Skinny Peppermint White Chocolate Brownies

This Christmas season was absolutely wonderful and fulfilling! I think my favorite recipe this year is my skinny brownie. It's delicious and guilt free, how do you even get those two words together?

I'll tell you how in two easy steps :

1) Be fearless

2) Buy a can of black beans

That's right, black beans.

I was skeptical at first. Beans? In my heavenly batch of chocolatey brownies? Yea right!

So then I decided to be Taylor Swift's anthem "Fearless" and dove head first into making my first skinny black bean brownies....now all I can think about is chocolate, fudge, brownies, and heaven.

This recipe is so chocolatey and delicious that you won't even remember it's healthy. It's a win win if you ask me.

Everyone that's tasted my black bean recipes love them...I mean everyone...even my picky eating sister.

And no, you can't...I repeat...CAN'T taste the black beans...promise!

Doesn't this just look heavenly?

I double batched my recipe and put it in a large baking pan only for party serving purposes which resulted in thinner brownies. If it was just a couple of people eating these brownies then I would have used a smaller baking pan and the brownies would have been thicker and larger.

Helpful hints:

If you want thinner brownies (like mine) then double the recipe & use a 11 x 15 pan (approx. 20-25 small servings)

If you want thicker brownies (traditional) then half the recipe & use an 8 x 8 pan. (approx. 8-10 small servings)

The recipe & nutritional information I will provide is for the double batch.

Skinny Peppermint White Chocolate Brownie

Servings: 30 Servings Size: 1 brownie
Calories: 88.4  Fat: 2.3 g Carb: 16.5 g Fiber: 2.7 g Sugar: 8.6 g Protein: 3.7 g

• 2 (15 oz.) cans of black beans, rinsed well & drained
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup egg whites
• 2/3 cup pumpkin puree (pure, not pumpkin filling)
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup honey + 4 Tbsp. honey
• 3 tsp. instant coffee
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips (more if you'd like)
• 1/2 cup white chocolate
• Crushed peppermint candy canes

Directions

Pre-heat your oven to 350 F.

Place all of the black bean brownie ingredients in a food processor (or blender) and blend everything together. Make sure you blend well. Sometimes if the batter gets too thick for me I will only blend a few scoops of batter at a time.

Pour the batter into your 11 x 15 pan (or 8 x 8 if you're cutting the recipe in half) and sprinkle the top with your dark chocolate chips.

Bake in the oven at 350 F for 20-30 minutes. Ovens vary so make sure to watch the brownies. When you stick a toothpick into the center of the brownies it should come out dry (like when you're baking a cake)

Cool the brownies for 20-30 minutes. In the meantime, crush the candy canes in a bag and set aside.

Melt your white chocolate in a small ziploc bag in the microwave. Make sure to watch carefully so that you don't burn the chocolate. I first melt mine for 30 seconds. Then I take the bag in and out of the microwave while mushing the white chocolate together every 5-10 seconds. Once the white chocolate begins to melt and is warm, take it out and the heat of the other chocolates will help melt the rest of the unmelted chocolates.

When the brownie is cool to touch cut the tip from the white chocolate bag and drizzle the top of the brownies with the melted chocolate.

Next, sprinkle the crushed peppermint candy cane on top of the brownies and white chocolate.

Cut and serve your skinny & delicious Peppermint White Chocolate Brownies to all your loved ones!

Enjoy, my little hungry hearts!