Bean and Cashew Brownies Recipe

Makes

About 20

Ingredients

300g canned unsalted haricot beans (see method for an alternative)
200g finely chopped vegan dark chocolate (70 per cent cocoa)
65g sunflower oil
130g brown rice or pure maple syrup
Freshly squeezed juice and grated zest of 1 lemon
80g whole or 80g finely ground cashews
85g unbleached plain flour
40g plain wholemeal flour
1 tbsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp apricot jam, for serving
23 x 30-cm baking pan, oiled

Method

1. If you want to cook the haricot beans from scratch, soak 140g dried beans in a lot of water overnight. Drain, cover with three times the volume of water and cook for 1 hour (or 40 minutes in a pressure cooker). Drain well.

2. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) Gas mark 4. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Do not let the base of the bowl touch the water.

3. Put the melted chocolate, cooked beans, oil, syrup, lemon juice and zest in a food processor and blend until smooth.

4. If using whole cashews, finely grind them in a food processor or spice mill. Mix the flours, ground cashews, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a mixing bowl. Add the bean mixture and fold in with a spatula until you get a smooth, thick consistency (much thicker than usual cake mixtures).

5. Spoon the cake mixture into the prepared baking pan and spread level with a spatula; if it sticks too much, wet it with warm water and try again. Bake in the preheated oven for 15–20 minutes. Do not overbake – they are supposed to be a little gooey!

6. Allow to cool completely in the baking pan. Cut into squares to serve.

Recipe extracted from The Vegan Baker by Dunja Gulin. Photography by Clare Winfield. Published by Ryland Peters & Small.

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