day five hundred and seven

more healthy recipes are in the mix (#59). also, and this is a big one, i finally used my food processor for the first time (#45)! my mom gave this lovely machine to me for christmas in '07, and while i made sure to unpack it at every apartment i moved into, i was a little intimidated by all the parts and the user manual's sheer size. but recently i tried some brownies that my mom brought with her to seattle (again, courtesy of my stepdad), and i had to make some of my own. so good, and so (relatively) good for me. i didn't realize until after i'd purchased all the necessities that the recipe required a food processor. so, i buckled down, did some reading, and got the thing together really embarrassingly easily. now i'm inspired to make a ton of new things with it!

in all its spinning glory!

ok, now for the new recipe. what you need:

• fifteen ounces black beans, cooked -- canned, drained
• one-fourth cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• one teaspoon espresso powder
• three-fourth cup egg substitute (i used three eggs instead)
• three tablespoons whole wheat flour (i used white)
• three-fourth cup agave nectar
• one tablespoon unsalted butter -- melted
• one teaspoon vanilla extract
• one cup pecans -- coursely chopped (i used almonds)

preheat the oven to three hundred and fifty degrees. spray an eight-by-eight inch baking dish with cooking spray. rinse and drain the canned black beans. combine the beans, cocoa powder, espresso powder, egg substitute and flour in the bowl of a food processor. process until the mixture is smooth, about two minutes, scraping down the bowl halfway through.

add the agave, butter and vanilla. process until all the ingredients are combined, about one minute. pour the batter into the baking dish and smooth the top with a spatula. bake for twenty minutes, turning the dish halfway through the baking time. remove the baking dish from the oven and turn down the temperature to three hundred degrees. spread the pecans evenly across the top of the brownies and bake for another eight minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a little bit of soft batter clinging to it. it should not come out clean; if it does, it's overcooked.

let the bars cool completely at room temperature in the baking dish on a wire rack. then put them in the refrigerator for at least three hours. when they're cold, cut them into squares and serve. refrigerate any leftovers.

voila! seriously, these taste just like not-so-healthy brownies. i love them.

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