Secretly Healthy Chocolate Brownie Cookies
16 Dec
Christmas and cookies might as well be synonyms. And Christmas is no time for eating healthy because there are just too many delicious cookies around. Right?
Wrong. Exhibit A:
So what’s the secret behind these “Secretly Healthy Chocolate Brownie Cookies” ? Black beans. EWWWW. What? It’s true. But trust me, you cannot taste them AT ALL, just like you can’t taste the whole wheat flour. They just taste like the best, fudgiest, chocolatiest cookies you ever did eat. It’s kind of like a brownie in cookies form. You’ll want to eat more than one….and you can. Because they’re HEALTHY!!
Healthy enough for breakfast, dare I say it?
If you don’t believe me, I completely understand. It’s not easy to find a good healthy cookies recipe- it took me 5 times to get this recipe right! BUT, they are 11-year old boy approved, so if that doesn’t convince you to give them a try, I don’t know what will! So please, try to find some time in between making your ten batches of Christmas shaped sugar cookies (what, you don;t make ten batches?), and whip up a batch of the Secretly Healthy Chocolate Brownie Cookies.
- 1 can no-salt-added black beans, rinsed well
- 2 T. milk
- 1.5 T. peanut butter/nut butter of choice
- 2 T. olive oil
- 3 T. whole wheat flour
- ¼ c. unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ c. + 1 T. sugar (see note)
- 1 t. baking powder
- 1 t. vanilla extract
- pinch of cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- ⅓ c. dark chocolate chips, plus more for sprinkling on top
- Preheat oven to 375 and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Combine black beans, milk, peanut butter, and olive oil in a food processor and process until smooth.
- Add in whole wheat flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon, and continue processing until combined and mousse-like.
- Stir in ⅓ c. dark chocolate chips.
- Spoon 16 dollops evenly spaced dollops of the batter onto the baking sheet and sprinkle with the extra chocolate chips.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Let cool slightly, then put on a baking rack until they are cooled completely.
- ENJOY!!
(inspired by this recipe!)
Just don’t tell anyone that they’re healthy cookies, okay? And have a Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal! (Home Alone references rock, duh)
How many calories on average are in these cookies?
About 100-150 according to other commenters.
One of the best recipes I’ve used in a LONG time
I bought the wrong can of beans and went home with kidney beans, and said what the hell, and made the recipe with them instead of black beans and they turned out fabulous!
They cooked in the shape that the were dropped so they look a little different from what you’ve got pictured, but damn! They are GOOD!!
Thank-you for this awesome recipe! As a scientist, I love experimenting and couldn’t help myself in trying to bring down the calories per cookie…means I get to enjoy more of them! =)
I subbed the 1/5 T of nut butter for 2 T of Chocolate PB2 and 1 T of water.
I subbed the 2 T of Olive Oil for 2 T of unsweetened applesauce.
I subbed the 3 T of Whole Wheat Flour for 3 T of Almond Flour.
I subbed the 1/2 Cup + 1 T of sugar for the equivalent in Stevia.
Put it all together as per the original directions and prayed as I popped it in the oven.
10 minutes later they had fluffed up into these delicious looking chocolate mousse clouds. I let them cool and then put them in the fridge.
Happy to report that they came our fantastic, and at about 60 calories a piece (I made 13 medium size cookies). I like my cookies a little on the sweet side, so if I change anything the next time I make this recipe it will be to add a bit more sweetner to the mix.
My husband who will not eat any vegetable other than potatoes and corn willingly tried my “nasty healthy cookie”…and then he went back for a second one!
User Entered Recipe using subbed ingredients
13 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 58.7
Total Fat 1.6 g
Saturated Fat 0.6 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.1 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.0 g
Cholesterol 0.2 mg
Sodium 44.1 mg
Potassium 88.1 mg
Total Carbohydrate 8.6 g
Dietary Fiber 2.3 g
Sugars 2.3 g
Protein 2.8 g
Vitamin A 0.2 %
Vitamin B-12 0.1 %
Vitamin B-6 0.9 %
Vitamin C 0.5 %
Vitamin D 0.2 %
Vitamin E 0.0 %
Calcium 3.4 %
Copper 2.4 %
Folate 8.7 %
Iron 3.5 %
Magnesium 4.1 %
Manganese 5.2 %
Niacin 0.6 %
Pantothenic Acid 0.6 %
Phosphorus 4.3 %
Riboflavin 1.0 %
Selenium 0.5 %
Thiamin 3.8 %
Zinc 1.8 %
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Wow this is awesome information! Thanks!!
I have a silly question. I only have a very small food processor-enough to get the beans, milk, pb, and olive oil mixed, but not big enough to process the rest. Can I mix the rest with a mixer or will that ruin it?
a mixer might work- but the best idea would probably be to split the recipe into two batches so everything will fit in the food processor!
I had the same problem, since I only have a magic bullet. It worked perfectly fine with the mixer. You may need to mix for a min or two longer than reg. cookies though.
Would anyone know theamount of carbs per cookie? I would use almond flour. I would not use sugar,but I would use splenda. I would also use almond butter. I am on a low carb diet and would not want to mess up my inches and weight loss at this time. Thank you for any help..
Decadent Cookies! So chocolaty and tasty. I used two cans of black beans and substituted oil for applesauce for overall less calories.
Im in love with this recipe, so genius! Beans got lots of fiber and good carbs so I feel less guilty eating this bunch of cookies (brownies). Thank you very much for sharing this wonderful recipe!!
How much is one can? I am from the netherlands so we might have different sizes of cans ^^
15 oz.
These. Look. So. Good! I can’t wait to try them!
I just made these and they are really good. My weakness is chocolate, and this recipe just made my addiction a little bit healthier! I NEVER would have thought of using black beans to make cookies.
they look and sound delicious, however what is the nutrition info on these? Carbs? etc. etc.
Thanks!
I just made these today….OMG they are delicious! I used gluten free flour mix and almond milk, and used raw cane sugar instead of regular white sugar. Thanks so much for the recipe – definitely a keeper!
I really want to try these cookies because my mom has been diagnosed with breast cancer and is on a diet where she can’t eat sugar, dairy or anything gluten. She is a real chocoholic so I would love to make these for her, but is there anyway I could substitute the sugar, flour and milk? Thank you!
Maybe you could try using gluten-free flour, honey (if she can eat that- if not stevia/splenda might work), and dairy-free milk (such as almond milk or soy milk). Since the chocolate chips have sugar in them too, you could omit them or possibly find sugar free ones. Hope this helps!
Had to comment about these…….they were perfect! I’ve made them several times now. I subbed coconut sugar for the white sugar, and used one tbls rice flour instead of the wheat flour. Kids, hubby and co workers all loved them.
What is a “T.”? Is it a teaspoon or a tablespoon? Thanks.
An upper-case “T” is how I abbreviate a tablespoon, and a lower-case “t” is how I abbreviate a teaspoon
I made this cookies this evening. They were quick and easy to prepare as well as delicious. I only used 1/3 c of sugar and it tastes great. I had stopped baking cookies because I didn’t like all the butter, sugar, and white flower. I am now a convert! Thank you for a great recipe.
Thank you, these were delicious! I didn’t have no-salt black beans, so I used regular beans, we used Sunbutter instead of peanut butter, and softened butter instead of oil. I pressed them down before baking, because we like a flatter cookie- instead of a puffy cookie. We made these for a play date for 3 year olds. The kidabunks gobbled them up so fast – they each had four (we had to take the plate away out of fear of them spoiling their dinner)! More importantly though, the other adults couldn’t figure out what the mystery ingredient was AND went for seconds when I revealed what the ingredient was. Thank you for an essentially guilt-free dessert.
sunbutter is the best!
I know this seems crazy but could you make these without the cocoa?? If so, what could you substitute for it?
I’ll admit, I was skeptical at first. I’ve seen a lot of a recipes like this, trying to take out flour and put in beans of some sort. I just blew them all off. But for some reason, this one (which I only found today) haunted my morning. I kept coming back, looking at the recipe, and trying to figure out why I couldn’t get them out of my head. I still don’t know but I decided since I had everything, I had to make them.
Oh. my. gawd.
I’m a believer now. These cookies will become very common around my house now. More fiber and protein than most cookies (which just means they actually have some of both) with sacrificing texture or taste? Oh my, yes! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. This is a game changer.
Made these today with a couple of subsitutions and they turned out great! First, I used almond milk and doubled the amount. Second, I replaced the olive oil with an equal amount of liquid coconut oil. Third, I replaced the 3T whole wheat flour with 1T coconut flour. The coconut flour is why I had to double the milk. Finally, I used regular old semi-sweet chocolate chips. DELICIOUS
I doubled this recipe using a 30oz can of black beans and it worked out well. My calorie calculations were about 100 cal. each with a 30 cookie yield from a double batch. I think for the calories that this is an excellent recipe, and it can easily be made vegan and/or gluten free. I also added 1T. of instant espresso powder to my batch, I recommend it!
I really want to try these but would I be able to substitute all purpose flour for the whole wheat flour?
definitely!
how many calories are in these cookies???
100-150
Has anyone tried this with dry beans yet? Do they need to be cooked first, or would soaked and rinsed beans work?
you’ll need to cook them first!
These are amazing! The best cookies I’ve ever had.I just started cooking gluten free so I used almond flour .
My husband couldn’t even tell. Thank you.
awesome!
These cookies look awesome,just wondering if you could substitute for the peanut butter. Daughter has a peanut allergy!
you can use any nut butter, such as almond butter, sunflower seed butter, etc.
Any suggestions for high altitude? I tried them and they came out incredibly dry and didn’t flatten out. I added a little extra milk to get the mousse-like texture.
I was wondering what I could use instead of peanut butter/nut butter. Maybe another 2 tbs of olive oil? margarine? apple sauce? and how much?
hmmm…. I would try another 2 T of oil, let me know if it works!
These cookies are AMAZING! I had to comment saying how great these turned out
I am going to trick all my friends into eating them and then tell them what’s in it 
Oh my word, these are amazing! I had to use Nutella instead of peanut butter, because my daughter is allergic to peanuts, but it still was wonderful! I’m not going to tell my hubby what is in them
Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
great idea! nutella sounds even BETTER.
These were amazing. I shared them with a coworker when I got into work today. She loved them. Then I told her that there were black beans in them. She couldn’t believe it. We decided we’d ask the guys if they wanted to try “black bean cookies” so there would be more for us. It didn’t work. They tried them and loved them too. LOL
This sounds good! My husband and I like black beans anyway…I was wondering what a can comes out to? We have a big #10 can of black beans I’d use but I’m not sure how much?
1.5 cups
A friend from work just pinned this recipe, so I’m sure I’m going to try it. I love black beans, I love chocolate. What if my hubby takes one bite and says, “Look what you did, you little jerk!” A little scared, but what the heck.
Hi!
I was wondering if these cookies could be made with a flour that is wheat ( for those of us who can’t do gluten)?
Thanks!
Go for it! I don’t know why it wouldn’t work- let me know how it turns out
I want to make these for myself and two of my besties who are all eating healthy currently. Do you know the calorie count for each cookie? Thanks!
They are roughly 150cals/cookie!
These cookies were surprisingly delicious! I consider all the ingredients healthy except for the white sugar, and would actually prefer them to be a little less sweet. Has anyone tried using an unprocessed sweetener with good results?
you could try honey!
Thanks, will try honey next time. Didn’t know if there would be a texture result difference between substituting a dry for a wet ingredient.
I stumbled on your recipe on Pinterest and was immediately curious about the taste. Before telling him about the special ingredient, I gave my boyfriend a cookie. He loved it, and the look on his face when I told him about the black beans.
I wrote a blog about your recipe and your blog. I really like your healty recipes. Your family must be really happy with such a great cook in the house.
Regards from the Netherlands.
Thank you so much! Glad you liked them
My toddler and I made these tonight. He loved helping with the food processor and putting the extra chocolate chips on the cookies. Afterwards, we both loved noshing on them. These are, without a doubt, my new favorite chocolate chip cookie, ever! Thank you so much for sharing this yummy recipe!!
can I use chickpeas? I cant find any black beans and I really want to try this recipe tomorrow!
I wouldn’t suggest using chickpeas because it might alter the color/taste/texture.
hi! I tried chickpeas and it turned out okay and everybody liked them! I want to make them again but can you suggest healthier alternatives to sugar?
That’s great! You can reduce the sugar down to about 1/3 cup, and/or you can use honey
These were great! I hate black beans a la carte, but you truly can’t taste them in these cookies. My kids even liked them!
These look great! Just wondering, I only have regular blackbeans, not salt free, and my local grocer only carries low sodium, will this make a difference in baking or taste? Otherwise thanks for the incredible recipe! I can’t wait to try it!
Low-sodium or regular black beans will work fine! That’s what I actually used the first time. Just make sure you rinse the beans very well under hot water before baking, and you might want to omit the pinch of salt in the recipe.
I made these and they were divine! My go to recipe for healthy chocolate chip cookies now <3 thank you!
Just a quick question but is blackbeans like kidneybeans?? im from new zealand and never heard of Blackbeans.
TIA
Black beans are different than kidney beans, and I would probably suggest to just stick to black beans for this recipe. You could try it with kidney beans though- not sure how it would turn out!
I was skeptical – i’ve been burned by black bean recipes before- but these were truly great! fudgy and chocolatey…will definitely make again! thanks!
Hi Eliza,
I’ve been interested in baking more healthy desserts and this is a great contender! I was wondering, how much is 1 can of black beans. Do you mean 15oz cans?
Thank you!
Yep, just a standard 15 oz can, which is equal to about 1.5 cups. Good luck!
Thank you so much! I’ll make the
Sorry, posted that prematurely haha. I meant to say that I’ll make these this weekend. I’ll let you know how they turn out
I have dried black beans on hand so I wanna soak them. How many dried black beans should I soak? Im guessing 1 cup? or just 15 oz? I don’t know if they get heavier after soaking. Omg so much question. Sorry ><
Thank you though! for the amazing recipe!
Using dried black beans works just as well (and its cheaper)! You will need 1.5 cups black beans once you are done cooking them for this recipe. Check out this article I found about soaking and cooking dried black beans: http://thehousingforum.com/how-to-cook-dried-black-beans/
Let me know how the recipe turned out!
Hey! These cookies look amazing. So much so that I included one of them on a blog post I wrote about “mudslide cookies”. I gave you full credit and linked the image back to this page. Thanks for sharing! Here’s the post – http://wp.me/p1cn3Q-zr
Thanks!
Woah! These are absolutely amazing! I’ve been baking alot lately and I realised I needed more really healthy cookie recpes . I came upon this recipe and I had everything at home to make it so I gave it a try. they turned out to be more delicious then I even tought! I decreased the sugar to 2 tbsp for my own preference and it was very yummy. Next time I’m going to experiment and substitute the sugar for dates and the wholewheat for oat flour. Thank you sooo much for this recipe.
I’m so glad you liked them
Let me know how substituting those ingredients works out!
I am curious if you did try this with dates and if so how much? I am trying to avoid white sugar. I saw someone mention coconut sugar but I’d rather use dates! I just recently tried a different recipe that called for a date and water puree and I really liked it! TIA!
well, I’ve never actually eaten a date so I’m not sure how they would work in this recipe. Sorry about that!
Sorry, I was trying to reply to the commenter! Thanks for replying though! PS Dates are delicious! I first tried them in oatmeal (raisin date and walnut mmm!). I hadn’t really bought them until recently but they are good even by themselves!
I made these tonight and they are sooooooo yummy!! I would have never guessed that they were healthy had I not made them myself! Found the recipe via babble. Excited to try some of your other stuff as well.
Thanks for trying the recipe- I’m so glad you liked them!!
Hey Eliza! Just wanted to let you know that I tried out this recipe tonight and I loved it! I’ve made lots of black bean desserts in the past so I was more prepared for the taste/texture than someone who is used to more decadent desserts. I definitely loved the chocolate flavor in this but the texture was slightly one-noted (as to be expected with the black beans). Next time I think I’ll add something crunchy like toasted pecans or toffee bits! Thanks again!
That’s great! I’m so glad you liked it. Adding something crunchy like nuts is a great idea- maybe some chopped peanuts to complement the peanut butter in the recipe?
these look great. i’ve made the black bean cake and the brownies, so now i’ll have to try cookies…thanks for the recipe
I’ll have to see if I can get my husband to eat these!