These fudgy vegan black bean brownies are rich, chocolatey, swirled with creamy peanut butter, and taste like 100% pure brownie decadence (not beans!). Totally vegan and optionally gluten-free, they’re perfect for packed lunches, afternoon treats, or dessert.
I'm not normally a healthy dessert person. If you've been reading for a while, you probably guessed that! Most of the time, when I have dessert, I'm having DESSERT. But that should tell you something: when I do occasionally share something like chocolate pudding made from tofu, doughnuts that are baked instead of fried, or ice cream made from bananas, that means it's a really good dessert and not some sad diet-y substitute. Black bean brownies fall squarely within this category!
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So, what do they taste like? Not beans, as far as I'm concerned. If you're not normally a bean eater, I can't promise you won't find them a little earthy, but to my taste buds, black bean brownies are rich, fudgy, and delicious, just like dessert should be! And to make them even better, they're topped with a rich peanut butter swirl and chocolate chips.
These are great to have around if you get a chocolate craving in the middle of the day. They will totally satisfy your sweet tooth, but you can feel a little better about eating them, since they're a bit lower in sugar than typical brownies, and pretty reasonable in the fiber and protein departments. Chocolaty deliciousness you can feel good about — can't beat that!
Ingredients You'll Need
Below you'll find a list of ingredients in this recipe, with notes and substitutions. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the post to see the full recipe, including the amount of each ingredient.
- Black beans. We're using canned black beans partly to make things easy, but also because they tend to be a bit softer and easier to blend than beans cooked from scratch.
- Non-dairy milk. Almond, soy, oat, and cashew are all great options here. Read my guide to dairy-free milks if you need help choosing.
- Oat flour. You can make this yourself if you don't have it on hand — just blend rolled oats to a powder in the food processor.
- Sugar. We're using organic sugar to keep the recipe vegan. Conventional sugar is sometimes processed using animal bone char.
- Cocoa powder.
- Vegetable oil. Whatever neutral oil you normally use for baking is fine, such as corn, canola, or avocado oil.
- Cornstarch.
- Vanilla extract.
- Baking powder.
- Salt.
- Peanut butter. Natural or conventional peanut butter is fine.
- Chocolate chips.
How They're Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Step 1: Prepare: Preheat your oven to 350°F.
Step 2: Prepare the pan. Line it with parchment paper, as shown in the photo above. Use two sheets, arranging them perpendicular, and leave a little extra paper hanging over the edges, which you'll use to remove the brownies later.
Step 3: Blend the batter. Place the beans, milk, oat flour, sugar, cocoa powder, oil, cornstarch, vanilla, baking powder, and salt into a blender, then blend until the mixture is smooth and looks like brownie batter.
Step 4: Assemble. Spread the batter into your pan, then swirl the peanut butter on top. You may need to warm up the peanut butter first, particularly if it's the conventional (non-runny) kind. Sprinkle the batter with chocolate chips.
Steps 5 & 6: Bake and cool. Bake the brownies until they're set on top, then let them cool on a rack in the pan. Once they're cool, use the parchment paper to help you remove them from the pan, then slice and enjoy!
Variations
- Nutty brownies. Fold about ½ cup of chopped nuts into the batter.
- Almond butter brownies. Replace the peanut butter with almond butter, or your favorite nut or seed butter.
- Peanut butter cup brownies. Replace some or all of the chocolate chips with chopped vegan peanut butter cups.
- Make them sweeter. I intentionally kept the sugar level on the low end. Feel free to bump it up to ⅔ or even ¾ cup.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yep! As long as your oat flour is certified gluten-free.
I can't! The chocolate, sugar, and peanut butter cover up the bean flavor pretty well. Just make sure you rinse and drain your beans thoroughly.
They'll keep in an airtight container at room temperature for about a day, in the fridge for up to five days, or in the freezer for up to three months.
More Vegan Brownies and Bars
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📖 Recipe
Peanut Butter Swirl Black Bean Brownies
Ingredients
- 1 (15 ounce/425 gram) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- ½ cup unflavored and unsweetened non-dairy milk
- ½ cup oat flour
- ½ cup organic granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter (or more, if desired)
- ¼ cup vegan chocolate chips (or more, if desired)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Line the bottom and sides of an 8 x 8 inch baking pan with parchment paper. Use two sheets of paper, arranging them perpendicular to each other and overlapping over the bottom of the pan. Leave a bit of extra paper hanging over the edge of the pan — you'll use this to remove the brownies later.
- Place the beans, milk, oat flour, sugar, cocoa powder, vegetable oil, cornstarch, vanilla, baking powder, and salt into a blender. Blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down the inside of the pitcher as needed.
- Spread the batter into your prepared baking pan, smoothing out the top. Warm the peanut butter up a bit if it is very thick, just to get it swirlable. Drop the peanut butter by dollops over the batter, then use a butter knife or chopstick to swirl the peanut butter into the batter. Sprinkle the top with chocolate chips.
- Bake the brownies until they feel set, 25 to 30 minutes.
- Place the pan on a cooling rack and let the brownies cool completely. Once cool, gently draw the extra parchment paper up to pull the entire batch of brownies from the pan. Slice and serve.
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Nutrition
Nutrition information is provided as an estimate only and may vary based on ingredients, brands, portion sizes, and preparation methods.
It seems there isn’t much feedback regarding how so many peoples’ never firmed up to a brownie consistency. I followed the recipe perfectly and they never got beyond a goo. It’s a delicious goo, but goo just the same. Thoughts?
It could be a few things: first, they'll probably be soft in the middle until they cool. Even regular brownies don't firm up completely in the oven. Also, make sure you're rinsing and draining the beans well. That little bit of extra liquid can make a big difference. You can also try different brands of beans - some tend to be softer (and thus have higher water content) than others. I hope that helps!
Thank you
Can I use erythritol for my sweetener? Im worried that it will effect the consistency.
I'm afraid I'm not sure! I think it would work, but I haven't tried it myself so I can't be certain.
do you think this would work without the peanut butter? I have a nut allergy in my family.
They should work just fine without the peanut butter. Enjoy!!
I used dried black beans (soaked and then boiled), coconut oil, and tahini instead of peanut butter. They were also very soft/mushy at 22-24 minutes but firmed up fine, and now that they are cool they are delicious and not too sweet, if a bit dry/dusty. I prefer a moister/fudgier brownie (maybe canned beans would be better, or beans boiled a bit longer) but overall they are still very good, not beany at all, and will probably be gone sooner rather than later... thanks!
followed the recipe exactly and ended up baking them for more than 40 minutes at which point I gave up. disappointing waste of ingredients..
We had a similar issue with the brownies not getting firm. I left them in the oven for over 30 mins, and let them firm up in the fridge over an hour before trying to slice. I'm wondering if it's a difference in brand of beans?
The flavor was wonderful, we scooped them into bowls and served with vegan whipped cream and sprinkles. Nobody knew they had beans, not even my husband, who hates beans. I will try again soon!
Hmmm...it could be that! I'll have to experiment with some different brands of beans. In any event, I'm glad they were a hit!
Any tips on making these oil free? They are delicious otherwise!
I'm glad you like them! Applesauce might work - I'd love to hear how it works out if you try!
my hubby just made these for me - he used canola oil instead of coconut oil, and golden sugar - they are sooooo very good; we served them with sliced, sugared strawberries
I'm so glad you like them! Thanks Susi!
I’ve made these at least a dozen times now! I have a basic brownie recipe but I actually prefer making these over anything else. They’re amazing! Even my non-vegan coworkers enjoyed them :)
That is awesome!! I'm so glad you're enjoying them!
Made this and even my non-vegan coworkers loved them! I subbed maple syrup for the sugar and it was perfect! I also used a blender in place of a food processor!
I baked mine for ~30 minutes and they were still goey but they were still delicious!
Awesome!! I'm so glad they were a hit!
Loved these!
These are so good, thanks for sharing! I added two scoops of hemp protein to mine. I also baked them in nine square silicone baking cups that I sprayed with cooking spray. Turned out great!
Oh, and I used my ninja blender, too, not a food processor!
*nine individual square silicone baking cups
I'm so glad you enjoyed them!! And good to know the blender worked - I've had a few people ask about that!
We thought these were not great. The black bean taste persists and dominates the recipe. We were disappointed.
Thanks for the recipe. Unfortunately, my brownies became more like a blob than anything else. The only difference between mine and the recipe was I used non dairy butter rather than coconut oil. Any suggestions? Thanks.
These were delicious!! I made them for a coworker and everyone LOVED them. She could not tell at all that they were made with black beans. I tried to make them again but in a bigger pan, just to see if the consistency was better or worse, and it was worse. So don't go with a 9x13 pan! Follow the recipe.
Awesome!! I'm so glad they were a hit!
So mine would not set. I baked for 40 mins and they are still like pudding. What did I do wrong? This is my first vegan brownie so I am not sure if I put it back in and bake it even longer if it will set.
I followed the recipe and mine are not baking, they just stay gooey (which is still delish!). Any suggestions/thoughts as to why they aren't baking?
I just baked these yesterday and they were terrible! They looked and smelled so much better than they actually tasted. There was a strong sour black bean taste to them that the chocolate did not cover up. It was really sad because at first taste they are good but as you keep chewing the black bean taste comes through strong. I do not recommend.
Hi! Do you think these would work with kidney beans? It's actually quite hard to find black beans in Germany ?
I haven't tried this with kidney beans, but I'm pretty sure I saw a kidney bean brownie recipe on Pinterest, so I might work!
Oh no, I've ran out of peanut butter, but I have tahini, so going to try that instead XXXXXXXXX
I bet tahini would be delicious!
Hi. These look fantastic. Do you have the nutritional information for these brownies?
Thank you! I don't, but this is a great tool for that if you'd like to take a crack at it yourself.
Mine are still in the oven after 30+ minutes and not even close to firm ?
I'd take them out and let them sit. They firm up as they cool.
Mine did the same thing and they never firmed up so we just ate them warm and a little mush but they tasted HORRIBLE!
Same here:/ I cooked for 25 min and they are jelly like.
I have these in the oven right now. After the cool would I store them in the refrigerator or counter. Im making them for a birthday party tomorrow.
Nice! I hope you enjoy them!
These look so good! I don't have a food processor though. Is that necessary or can I just use a beater to mix them?
Thanks Jo-Ann! I wouldn't recommend using a mixer. Even with the food processor, it takes a bit of time to get the mixture perfectly smooth. A blender might work, but I haven't tried so I can't say for sure.
I used my ninja blender and they blitzed up perfectly. I don't have a food processor so I normally try to stay from recipes that require one. It worked out perfectly though! However, I haven't tried them yet because they are in the oven. :)
Can non-vegans tell these are made with black beans? I want to bring these as a healthy dessert to a party, but want to keep it a secret that they're made with beans! I think it would deter non-vegans from eating/enjoying them!
I don't think so. I served them to my family, and I don't think my dad would've gone near them if he thought they were made with beans! He enjoyed them though. :)
I am trying these today! Thank you?
Enjoy! :)
These are so easy and so good! Thank you!!
Glad to hear it! Thanks so much Jenna!
Good timing! My housemate and I were just talking about trying a black bean brownie recipe.
Awesome! I hope you both enjoy them!!
Whoa drool alert!! Big time mouthwatering chocolate magic here, you are making me want chocolate already and I haven't even had breakfast! They look so fudgey, it's about time i hop on the black bean brownie train too. And I have the same problem with developing brownie recipes, always trying to break new ground, but honestly I will never get tired of the classic flavors like pb and chocolate <33
Brownie recipes can be such a pain! But yeah, you can never go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate, so I'm happy with this one! :)
I actually don't have a basic vegan brownie recipe! I need to get on that - maybe during the holidays I can play around with one a bit...but for now I'll be making these as nothing beats chocolate and peanut butter in my book!
Agreed! Chocolate and peanut butter anything is the best!!