Low fat Sugar free Black Bean Brownies

I have been MIA from the blogosphere for almost the whole of this month. This month has been eventful for me, with a lot of work, parties and get togethers. There was a lot of cooking, it's just that the cooking didn't make it through to OhTastenSee. :)

This particular post is long overdue, one of several that didn't get the photos processed and has been lying in my 'To Post' folder for quite a while. As I was looking for a recipe to break my hiatus and post, I landed on this one. It made me realize that I had not posted any South Beach Diet Desserts at all on my blog. SBD encourages eating dessert and they have so many innovative ideas. This is one such recipe, that uses black beans and can be eaten in Phase 1(in moderation). It uses extra virgin olive oil as a fat and splenda as the sweetener.

I have to put a disclaimer here that I have never baked with splenda before, I even considered it a sin to be adding splenda to baked goods. I was ok with alternatives such as agave nectar, but sugar substitute was taboo. I was so nervous on how the outcome was going to be, especially about the aftertaste that you often times experience with sugar subsitutes.

I have to say that the outcome was pretty good, I gave it to a few people who didn't know what went into the brownies and they didn't believe me that it had black beans or that it had absolutely no sugar. I expected there would be a significant after taste from the splenda, and so upped the vanilla from 1 tsp to 1 tbsp. The cocoa powder and the vanilla make a magical pair, masking all other 'healthy' stuff that got added in.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray an 8" x 8" baking pan with non stickcooking spray.

In a blender or food processor, combine the black beans, eggs, oil, vanilla, sugar substitute, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Process until smooth.

Scrape the batter into the baking pan and arrange the nuts in even rows, 4 across and 4 down. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cut into 16 squares with a nut piece in the center of each.

Nutrition per Brownie: 34 Calories, 2g Fat, 0.4g Sat, 1g Protein, 2g Carbs, 1g Fiber, 66mg Sodium

Verdict: The brownie was moist, fudgy and super chocolatey. It reminded of Indian mithais. Certainly didn't feel like eating diet food. I strongly recommend this to anyone, even if you are not following the SBD diet. I might try chopping up the nuts and adding them to the batter next time. Wonder how that would turn out!

Sending these delicious and healthy treat to:

- 'My Legume Love Affair #51', event series by Susan.