There’s a difference between sneaking vegetables into food, so that children will unknowingly consume them and packing recipes with nutrient-rich and unexpected ingredients to “up the ante”. We could debate which approach is better but frankly I’m all for anything that results in an end product that’s healthier assuming it’s just as tasty. Carolyn’s blog and twitter handle is OneSmartBrownie. Her last name is Brown if you’re trying to connect the dots “one smart cookie” ok hopefully you get it. Anyway, we thought it was time for C. to tackle her namesake food and make it Foodtrainers’ friendly. She played with ingredients and came up with these Mung Bean, Avocado Brownies. Don’t knock them until you try them; I tried them and I’m glad the portion left in my office wasn’t too large.
No pressure, Lauren suggested I come up with an amazing brownie recipe “something people haven’t seen before” oh and “gluten free” with attributes beyond deliciousness. I had heard of black bean brownies so I figured sprouted mung beans would work. Mung beans cook quickly, have amazing nutritionals and we use them on our Dine and Detox program. Why not detox while brownie-ing? As for avocado, I was late to fully jump on the avocado bandwagon. It took me a whlie to like texture but it’s one of my 2012 obsessions.
I’m not going to lie, I was shocked these were so good. But because people don’t trust nutritionist’s taste buds so I brought them to a concert and my friends demolished them. Who knew mung bean brownies were the new bar food?
Avocado, Bean Brownies with Walnut Butter Icing
Ingredients:
1/2 c sprouted mung beans (used TruRoots)
1/2 avocado
1/4 c dark brown sugar (used Muscovado)
3 organic omega 3 eggs
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder (used Equal Exchange Organic)
1/4 c semisweet chocolate chips (used Sunspire)
2 tbsp. organic virgin coconut oil (used 365 organic)
Pinch Himalayan sea salt
Walnuts (DIY walnut butter) or Artisana’s Walnut Butter for “icing”
- Preheat oven to 350. Grease muffin tins with oil.
- Bring 1.5 cups of water to a boil. Boil mung beans for 4 minutes and then remove from heat. Let sit for 5-10 minutes. Drain any remaining water.
- Place beans, avocado, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, oil, eggs and sea salt and in a food processor and blend until smooth.
- Add chocolate chips and pulse until broken into tiny small chocolate bits.
- Pour evenly into mini muffin tins and bake for 10-14 min.
- Let cool, then “ice” (lightly) with walnut butter.
2 mini muffin brownies with walnut icing 125 calories, 2 grams fiber (sans icing 90 calories- quite a “100 calorie pack”)
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| Two Smart Brownies |
Do avocado brownies scare you? Any healthy baking tips or swaps? What do you think of “upping the ante” of recipes or sneaking veggies in?
