Protein Brownies

1 Hour
10-12 servings
Vegetarian, gluten-free

Ingredients

• ½ cup cooked quinoa
• 2 cups cooked black beans
• 3 eggs
• 3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup honey or coconut nectar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 serving protein powder of your choice (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper.
2. In food processor, add the quinoa, beans, eggs, coconut oil, cocoa, honey, baking powder, protein powder and vanilla and blend until smooth.
3. Bake the brownies for 40-45 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted into the center comes out clean.  For a fudge like brownie, only cook for 40-42 minutes.

What’s the difference between cacao and cocoa? Cacao is the raw powder that you bake at high temperatures to turn into cocoa powder. This heating changes the molecular structure of cacao though, making it a whole lot more tasty, but less nutritious. Learning to crave cacao isn’t hard if you’ve gone cold turkey on cocoa for a while.