If you are looking for a healthier chocolate cookie that tastes genuinely indulgent, these black bean cookies are the answer. Rich, fudgy and packed with chocolate flavour, they're naturally gluten-free, flourless and high in fibre and protein. Best of all, you'd never guess they're made with black beans - they taste like soft, brownie-style chocolate cookies.
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What you'll love about the recipe
- Irresistible chocolate black bean cookies are rich and chocolatey with a soft, fudgy, soft texture and gooey chocolate chunks
- This healthy chocolate cookie recipe is high in fibre, and has nearly 7g of protein per cookie (without using protein powder!). The cookies are also lower in calories, saturated fat and sugar than a conventional recipe. They are refined sugar free
- Allergy-friendly chocolate black bean cookies are naturally gluten-free. There's no flour 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, using simple everyday ingredients
Why use black beans in cookies?
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 plant protein, fibre and nutrients.
In Asia, it's very common for beans to be used as a base for sweet treats, and the starchiness makes a great replacement for flour, and is naturally gluten-free.
Beans also add a slightly moist, fudgy texture to baking, which is perfect for these brownie-like cookies.
The mild, neutral flavour of black beans is easily disguised, and you won't notice the taste. You might also like these refined sugar free fudgy chocolate bean brownies or healthy chocolate chickpea dip. Both of these bean desserts are also flourless and naturally gluten-free.
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. 120g of dried beans will yield about the same amount as a 400g can.
You could also substitute adzuki beans.
Cocoa gives a lovely, dark, intense chocolate flavour. Make sure you use unsweetened cocoa rather than drinking chocolate. As well as adding great flavour, cocoa is also good for you.
Peanut butter adds richness and fudginess, plus extra protein. 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 is much cheaper. I also prefer to have bigger chunks of gooey chocolate in my baking!
Optional ingredients
Feel free to add an extra twist 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 healthy chocolate cookies
You'll need either a food processor or a blender to make these healthy chocolate cookies so that the skins of the black 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 so that it stays in chunks.
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 12 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 cooling.
Recipe tips
Chilling the dough before baking firms it up and allows it to dry out slightly. This means that the cookies are less likely to spread and keep a nice soft fudgy texture.
I popped mine in the freezer to speed the process up, but if you prefer you can chill them in the fridge for up to an hour.
Serving and storage
I'm sure you won't be short of opportunities to enjoy these fudgy, healthy chocolate black bean cookies! Because they are naturally high in protein and fibre, they make a very satisfying snack.
They are perfect with morning coffee, and good for packed lunches as they hold together well.
Or enjoy a healthy brownie-like 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 chocolate 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, the mild flavour of black beans is masked by the rich chocolate flavour in these healthy cookies. And because they are fully blended into the batter, you'll be unaware that they are there. In this recipe, the beans are simply an easy, gluten-free replacement for flour.
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, low in added sugar and made with simple everyday ingredients.
You can also browse other healthy refined sugar free cookie recipes.
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Recipe
Healthy Chocolate 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 tbsp cocoa powder, 2 tbsp peanut butter, 3 tbsp honey, 1 egg, ¼ tsp 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 twist 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!