Flourless Adzuki Bean/Red Bean Brownies (So Moist and Fudgy!)

Our family loves these flourless adzuki bean brownies. It is so much healthier and wholesome compared to regular brownies that is loaded with tons of calories, fat, and sugar! It is super easy to put together!

Brownies with beans? Are you sure?

Yes, that was my kids’ reaction after I told them! I wasn’t convinced too at first because I thought, if it’s healthy, it’s going to taste “healthy”. Not this flourless adzuki bean brownies!! They are so fudgy and moist just like how brownies are! There are no flour, eggs, or milk used in this recipe! I know! but, trust me, it’s not like what you think! It doesn’t taste like beans if that’s what you are thinking!

They are made with wholesome ingredients

1. Adzuki beans/red beans
Adzuki beans are much smaller in size. They are widely available in any Asian grocery store
2. Cocoa powder
You can use Dutch unsweetened cocoa powder or regular unsweetened cocoa powder
3. Oats
You can use rolled oats or quick-cooking oats. I don’t recommend using steel-cut oats
4. Honey
You can also use maple syrup
5. Oil
I use avocado oil. You can use any neutral-tasting oil
6. Semi-sweet chocolate chips
You can use dark, milk chocolate chips, sugar-free chocolate chips, etc
7. Baking powder
Baking powder is just used in a small amount here as we don’t need a whole lot of leavening here since we want that fudgy texture, but it is still needed and please do not omit it
8. Cacao Nibs
I sprinkle some cacao nibs on top. They add nice crunch, slightly bitter but in a good way!

Flourless Adzuki Bean/Red Bean Brownies (So Moist and Fudgy!)

Prep 15 minutes mins

Cook 15 minutes mins

Cooking the beans with pressure cooker: 45 minutes mins

Total 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Servings 9 servings (8 inch square cake)

5 from 2 reviews

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Ingredients

0.5x1x2x

US CustomaryMetric

Brownie batter:

• ▢ 325 g cooked adzuki beans
• ▢ 15 g Dutch cocoa powder unsweetened, regular works too
• ▢ 52 g quick-cooking oats
• ▢ 75 g honey more or less to suit your taste
• ▢ 52 g oil I use avocado oil
• ▢ 60 g semi-sweet chocolate chips
• ▢ ½ tsp baking powder

Topping: (optional)

• ▢ semi-sweet chocolate chips
• ▢ Cacao nibs I used this

Instructions

 

Prepare adzuki beans:

• Get about 150 grams (about 3/4 cup) of dried adzuki beans. You may have a bit of leftover. Rinse them in water to get rid of any impurities
• If you are going to cook this on the stove, soak the beans for at least 4 hours or overnight. Discard the soaking liquid. Prepare a big pot and add water, about 2-inches above the beans. Bring the water to a boil and then lower to medium heat and boil the beans until they are soft and you can easily mash it with your fingers, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours or so. You may need to top off with some water along the way
• If you plan to cook with pressure cooker like Instant Pot, you don't need to soak the beans. Place the beans in the insert of the instant pot. Add water about 1 inch above the beans. Cover the lid. Turn the steam release handle to seal. Press pressure cooker and set timer to 45 minutes if you did not soak the beans. If you choose to soak the beans, set the timer to 25 minutes
• Once the beans are cooked, drain off the cooking liquid

Prepare the brownie batter:

• Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C) for conventional oven, 330 F (165 C) for convection oven
• Line your 8 x 8 square pan with parchment or aluminum foil (sprayed with non-stick spray or brush with some oil to prevent sticking). You don't need to grease the parchment if that's what you use. You can grease the pan and then line with parchment so the paper won't move around when you spread the brownie batter on it
• You will need a food processor to prepare the brownie batter. Place the cooked beans and the rest of the ingredients (except for the cacao nibs) in the bowl of the food processor. I include the chocolate chips in there and they will be blended with the rest of the ingredients. Process until you get a smooth consistency. It's going to be a thick batter that looks like a mud at this stage.
• Spread the batter evenly on the prepared pan using the back of the spoon or spatula
• Sprinkle with some cacao nibs or more chocolate chips if you choose to use

Baking:

• Bake on the middle rack in the preheated oven for 13-15 minutes. The thin edges look set but the rest to the center are still very soft to the touch and not set yet. It is very very important not to overbake brownies. If the whole thing look set and dry, you won't have that fudgy texture

Cooling:

• Let the pan sit on a cooling rack and just let it cool down completely in the pan. Don't try to cut into a warm brownie, it won't hold up

Chill in the fridge:

• Now comes the hard part, you cannot eat this yet! I mean, you can, but I strongly recommend you not to, not yet! Once the brownies have cooled down completely, lightly cover it with a cling wrap and put this in the fridge overnight
• You will be rewarded with that moist, dense, and fudgy texture. The refrigeration helps to set the brownies further and I absolutely love a cold fudgy brownies 🙂

To serve:

• You can serve it cold or if you prefer it warm, you can warm it up for a few seconds in the microwave and serve it as is or with some ice cream if you want to indulge a bit (since the brownies are healthier, I won't tell!).
• I recommend not telling anyone that there are beans in the brownies yet when you serve them . Just see how they react when they eat it 🙂 You'll be surprised!

To store:

• Keep them in an air-tight container and they can be kept for 2-3 days in the fridge. They freeze very well too. Simply thaw at room temperature or thaw overnight in the fridge before serving

RECOMMEDED TOOLS

food processor

Mixing Bowl

Cacao Nibs

Marv’s Recipe Notes

This recipe is adapted from Chocolate Covered Katie’s Black Bean Brownies (which I absolutely enjoyed!) with some modifications.

*Nutrition facts are just estimates and calculated using online tools*

Nutrition Facts

Flourless Adzuki Bean/Red Bean Brownies (So Moist and Fudgy!)

Serving Size

 

1 square (out of 9 squares)

Amount per Serving

Calories

169

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

9

g

14

%

Saturated Fat

 

2

g

13

%

Polyunsaturated Fat

 

2

g

Monounsaturated Fat

 

5

g

Cholesterol

 

0.4

mg

0

%

Sodium

 

29

mg

1

%

Potassium

 

217

mg

6

%

Carbohydrates

 

20

g

7

%

Fiber

 

4

g

17

%

Sugar

 

9

g

10

%

Protein

 

4

g

8

%

Vitamin A

 

28

IU

1

%

Vitamin C

 

0.5

mg

1

%

Calcium

 

35

mg

4

%

Iron

 

2

mg

11

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Did you make this recipe?Let me know how you like this recipe and consider rating it! Tag me @whattocooktoday I’d love to see your photos/videos on Instagram

How to bake flourless adzuki bean brownies with cacao nibs

1. Cook the beans according to the instructions in the recipe. You can cook them on the stove or pressure cooker. Blend the cooked beans until they are smooth

2. Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C) for conventional oven, 330 F (165 C) for convection oven
3. Line your 8 x 8 square pan with parchment or aluminum foil (sprayed with non-stick spray or brush with some oil to prevent sticking). You don’t need to grease the parchment if that’s what you use. You can grease the pan and then line it with parchment so the paper won’t move around when you spread the brownie batter on it
4. You will need a food processor to prepare the brownie batter. Place the cooked beans and the rest of the ingredients (except for the cacao nibs) in the bowl of the food processor. I include the chocolate chips in there and they will be blended with the rest of the ingredients.

5. Process until you get a smooth consistency. It’s going to be a thick batter that looks like mud at this stage.

6. Spread the batter evenly on the prepared pan using the back of the spoon or spatula. Sprinkle with some cacao nibs or more chocolate chips if you choose to use

7. Bake on the middle rack in the preheated oven for 13-15 minutes. The thin edges look set but the rest to the center are still very soft to the touch and not set yet. It is very very important not to overbake brownies. If the whole thing look set and dry, you won’t have that fudgy texture

8. Let the pan sit on a cooling rack and just let it cool down completely in the pan. Don’t try to cut into a warm brownie, it won’t hold up. Now comes the hard part, you cannot eat this yet! I mean, you can, but I strongly recommend you not to, not yet! Once the brownies have cooled down completely, lightly cover it with a cling wrap and put this in the fridge overnight
9. You can serve it cold or if you prefer it warm, you can warm it up for a few seconds in the microwave and serve it as is or with some ice cream if you want to indulge a bit (since the brownies are healthier, I won’t tell!).

Did you make this flourless adzuki bean brownies recipe?

I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag it to show me what you’ve made. Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real!