These black bean cookies are healthy, delicious, soft and fudgy double chocolate cookies made with a can of black beans. They are flourless, dairy free and made with no refined sugar.
Jump to:
What you'll love about the recipe
- Irresistible black bean cookies are rich and chocolatey with a soft, fudgy texture
- This healthy chocolate cookie recipe is high in fibre, with nearly 7g of protein per cookie. The cookies are also lower in calories, saturated fat and sugar than a conventional recipe
- Allergy-friendly black bean cookies are naturally gluten free. There's no flour of any kind in the recipe. They are also dairy free and made without butter
- These healthy flourless chocolate chip cookies are very quick and easy to make
Adding beans and pulses to desserts and sweet treats in place of flour is a great trick to make your recipes healthier and add more protein, fibre and nutrients. The beans are easily disguised, and you won't notice the taste. You might also like these bean brownies or chocolate chickpea dip.
Ingredients
Black beans. I used a can of black beans. If you'd prefer to use dried beans, you'll need to cook them first to use in the recipe.
You could also substitute adzuki beans.
Cocoa gives a lovely, dark, intense chocolate flavour. Make sure you use unsweetened cocoa rather than drinking chocolate.
Peanut butter adds richness and fudginess. I used smooth peanut butter, but you could use crunchy peanut butter if you prefer.
Honey adds some sweetness, although these healthy chocolate cookies are not overly sweet. Alternatively, you could use maple syrup.
Egg adds some structure to the batter. I haven't tried the recipe with an egg replacer, if you do use a flax egg, please let me know how it goes!
Bicarbonate of soda adds a little lightness.
Dark chocolate. I prefer to use chopped dark chocolate in place of chocolate chips as the chocolate tends to be better quality and it's much cheaper.
Optional ingredients
Feel free to add an extra flavour to your healthy chocolate cookies
- A pinch of salt will enhance the chocolatey-ness
- A teaspoon of powdered coffee will add a lovely intense mocha flavour
- Cinnamon is a great complement to chocolate
- A teaspoon of vanilla extract makes the cookies slightly sweeter
How to make black bean cookies
You'll need either a food processor or a blender to make black bean cookies to ensure that the skins of the beans are broken down to a smooth texture. You could also make the recipe with an immersion blender and a bowl.
Drain and rinse the canned black beans and add them to the processor. Add the egg, cocoa, peanut butter, honey and bicarbonate of soda.
Blitz well until the mixture is completely smooth and well mixed. If necessary, scrape down the sides and re-blitz.
Stir three-quarters of the chopped chocolate into the mixture by hand.
Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Add tablespoons of the soft cookie dough onto the tray, spacing the cookies out. Flatten slightly with a spoon. This quantity of batter will make 8 large cookies, or make smaller cookies if you prefer.
Sprinkle over the remaining chopped chocolate.
Pop the tray into the freezer for 10 minutes to chill, and preheat the oven to 180 degrees (160 fan).
Bake the chilled cookies for 15 minutes until set. Cool on the tray for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to finish cooking.
Serving and storage
I'm sure you won't be short of opportunities to enjoy these delicious black bean cookies! They are perfect with morning coffee, and good for packed lunches as they hold together well.
Or enjoy a healthy chocolate cookie as dessert with a handful of berries.
The cookies will keep for up to 3 days in an airtight container at room temperature. If it's particularly warm, store them in the fridge.
You can also freeze black bean cookies for future treats!
Yes. This black bean cookie recipe is rich in healthy fibre and protein. Black beans replace the flour that you'd usually use to make a cookie, and they are also lower in added sugar and saturated fat.
No, these black bean cookies are not vegan as the recipe has an egg and honey. However, if you want, you can switch to maple syrup rather than honey and use an egg replacer such as a flax egg.
Other healthy chocolate treats
You might also like these other healthy chocolate treats. They are all naturally gluten free and low in added sugar.
If you loved this easy, healthy recipe please leave a rating and comment at the bottom of the page. Your email will not be published.
Your feedback and questions are much appreciated.
You can also follow me on Pinterest and Facebook.
Why not subscribe to the newsletter to receive free delicious healthy recipes straight to your inbox?
Recipe
Black Bean Cookies
Equipment
- Food processor or blender
- baking tray
- baking paper
Ingredients
- 400 g canned black beans
- 3 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoon peanut butter
- 3 tbsp honey
- 1 egg
- ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 80 g dark chocolate
Instructions
- Rinse and drain the canned black beans and add to the bowl of a food processor or blender.400 g canned black beans
- Add the peanut butter, honey, egg, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda. Blend until thoroughly mixed and smooth in texture. If necessary, scrape the food processor down and re-blend.3 tablespoon cocoa powder, 2 tablespoon peanut butter, 3 tablespoon honey, 1 egg, ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- Chop the chocolate into pieces approximately the size of chocolate chips. Add three-quarters of the chopped chocolate to the cookie batter and stir into the mixture by hand.80 g dark chocolate
- Line the baking tray with baking paper and add tablespoons of the mixture to the tray. Space the cookies out and flatten them slightly. I made 8 large cookies, but you can make more smaller cookies if you prefer.
- Sprinkle the remaining chopped chocolate onto the top of the cookies.
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees, and in the meanwhile pop the tray of cookies into the freezer for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, remove the tray from the freezer and bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven.
- Leave the cookies to cool on the tray for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- You'll need either a food processor or a blender to make black bean cookies to ensure that the skins of the beans are broken down to a smooth texture. You could also make the recipe with an immersion blender and a bowl.
- If you want to add an extra flavour to your black bean cookies, try a teaspoon of powdered coffee, vanilla extract or ground cinnamon. You could also add a pinch of salt to enhance the chocolate flavour.
Nutrition
Please note nutritional information is per serving and is provided for guidance only.
Chris says
Excellent! I made these a few days ago & followed the recipe exactly. They're delicious. I'll be be making more when these are gone. A go-to recipe. Thanks 😋
RK says
I love your recipes!
May I ask if I could skip the freezing part and bake them straight away?
Thanks!
Wendy Faulkner says
Thank you:) You might just find they spread a little on the tray if they aren't chilled, but otherwise they should be fine. Enjoy!