Mini Gluten Free/Sugar Free Black Bean Cupcakes

These little cupcakes contain no sugar, are gluten free and vegan, and are super tasty! They have a great texture, just like a "normal" chocolate cupcake, and they have a great chocolate-y taste, as well. 

Bake up these cupcakes, and no one will guess the ingredients that make them secretly healthy!

If you want to make these cupcakes extra tasty, try adding some of my Sugar Free Chocolate Whipped Cream Frosting on top.

Mini Sugar Free Black Bean Cupcakes

• 9 Tablespoons Water
• 3 Tablespoons Flaxseed Meal
• 2 Cups Black Beans
• 2 Tablespoon NuStevia Cocoa Syrup
• 2 Tablespoons Oil
• 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Put the water and flaxseed meal in the bowl of your blender and pulse a couple of times. Let sit a few minutes.
3. Add all of the rest of the ingredients besides the baking soda and vinegar and blend until very smooth.
4. Move batter into a medium size bowl and sprinkle baking soda over the top. Add the vinegar and fold in just until combined.
5. Scoop into a greased 24 cup mini muffin tin. Bake for about 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

-Bethany

Gluten Free Chocolate Caramel Black Bean Muffins

Gooey caramel bits fill these chocolate muffins and give them a delicious chocolate and caramel flavor. These muffins are made healthy by using black beans in place of flour, and the beans give them a great, moist texture. If you love the flavor combination of caramel and chocolate, then you will love every bite!

These muffins are easy to put together, and you are going to have them made and ready to eat in no time! And since they are so healthy, they are perfect for breakfast or any time of the day.

Chocolate Caramel Black Bean Muffins

• 9 Tablespoons Water, heated
• 3 Tablespoons Flaxseed Meal
• 2 Cups Black Beans, drained
• 1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Oil or Applesauce
• 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 Cup Caramel Bits (NOTE: they are not labeled gluten free. Use under own discretion.)

1. Heat the nine Tablespoons of water for about 30 seconds in the microwave and add flaxseed meal to it. Set aside 10 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
3. Line a 12 cup muffin tin and spray wrappers with cooking spray.
4. Combine black beans, brown sugar, oil, vanilla extract, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in the bowl of your food possessor. Add flax-eggs to it when ready, and then puree it all until nice and smooth.
5. Stir in the caramel bits.
6. Scoop into lined muffin tin and bake for 30 to 35 minutes.
7. Remove from muffin tin and allow to cool. 

Enjoy!

-Bethany

Linking up to Allergy Free Thursdays.

White Chocolate Chip Chocolate Black Bean Muffins - March Muffin Madness

I am honored to be participating in March Muffin Madness. This is the gluten-free muffin event version of the other March Madness. MMM is hosted by Shirley at Gluten Free Easily and will run through Tuesday April 5th. There will be 22 bloggers participating in MMM, which means 22 great gluten-free muffin recipes! If you love muffins as much as I do, then you should get excited! There will also be daily giveaway prizes and an overall giveaway throughout the event with prizes, including a very special grand prize awarded at the end, which makes this even more exciting.

For my muffin recipe, I decided to go with these White Chocolate Chip Chocolate Black Bean Muffins.

I love using beans in desserts. They are an easy way to turn a recipe into a gluten free recipe, and they are also good for you. These are the perfect treat for breakfast, for snacking during the day, or for whenever you want a good chocolate and white chocolate fix!

And the really great thing about these muffins is that they are super easy to make, as well. Just let the food processor do the work for you, and you will have them in the oven in no time at all.

These muffins are moist, flavorful, healthy and simple to make. Why not give them a try today?

I put white chocolate chips in them, but I thought that they could use a little extra white chocolate, so I decided to drizzle some on top, as well.

Here is the recipe. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

White Chocolate Chip Chocolate Black Bean Muffins

• 9 Tablespoons Water, heated
• 3 Tablespoons Flaxseed Meal
• 2 Cups Black Beans, drained
• 1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Oil or Applesauce
• 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 Cup White Chocolate Chips, plus a bit more for drizzle

1. Heat the nine Tablespoons of water for about 30 seconds in the microwave and add flaxseed meal to it. Set aside 10 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
3. Line a 12 cup muffin tin and spray wrappers with cooking spray.
4. Combine black beans, brown sugar, oil, vanilla extract, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in the bowl of your food possessor. Add flax-eggs to it when ready, and then puree it all until nice and smooth.
5. Stir in the white chocolate chips.
6. Scoop into lined muffin tin and bake for 30 to 35 minutes.
7. Remove from muffin tin and allow to cool. Melt a bit more white chocolate and drizzle over the tops.

Now onto the giveaway. Look at all of these great prizes!

Enter the grand prize giveaway via Rafflecopter below. The giveaway includes so many great prizes, such as:  ½ gallon of Hidden Springs Vermont organic maple syrup, 5-lb bag of Honeyvillealmond flour, Cuisinart ice cream maker, Paderno World Cuisine vegetable slicer/spiralizer, Crockpot casserole slow cooker, Instant Pot pressure cooker, and more. The grand prize is sponsored by Blendtec. It's a Blendtec Designer 625 with Wildside+ and Twister jars. It's a much loved high-spend blender/all-in-one appliance!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Make sure that you also head over to Gluten Free Easily and enter the giveaway for the daily prizes. There's a new giveaway every day during MMM! And every comment during MMM (one per post) will count as an entry for the grand prize giveaway. These giveaways include awesome cookbooks, resource books, subscriptions, and meal plans.There will be over 75 winners in March Muffin Madness, so be sure to enter both the grand prize giveaway and daily giveaway every day so you can be sure that you will be one of the winners!

-Bethany

Sugar Free/Gluten Free/Vegan Black Bean Cake

If you have always been too afraid to try black beans in a dessert before, then now is the perfect time for you to get over that fear. This sugar free black bean cake tastes just like a "normal" chocolate cake without all of the bad-for-you ingredients. The black beans substitute for the flour and NuStevia Simple Syrup is put in place of the sugar.

The cake is healthy, moist and tasty. I dare you to give it a try!

Sugar Free Black Bean Cake

• 9 Tablespoons Water
• 3 Tablespoons Flaxseed Meal
• 2 Cups Black Beans
• 2 Tablespoon NuStevia Simple Syrup
• 2 Tablespoons Oil
• 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Put the water and flaxseed meal in the bowl of your blender and pulse a couple of times. Let sit a few minutes.
3. Add all of the rest of the ingredients besides the baking soda and vinegar and blend until very smooth.
4. Move batter into a medium size bowl and sprinkle baking soda over the top. Add the vinegar and fold in just until combined.
5. Dump into a greased 8x8 inch pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

-Bethany

Although NuNaturals sent me the products, all of the opinions and the recipe are by me.

Fudgy Chocolate Black Bean Cookies

What could be better than a fudgy chocolate cookie?

Chocolate cookies are an indulgence. They are something that most of us feel like eating when we are stressed or when we just want to allow ourselves to have a treat.

So, what if I told you that these cookies are not only fudgy and decadent, but that they are also good for you? Would that make you happy?

I have really gotten into cooking with black beans, chickpeas and NuStevia lately. When I combine the zero calorie sweetener with beans I know that I will be able to create something that will not only be healthy, but that will also be very tasty. And that makes me happy.

These cookies are the perfect, decadent treat. They will satisfy a craving for chocolate and sweets without making you compromise in any way.

So, go ahead and make these cookies the next time that you are craving something sweet and don't want to feel bad about what you are eating. They will be sure to leave you feeling satisfied!

Fudgy Chocolate Black Bean Cookies

• 2 Cups Black Beans, drained
• 2 Tablespoons Oil
• 2 Tablespoons NuStevia Cocoa Syrup
• 2 Tablespoons Water
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• Dark chocolate, chopped into pieces (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In the bowl of your food processor combine all ingredients besides dark chocolate. Puree until free of lumps.
3. Scoop small portions onto parchment lined baking sheet and flatten slightly.
4. Bake 10 to 12 minutes.

I hope you enjoy them just as much as I did!
-Bethany

Although NuNaturals sent me the products, all of the opinions and the recipe are by me.

p.s. Make sure to check out the NuNaturals GIVEAWAY that I have going on right now!

Gluten Free/Egg Free Double Chocolate Black Bean Muffins

I have been using black beans in a lot of dessert recipes lately, and these muffins have to be one of the best things that I have made. They are moist, have just the right amount of sweetness, and are packed with chocolate.

Plus, since these have NuNatural's NuStevia Cocoa Syrup in the muffin batter instead of sugar, and black beans in place of flour, they actually aren't too bad for you, making them the perfect breakfast treat.

Don't they look good enough to eat?

I had to bite into another "just" for the sake of the picture after having had one already that day.

And it tasted just as great as the first!

Linking up to Five Friday Finds.

If you want to make these muffins completely sugar free, or vegan, then you can go ahead and skip the chocolate chips. They should have a good chocolate flavor without them, they just won't be as packed with chocolate.

Double Chocolate Black Bean Muffins

• 9 Tablespoons Water, heated
• 3 Tablespoons Flaxseed Meal
• 2 Cups Black Beans, drained
• 2 Tablespoons NuStevia Cocoa Syrup
• 2 Tablespoons Oil
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 Cup Chocolate Chips, optional

1. Heat the nine Tablespoons of water for about 30 seconds in the microwave and add flaxseed meal to it. Set aside 10 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Line a 12 cup muffin tin.
4. Combine black beans, NuStevia Cocoa Syrup, oil, vanilla extract, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in the bowl of your food possessor. Add flax-eggs to it when ready, and then puree it all until nice and smooth.
5. Stir in the chocolate chips.
6. Scoop into lined muffin tin and bake for 25 to 28 minutes.

Adapted from this recipe.

Enjoy! I know I did. :)
-Bethany

Although NuNaturals sent me the products, all of the opinions and the recipe are by me.