Chocolate Brownies with Walnuts

A decadent, yet super healthy, sweet for when you’re craving that chocolate hit.  Perfect to take to a picnic or parties.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup walnuts + 24 walnut pieces for garnish
  • 3 cups cooked or canned blackbeans, drained
  • 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 300g pitted fresh medjool dates
  • ½ cup raw cacao powder
  • 2 TBSP ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground cardamom
  • 3 TBSP maple syrup
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • ½ cup sunflower seeds
  • ½ cup white sesame seeds

Method

  1. Pulse 1 cup of the walnuts lightly in a food processor.
  2. Add black beans and oil to the processor and blend until combined.  Add dates, cacao powder, spices, maple syrup, vanilla extract and continue to process until smooth.
  3. Transfer the mixture into a large bowl and fold in the sunflower and sesame seeds with a wooden spoon.
  4. Preheat oven to 180oC.
  5. Spread the mixture into a baking pan (12”x 9”) and flatten with spatula to a height of approximately 1.5cm.  Cut into 24 squares and press an additional walnut piece in the centre of each square.
  6. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.  Leave to cool in the pan before removing brownies.  Enjoy freshly baked or store in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Makes 24 brownies

Tip
  • You can line the pan with baking paper and simply lift brownies out of the pan when cooled.
  • Pull the brownies out of the oven after 30 minutes even if they appear as if they’re not fully cooked otherwise they will burn on the bottom.
  • For a spicy version, swap the cardamom with ¼ tsp ground cayenne pepper.

Per serve: energy 1079 kJ (258 Cal); protein 6 g; fat 18 g; saturated fat 2 g; cholesterol 0 mg; carbohydrate 16 g; fibre 6 g; calcium 38 mg; iron 1.9 mg; sodium 4mg