#3 Snack attack: Super Power Brownies!

Hi everyone!

Do you like brownies?

Do you like chocolate?

Would you like a piece of super power brownies?

🙂

I hope you answered yes to all of the above LOL

I came across this unique recipe a month ago, and I was very interested in trying this out. This recipe is special, it uses unusual ingredients and it’s a good ingredient. It’s not something funny or ridiculous (to me anyway :p).

I called it the Super Power Brownies because it’s got extra protein and fibre added (from the special ingredient!).

Okay. What special ingredient? …..Redbeans!

Wait. Redbeans in brownies? Yes. Yes. Yes.

Redbeans or red kidney beans belong to legumes family (together with other beans, peas and lentils) which are good sources of fibre, protein, iron and complex carbohydrates (Brown, 2004).  That’s why I called it the Super Power Brownies. Who would expect redbeans in a piece of chocolate brownie?!

Isn’t it interesting!!

Super Power Brownies

makes 25 mini squares

kindly adapted and modified from Joy the Baker

1/4cup light, salt-reduced margarine

1/4cup milk chocolate, roughly chopped

1/3cup dark chocolate, roughly chopped

1cup pureed canned redbean

1cup raw sugar (you could increase up to 1.5cup if you’d like it sweeter)

2 whole eggs+ 1egg white

2tsp vanilla essence

1cup flour (optional-wholemeal)

1/4cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2tsp BP

topping (optional)- 1/2tsp coarse sea salt, 1/4cup walnuts

How?

1) Preheat oven to 180C. Lightly spray a square baking pan, and line with baking paper.

2) Fill half of a medium saucepan with water and simmer. Place margarine and chopped chocolates in a bowl, and place the bowl over the simmering water. DO NOT USE plastic bowl! Stir until the chocolate and margarine are smoothly melted and combined. Remove the bowl and cool it down for a few mins.

3) Whisk in the eggs and white, one at a time, until the mixture is glossy. Whisk in the sugar. Whisk in the pureed redbean and vanilla essence.

4) In a small bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients (all at once). Use a spatula to fold it.

5) Pour into the prepared pan. Top with walnuts and sea salt, if using. Bake for 25-30mns. Cut the brownies into 5×5 mini squares. Serve while it’s warm. To store them, wrap them individually and it should last for up to 4days at room temperature.

When I gave these brownies to my friends, I didn’t tell them that it has redbeans. I wanted to know (forgive my curiosity) if they can taste the redbeans. Well well well, almost everyone couldn’t tell! Only one person said that she could taste something different but couldn’t tell what it was. Everyone said it was yummy (hooray!).

Nutritionally, a mini-square of this super power brownie equals to 428kJ/102kCal, 4.2g fat, 0.9g saturated fat, 14g CHO (1 CHO exchange), 2.1g protein, 54mg sodium and 1.5g fibre. It is low in fat and suitable for vegetarian. Warnings: contains nuts!

References:

BROWN, A. 2004. Understanding Food Principles and Preparation, Thomson Wadsworth.