Black Bean Brownies with Coconut

Looking for a chocolatey, delicious, coconut brownie recipe? These healthy coconut brownies have a rich chocolate flavor that complements the nutty flavor of the toasted coconut topping.

These healthy brownies are to some of the best I’ve ever had. They’re moist, full of chocolate and coconut, and rich enough that one brownie is a satisfying serving.

Incredibly, they also have no flour and no added sugar. Weird as it might sound, the flour and sugar have been replaced with black beans, gluten free oats, and stevia. These brownies have the perfect texture — I think you’ll love them!

Where’s the Recipe?

I love to provide you with all kinds of tips and tricks for my recipes to make sure you get the best results possible, especially if this is your first time making this recipe.

But I know many of you are experienced bakers and might not need the recipe tips and nutritional information. If so, simply scroll to the bottom and you’ll find the recipe card for fudgy black bean brownies with all the details you need.

Ingredients in Healthy Coconut Brownies

• Black beans: The secret ingredient in these brownies! Unexpected, I know, but they will transform these into super rich, moist, and fudgy brownies with the perfect brownie texture. And don’t worry, these healthy black bean brownies won’t have a black bean flavor even though they are a main ingredient.
• Cocoa powder: I love keeping cocoa powder on hand because I can drop it into so many different recipes when I need a chocolate fix.
• Oats: Looking to avoid gluten? Pure oats are gluten free, but can sometimes become contaminated with gluten during the processing stage. If you need absolutely gluten free oats, make sure to double-check the packaging.
• Honey: A great way to avoid refined sugar is to use honey, which is a natural sweetener. Just a little will go a long way! You can also use pure maple syrup if needed, but remember that will change the counts.
• Stevia (coconut flavored): Stevia is a great sweetener substitute and Sweetleaf Stevia is the brand I prefer. Sweetleaf has so many different flavors of their liquid sweetener, you can find the perfect one for your recipes. I love the coconut one for this black bean brownies recipe.
• Coconut (unsweetened, shredded): Make sure to use unsweetened coconut, as sweetened coconut will change the counts for this recipe.
• Coconut oil: Coconut oil in place of butter makes these brownies so aromatic!
• Vanilla: Vanilla is one of the places I don’t skimp. Imitation vanilla will work in a pinch, but it is often less aromatic and has a much less potent flavor. Go for pure vanilla extract if you can.
• Almond extract: Almond extract gives these brownies a warm, nutty flavor that would otherwise be missing since these brownies contain no nuts.
• Baking powder: A cupboard staple — this is great to keep on hand so you can whip up baked goods whenever you want.
• Dark chocolate chips: I prefer the richer flavor of dark chocolate chips in this recipe to really complement the cocoa powder and black beans.

How to Make Healthy Coconut Brownies

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Blend your black beans in a food processor until very smooth. If you don’t have a food processor, you can also use a high speed blender! I used my Vitamix and blended them as much as I could on high, then put them in a bowl and used a fork to mash the rest.
3. Add the rest of your ingredients (except the chocolate chips) into the bowl.
4. Blend until smooth.
5. Stir in chocolate chips.
6. Grease an 8×8 square pan or baking dish.
7. Pour the brownie batter into the pan and sprinkle coconut on top of the batter if you’d like.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean (except for the melted chocolate chips).
9. Cool until room temperature, then refrigerate.
10. Cut your brownies into 16 servings and then store in an airtight container.

Recipe Tips

• Want to avoid greasing the pan or don’t have anything on hand? Try parchment paper instead! Line your baking pan with parchment paper and once the brownies have cooled you can lift them right out of the pan.
• Looking to make these dairy free? Substitute dairy-free chocolate chips! Just make sure that you’re also using raw cacao powder instead of cocoa powder (which sometimes has dairy added to it). Remember, any substitutions will change the counts.
• Some people prefer these brownies cold, but I love them warm so I can really enjoy the fudgy texture. They are great out of the oven or the next day. These are one of my favorite desserts. I can’t wait to hear what you think!
• Whipped cream makes a delicious topping to these chocolate brownies. It’s optional, so the nutritional values and healthy eating plan counts do not include it.

Healthy Eating Plans

This decadent chocolate treat is a surprisingly great option for people following healthy eating plans. You can find the complete nutritional information (calories, carbs, etc) at the bottom of the printable recipe below, but here’s the serving and points information for different healthy eating plans.

Servings: 16 (entire pan cut into 16 servings)

Serving size: 1 brownie

21 Day Fix

1 yellow container of this healthy brownie (I use the container to cut one) counts as a yellow container treat swap!

Weight Watchers

12 Points on the 2023 Plan | 10 Blue Plan Points | 11 Green Plan Points | 10 Purple Plan

More Delicious Healthy Dessert Recipes

Love this great recipe and looking for more healthy sweet treats or chocolatey treats?

• Tahini Protein Balls: These high protein energy bites are sweet, delicious, and use simple ingredients.
• Healthy Buckeyes: No shortening, powdered sugar, or oils — just four ingredients in this amazing recipe to make these peanut butter treats.
• 21 Day Fix Brownies: Looking for another brownie recipe? Check out this 21 Day Fix option. So easy to make in the Instant Pot, too!
• No Bake Mocha Coconut Bars
• Instant Pot Peanut Butter Lave Cakes

This post is sponsored by SweetLeaf Natural Stevia Sweetener. SweetLeaf is a 0 calorie, 0 carb, 0 glycemic response sweetener with no artificial ingredients. It’s the only stevia sweetener I trust for my family. Find more recipes on the SweetLeaf website.

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Black Bean Brownies with Coconut

Created by: Becca Ludlum

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Approximate Serving Size: 1/16th of the pan (cut into 16 pieces)

Servings 16

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This is the best black bean brownie recipe! It's easy to make and tastes so indulgent.

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Equipment

• Food processor
• Baking Dish
• Vitamix Blender

Ingredients 

US CustomaryMetric

Ingredients:

• ▢ 15 ounce black beans rinsed and drained
• ▢ 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• ▢ ½ cup oats gluten free if needed
• ▢ ½ cup honey
• ▢ 1 tsp Stevia Sweetleaf Coconut flavored
• ▢ 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut unsweetened shredded
• ▢ ¼ cup coconut oil
• ▢ 1 tbsp vanilla
• ▢ 1 tsp almond extract
• ▢ ½ tsp baking powder
• ▢ 10 oz dark chocolate chips

Instructions

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Blend beans in a food processor until very smooth. I used my Vitamix and blended them as much as I could on high, then put them in a bowl and used a fork to mash the rest.
• Add the rest of your ingredients (except for the chocolate chips) in the bowl
• Blend until smooth
• Stir in chocolate chips
• Pour batter into a greased 8×8 pan and sprinkle coconut on top if you’d like
• Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean (except for the melted chocolate chips)
• Cool until room temperature, then refrigerate.
• Cut your brownies into 16 servings and then store in an airtight container.

Notes

Weight Watchers:

12 Points on the 2023 Plan | 10 Blue Plan Points | 11 Green Plan Points | 10 Purple Plan

Nutrition

Calories: 224kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 21mg | Potassium: 261mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 70mg | Iron: 1mg

Make This Recipe?

Make sure to follow on Pinterest @bludlum and on Instagram @beccaludlum