Dark Chocolate Cookies with Black Beans

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Are you making something special for Valentine’s Day?

How about this Dark Chocolate cookies with black beans?

This is a post by my guest blogger, Michela Vega from www.Strivingbean.com.  She’s a Blogger, mom, and web professional, who will help you incorporate beans into your child’s diet.  I’m very impressed by what she does, so I begged her to share some of her creation with you all — Dark Chocolate Cookies with Black Beans, perfect timing for Valentine’s Day.

I’m planning to make it tomorrow, and bring to our ski trip on Sunday.  Very curious how a chocolate cookies with black beans turn out.  They looks and sounds yummy.

I wonder if this may be good as filling in the Aebleskivers…  Another thing to try!

So, here’s her post… Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Cookies with Black Beans Recipe by Striving Bean

I had a need (yes a real need) for chocolate the other day, so I made a batch of Dark Chocolate Cookies.  This recipe is a perfect for a chocolate fix – just in time for Valentines Day!  They don’t have the typical amount of fat and sugar in many cookie recipes.  The secret ingredient?  One 15oz. can of black beans. Make your little sweeties (or your big sweetie) a batch.  And if you don’t have a sweetie – make yourself a batch.  It’s his/her loss!

Here are the cookie highlights:

• A light texture – this is likely due to the gluten free white rice flour.
• Not overly sweet.  However feel free to adjust the sugar content to your liking.
• This cookie recipe appears to be gluten free.  I’m not a gluten free baker, so please be sure to check the ingredients for your needs.
• Easily made vegan.

Dark Chocolate Cookies
Recipe by Striving Bean

Makes 3 dozen (36) cookies
Store these in the refrigerator since they contain beans.

Ingredients
One  15 oz. can of low-sodium black beans, drained and rinsed well
1/4 cup vanilla soy milk (I used soy milk, but you can also try 1% milk)
1 cup canned pumpkin

2 cups white rice flour  (I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free White Rice flour)
3/4 teaspoon (0.75 teaspoon) baking soda
3/4 teaspoon (0.75 teaspoon) baking powder
1/4 teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) salt

1/2 cup (0.5 cup) of sugar (optional – some additional Tablespoons of sugar for sprinkling on top)
1/4 cup (0.25 cup) brown sugar (firmly packed)
3 Tablespoons Smart Balance Buttery Spread, melted (I used Smart Balance, but you could try butter or Earth Balance)
1/2 cup (0.5 cup) unsweetened applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 Tablespoons cocoa powder

1 cup bittersweet (or dark chocolate) chocolate chips [plus optional additional 1/3 cup (0.33 cup) for topping - I highly recommend]

Directions
1.  Preheat oven to 375 F.

2. Mix beans in food processor with soy milk, until fairly smooth.

Pureed Beans and Soy Milk 

3.  Remove bean mixture from food processor, and place in bowl. Add 1 cup canned pumpkin and mix well (can do this in food processor if needed).

4. In a separate bowl, mix together dry ingredients: rice flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.  (It’s important to mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl, so the baking soda & baking powder can be evenly distributed.  This helps the cookies rise)

5. Cream sugars and melted Smart Balance. Add applesauce and vanilla extract.  Gently mix together.

6.  Add black bean puree and cocoa powder to sugar mixture. Gently mix together.

7.  Fold in dry ingredients into the chocolate/sugar/black bean mixture.  Add 1 cup dark chocolate chips. It is easier if you add small portions of dry ingredients and dark chocolate chips a bit at a time.  Mix until just incorporated.

8.  Drop a large spoonful per cookie on parchment lined baking sheets.  Press 2 additional dark chocolate chips on top of each cookie. (optional, but recommended)

9. Sprinkle additional sugar on top (optional)

10. Bake at 375 F for about 9 to 11 minutes.  Cool 5 to 10 minutes.  Transfer to cooking rack with a spatula.  Cool completely on rack.

**********

Chef’s Notes

• Bittersweet (dark) chocolate chips are very key to this recipe. I used Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips.    Dark chocolate heightens chocolate flavor more than milk chocolate chips.
• This cookie recipe can easily be made vegan by using vegan dark chocolate chips and Earth Balance Naturally Buttery Spread (I did not test, but it seems like it should work fine)
• I used a lower sodium canned black bean.  If you choose to use regular canned black beans, you may want to skip the 1/4 teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) salt.
• Since you’ll be storing these cookies in fridge, warm in microwave 7 seconds on high.  If storing in freezer, warm in microwave 15 seconds on high.
• If you choose to use all-purpose flour (since some readers may not have access to white rice flour), my best guess is the texture will not be as delicate.  But I think it’s still worth to experiment with all-purpose flour.
• If you are not using canned black beans, 1 and 2/3 cups  (1.66 cups) cooked beans is the same amount as a 15 oz can.
• I stored extra cookies in the freezer by wrapping individually, then placing in a freezer safe container.

Our family weighs in:

• Son loved them – he even knew about the beans.
• Daughter really loved them and asked for one in her lunch.  This surprised me since she knew about the beans.
• Husband liked them, but thought they could use more sugar.
• I love the intense chocolate taste.

 

Do you want Aunt Else Aebleskiver Starter Kit?  The pan, the handle hot pad, the turner, and the mix?  Everything you need (except for egg & water) to make delicious Skivers at your home?

Then you are in the right place!

HOW TO WIN AUNT ELSE’S AEBLESKIVER STARTER KIT (Value $52.99):

Come to a Special Aebleskiver Call with Chad Gillard, President of Aunt Else’s on February 18th, 2010 at 10 pm ET/7 pm PT .

Chad will answer your Aebleskiver questions, and you will learn a lot about this fun and delicious food. Plus sometime during the call, we pick a winner from those who attended the call.

NOTE: This giveaway offer is good for US and Canadian residents only.  Anyone is welcome to join our call.

Please sign up from this link to get the phone number. http://eepurl.com/hSaQ
You’ll get the number & passcode right away via email.  We need to have everyone go through here,  so that we can pick the winner for the starter kit giveaway from this list and announce during the call.

• Be sure to check mark “Aebleskiver Giveaway” at the bottom.

Do you want to increase the chance of winning?  Here’s how!

1. Become a Kitchen Wizard fan on Facebook. If you sign up your friends and tell me who they are, you get extra points.  Also subscribing to the Kitchen Wizard newsletter and/or blog subscription via email (From the side bar under these red pots) is 1 point each.

2. Become an Aunt Else fan. 1 point each at Facebook, Twitter and Foodbuzz page.  (put links)  By the way, this will give you 10% discount on all purchase from AuntElse.com and auntelse.foodzie.com.  Use “KitchenWizard” as the discount code on either site.

3. Send us questions you want me to ask to Chad during the call in the comment box. If you come up with more than one, break them up, so that everyone has a fair chance of asking questions.  Each comment count as one.  Also the comments you’ve already left on my previous Aebleskiver related posts counts too.  Obviously, we’d rather have someone who’d love the pan and use it to win!

If you want to go back to add comments to increase the chance of winning, here are the links.

• What to use the Aebleskiver pan for
• What to fill with, what to eat them with
• Letter to Skiver Santa: Why you want it, why you deserve to win (Hint: If you tell Skiver Santa and me (Kitchen Wizard!) that you promise to write a post on our blogs how much fun you had with the kit, you may get extra Skiver points.)

4. Come to the call. We pick the winner based on these comments and fan activities, and announce the winner on the call.  NOTE: Just like these raffles at the church, you need to be present when your name is called! Otherwise, it goes to the next person in line.

5. Extra benefit to be on the call… Our generous Skiver Santa agreed to offer some Special gifts to those who attends the call, so be sure to stay on the entire call to find out the details.

Some of you might be thinking…

“What shall I do, if I really really want the kit, I’ve left many comments, but I cannot be on the call…”

OK… If that’s the case…  you are allowed to have your representative on the call, as long as you let me know in advance who’ll be on the call for you (as a comment for this post).  To be fair to everyone, one cannot be more than one person.  If someone agrees to represent you, s/he cannot represent themselves.    Please make sure that person signs up with their name as well, so that we can send him/her reminders for the call.

So what would you like to ask about Aebleskivers? Leave your questions in the comment box below.

Second Life Bread Pudding and Fruit

So what do you do with the leftover egg mixture after making that French toast?

Throw it away, you may say.  But what if I say you can easily make a dessert out of it, by adding an extra cup of milk.

You can make a delicious bread pudding out of it!  You can even save some French bread and use that in it.  One effort, two different recipes.  Ultimate cooking optimization!  Gotta love it! (Or is it just me?)

I’m assuming you have already made some Freezable French Toast, and have about a cup of egg mixture left.  You don’t?  No worries!  You can still make this recipe from scratch, following the instructions underlined below. (Or you can choose to make both at once, starting from the French toast recipe, and freeze it all.)  This amount should be enough for a family of 4 for a little dessert after dinner.

Second-life Bread Pudding with fruit

1. Add 1 cup milk and 1 TBS melted butter into leftover egg mixture from Freezable French Toast. (You should have about 2/3 – 1 cup left).  Alternatively, mix 2 beaten eggs, 2 cup milk, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1 TBS melted butter and cinnamon in a bowl if you are starting from scratch.
2. Add peeled, grated and drained apple and 1/4 cup chopped dried fruit and/or raisins into the egg mixture.
3. Break white bread into bite-size pieces and place them in a buttered 5 to 6” baking dish or individual ramekins. (Remove the crust if it’s very thick) Pour the egg mixture and let it soak completely.  Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on top.
4. Place the baking dish into a larger baking pan, and pour hot water into the outer pan to about half of the height of the pudding.  Bake in a 375-400F oven until set, and top is golden brown.  Serve warm or cold, with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, or without.

Optional: Omit apples/raisins/dried fruit if you don’t have any.  Or use melted bitter or semi-sweet chocolate instead.

Do you like home-made baked goods, yet feel never have time to bake during the week?