Onion Warm Dip Mix, Absolutely Almond Pound Cake Mix, Truffle Fudge Brownie Mix, and a recipe booklet showing how you can prepare many Tastefully Simple products in light ways.

So I was flipping through the recipe booklet, and one caught my eye: How You Bean? Brownies.  This recipe starts with our Truffle Fudge Brownie Mix, but instead of adding eggs and butter, you add pureed black beans.

That's right.  Black beans in the brownies.  So, I was curious, and decided I needed to try this out for myself.

The recipe calls for one box of Truffle Fudge Brownie Mix and one can of black beans.

Open the can of black beans and pour the whole thing into your food processor with blade attachment or a blender.  Pulse and blend until smooth.

Combine pureed beans with brownie mix in a bowl, and mix until smooth.  The batter is drier than a standard brownie batter, so it might take a little longer than expected to blend.

Spread batter into a greased 8x8 baking pan and put into a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.  When it's done, take the pan out and let cool completely.  I noticed that the baked brownies had a more "matte" surface than traditional brownies, likely because of the lack of fat provided by the butter and eggs.

So, time for the moment of truth!  Cutting and tasting!  

My husband had one and decided that while it tasted good, it didn't taste as sweet as he expected.  But since there was no change in the sugar content, he thought maybe the beans counteracted some of the sweetness.  I tried one, and I liked the dense texture.  I thought the taste was just fine.

Now, comparing the nutritional information (Note: this is based on my math using the nutritional labels on the products.  I rounded to the nearest 0.5):

Brownies made with butter and eggs (1/16th of package): 170 calories, 9 grams of fat, 1 gram of fiber, 1.5 grams of protein.  Under the current Weight Watchers calculations, that's 5 PointsPlus.

Brownies made with black beans (1/16th of package): 130 calories, 2.5 grams of fat, 2.5 grams of fiber, 2.5 grams of protein.  Under the current Weight Watchers calculations, that's 3 PointsPlus.

Using the beans definitely reduced the calories and fat while increasing the fiber and protein.  They taste like brownies, which is the important part.  They don't have a shiny top, like regular brownies, but I can live with it!

If you'd like to order one of the products mentioned here, check out these links:
Delicious Done Light Collection (Limited Time availability!)
Truffle Fudge Brownie Mix
Delicious Done Light Recipe Book