When I was young, my Grandmother made a recipe called pinto bean cake. All I remember is that I couldn't taste the pinto beans, but the cake was delicious.

As I strive to provide more delicious recipes with a healthier ingredient list for readers, I wonder what my baker-grandmother would think of a world that attempts to avoid wheat flour in food and baked goods. Either way, she would have approved of these brownies made with almond flour instead of wheat flour, and I think you'll find them delicious.

The beans provide a fudgy consistency typical in an excellent brownie. A super-healthy substitute for regular chocolate chips is Enjoy Life chocolate chips. Free from gluten and wheat, peanuts, dairy, tree nuts, soy, casein, sulfites, and eggs, but you won't miss any of the taste. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tbsp dutch cocoa powder, or additional regular

1/3 cup oats, or 1/2 cup almond flour

1 can black beans, or 1 1/2 cup cooked

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup pure maple syrup, honey, or agave

1/4 cup oil OR almond or peanut butter

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips, and more for garnish

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a mini muffin pan. (A regular muffin pan also works, or you can smooth the batter into an 8×8 pan.) Process all ingredients except chips in a high-quality food processor until smooth. Stir in chips.

Portion into the pan, press a few more chips into the tops if desired, and bake on the center rack 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, and let cool at least ten additional minutes before going around the sides with a knife and popping out.