During my childhood, Mom let us enjoy a few extra sweet treats on Valentine’s Day, as compared to any other ordinary day of the week. After our class parties in elementary school, we usually came home with a shoebox full of little cards and candy, so she agreed we could nibble on a piece or two as part of our afternoon snack.
Once we finished dinner, we went back for a few more pieces of candy from our shoebox stash, or we picked out a store-bought baked treat from the pantry. Mom knew we loved sugar cookies covered in sprinkles and Little Debbie’s heart-shaped cupcakes!
As I grew up, I started skipping those cute colorful desserts and gravitated more towards the extra chocolaty treats. Chocolate cookies, chocolate cupcakes, dark chocolate truffles… Basically whatever Mom brought home for herself. She certainly passed along her chocoholism to me!
During my high school years, Mom discovered Trader Joe’s chocolate ganache torte: a round two-layer cake with chocolate mousse sandwiched between the layers and covered in a silky smooth chocolate ganache. After our first bite, we were both hooked… And snuck seconds every time we carved ourselves a slice. It rarely lasted more than two days!
As an adult, I often try to minimize the refined sugar I consume, which is nearly impossible with all of the tempting Valentine’s Day chocolate treats currently sitting on grocery store shelves… Including that Trader Joe’s cake! But I’m planning ahead this year and making a batch of these Flourless Chocolate Chunk Brownie Bites to enjoy instead. They contain no butter, oil, flour or refined sugar and are just 44 calories!
A chocoholic’s dream come true, right??
HOW TO MAKE THE BEST HEALTHY FLOURLESS BROWNIE BITES
Let’s go over how to make the best healthy flourless chocolate chunk brownie bites! They’re actually one of the easiest desserts you’ll ever make… You just need a blender or a food processor. That’s right — no mixing bowls to wash!
To make this recipe super simple, you’ll skip the melted chocolate (I have no time or patience for that!) and just use unsweetened cocoa powder. You’ll add in a full ½ cup, so your healthy flourless chocolate chunk brownie bites taste really rich and decadent! With that much cocoa powder, there’s no need for Dutched or special dark. Regular unsweetened cocoa powder works just fine!
Instead of refined sugar, you’ll sweeten your healthy flourless brownie bites with pure maple syrup. Be sure you buy the real kind that comes directly from maple trees! The only ingredient on the label should be “maple syrup.” Real maple syrup generally comes in thin glass bottles or squat plastic jugs (like this!).
Now things are about to get a little interesting… Rather than flour, you’ll use black beans to hold the other ingredients together! I know — it sounds really strange. But I promise these brownies do NOT taste like beans! That flavor bakes off while the brownie bites are in the oven, so your healthy flourless brownie bites just taste super rich and chocolaty once they’ve cooled.
Bonus: The black beans help make these brownie bites extremely fudgy, just the way I like them! And they give your healthy flourless chocolate chunk brownie bites a protein boost, too!
Just before popping the pans in the oven, you’ll sprinkle a little finely diced dark chocolate into each cavity and swirl it in with a knife. The brownie batter is very thin and liquidy, unlike my traditional brownie recipes, so if you added the chocolate chunks to your food processor or blender, they’d just sink to the bottom… Meaning the majority of your brownie bites would be missing those chocolate chunks. Not good! So wait until you’ve portioned out the batter, and you’ll be all set.
Time for dessert! And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! 🙂 ) I’d love to see your healthy flourless chocolate chunk brownie bites!
| Healthy Flourless Chocolate Chunk Brownie Bites | | Print |
- 1 (15oz) can reduced sodium black beans, drained and thoroughly rinsed
- 3 large egg whites, room temperature
- ½ cup (40g) unsweetened cocoa powder (measured like this)
- ½ cup (120mL) pure maple syrup
- ¼ cup (60mL) unsweetened cashew milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp (28g) finely chopped dark chocolate
- Preheat the oven to 300°F. Line 24 mini muffin cups with paper liners, and coat with nonstick cooking spray.
- Add all of the ingredients except the finely chopped dark chocolate to a blender or food processor in the order that they’re listed. Blend until completely smooth and no large pieces of beans remain.
- Divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups. Evenly sprinkle the dark chocolate between the muffin cups, and use the tip of a butter knife to swirl them into the batter. Bake at 300°F for 14-18 minutes, or until they no longer jiggle when lightly shaken. (The centers should still look glossy and slightly underdone!) Cool completely to room temperature in the pan; then let them sit for an additional 3 hours for the fudgiest texture.
If you prefer to cook your own black beans, you’ll need 1 ½ cup + 2 tablespoons of cooked black beans. You’ll also need to add about ¼ teaspoon of salt to the brownie batter.
These brownie bites contain enough cocoa powder that they already taste very rich and dark. No need to use Dutched or special dark! Make sure you measure the cocoa powder correctly, like this or with a kitchen scale. Too much cocoa powder will make the brownie bites taste bitter.
Honey or agave may be substituted for the pure maple syrup. Alternatively, ½ cup (96g) of coconut sugar or brown sugar + ¼ cup (60mL) of milk may be substituted instead.
Any milk may be substituted for the cashew milk.
I recommend 72% dark chocolate. Ghirardelli is one of my favorites. Make sure you cut the dark chocolate to be no larger than the size of miniature chocolate chips to ensure the brownie bites bake evenly. Miniature chocolate chips may be substituted for the finely chopped dark chocolate.
{gluten-free, dairy-free, clean eating, low fat}
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ Flourless Brownie Bites
♡ Practically Flourless Extra Fudgy Brownies
♡ Brownie Batter Energy Bites
♡ Fudgy Dark Chocolate Frosted Brownies
♡ Fudgy Mocha Brownies with Coffee Drizzle
♡ Fudgy Dark Chocolate Cheesecake Swirled Brownies
♡ Slow Cooker Fudgy Dark Chocolate Brownies
Trader Joe’s chocolate ANYTHING has my heart! Especially those chocolate bars in the checkout line that they sneak in because they know I’ll probably buy one. 😀 But these look like the perfect dessert for me to make in my NEW mini muffin tin!! 😉
Exactly!! Especially those little three-packs up by the register. My favorites! 😉 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these if you try them Marina!
Hi
Thanks for the recipe. Is the dark chocolate really necessary (other than taste, I mean) or can it be left out?
Keep well..!
You can omit the 2 tablespoons of diced dark chocolate if you prefer! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of the brownie bites Fuz!
Am a huge fan of Trader Joe’s as well. Who isn’t? Love the idea of black beans in a brownie, I certainly feel no-guilt in passing these brownies to my kids.
Thanks Maria! I’d love to hear what your kids think if you try them! 🙂
How chocolate gooey fudge do these look!!! I love that TJs chocolate torte too, it’s so decadent! I was wondering if black beans might be the secret ingredient in these. I love that you offer flour-less recipes, Amy!
Thank you so much Andrenna!! That means a lot to me! 🙂 With how much people seem to love flourless options, I just may have to create more recipes like these this year! 😉
These sure are a dream come true! They look heavenly – perfect to replace those tempting refined-sugar-filled chocolates in supermarkets, yet they look just as delicious! I love how various celebrations over the year give us an excuse to eat chocolate (Valentine’s, Easter, Birthdays, Halloween, Christmas). It’s brilliant for us chocoholics!?
Thanks so much Katie! I completely agree — the more chocolate-friendly holidays we have, the better! 😉
My boys and I made these today and they turned out great! Thanks Amy
I’m so glad you and your boys enjoyed the brownie bites Erin! 🙂
Amy, just made these and they are absolutely delicious!!!! Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the brownie bites Nancy! That means a lot to me! 🙂
These look amazing. Is there anything I could use to replace the beans to make them paleo? All the other ingredients work except the beans.
This recipe was specifically designed to be made with black beans, so I can’t guarantee that other substitutes will work. You may try almond flour, but I honestly don’t know how much you’ll need. The batter should be very thin and runny. I’d love to hear what you try and how they turn out Megha! 🙂
Hi Amy, I don’t have mini muffin tin, can I make these regular muffin size, 12 muffins? How would the oven temp and/or time to bake change?
Yes, you can use a regular muffin tin! The baking temperature will remain the same, and the baking time will most likely increase. The centers should still look glossy and slightly underdone when you pull them from the oven. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these Chrissy!
You do such nice work, Amy. I may have to acquire a mini muffin tin!
You’re so sweet Susan — thank you! 🙂 I use my mini muffin pans ALL the time! Probably even more than regular muffin tins… 😉 I’d love to hear what you think if you try these!