Butter Bean Brownies

I’ve been struggling for meal ideas recently; with a grumpy toddler it’s easy to fall back on cooking the same old things over and over that you know they’ll eat. So when I was sent a copy of My Sugar Free Baby And Me by Dr Sarah Schenker, I picked out a bunch of recipes to try. Here’s one that’s top of my list…

Butter beans may not be the first thing you think of for a brownie, but the addition of the beans provides a lovely moist texture and boosts the fibre content making them filling and satisfying.

Preparation time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 40-45 mins

Makes 16

Ingredients

butter or oil, for greasing

400g canned butter beans,

rinsed and drained

1–2 tbsp (15–30ml) water

250g apple sauce

200g self-raising flour

2 tsp (10ml) baking powder

3 tbsp (45ml) cocoa powder

3 eggs

a few drops of vanilla extract

6 dates, finely chopped

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (Gas 4) and lightly grease a 26 x 18cm baking or traybake tin.
2. Place the beans and water in a food processor and whizz together until smooth – you are looking for the consistency of mashed potato. Add more water if the mixture looks too dry. Add the apple sauce and
3. process again for 1–2 minutes, until smooth and well combined.
4. Sift the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Add one-third of the bean mixture to the egg mixture together with one-third of the flour mixture and fold in carefully. Repeat twice more until all the ingredients are gently incorporated.
5. Add the vanilla extract and dates and gently fold through. Pour the mixture into the baking or traybake tin and spread evenly. Bake for 40–45 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool for 10 minutes, then turn out on to a wire rack to cool completely before cutting the brownie into squares.
6. Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 2–3 days, or open-freeze the squares on a baking sheet before transferring to a freezer bag. To thaw, remove however many squares you require from the freezer and let them defrost at room temperature.

Extract taken from My Sugar Free Baby And Me by Dr Sarah Schenker, published by Bloomsbury Books.

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