Brown Butter Brownies
Brown butter and black beans (surprise!) star in these deliciously tender and chocolaty brownies. Don’t let the black beans scare you away, they take the place of flour in this recipe, and you won’t even taste them!
The main reason between a cakes light and fluffy texture compared to that of a dense and moist brownie is the state the fat is added to the batter. When softened butter is creamed with the sugar, air bubbles are incorporated and create a light and airy texture once it’s baked. However for brownies, melted butter or oil is what is normally called for. Since no air is whipped into the butter, the mixture stays thick, therefor rising very little.
Once you prepare the brown butter pour it into another container and allow it to cool slightly (this will prevent the residual heat from the saucepan to continue browning the butter – which can burn the milk solids). Once slightly cooled, pour it in with the sugar and cocoa mixture.
Rinse and drain the black beans well, then mash up with a fork until smooth and stir into the batter.
Spread batter into a greased square baking pan and bake. Brownies are hard to tell when they are fully cooked since the mixture is so much more moist than a cake. So take a spoon and scoop out a small amount from the corner to do a visual and taste test.
If desired, drizzle some icing or white chocolate across the squares for a decorative finish.
Brown Butter Brownies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- ¾ cup cocoa
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup canned black bean beans rinsed and drained
Instructions
- In a small saucepan melt butter over medium heat, swirling pan occasionally until butter starts to turn golden brown and smells nutty, about 8 minutes then pour into another container to cool slightly. For a more detailed explanation of how to prepare, check out our Brown Butter recipe.
- Pour browned butter into a large bowl and blend in the sugar, cocoa, vanilla and salt. Add in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Completely mash black beans with a fork, then stir into batter until smooth.
- Spread batter into a greased square baking pan, and bake at 375°F for 25-30 minutes.
- Allow to cool before cutting into squares.
