Dense, Fudgy, Dark – thats what brownies are supposed to be like. A slab of warm chocolate-y brownie topped with a melting scoop of vanilla ice cream! yummm.. that is what I call a guilty pleasure!
Thinking back I think the last brownie sundae/parfait I had was at California Pizza Kitchen possibly 6 years ago. It was probably my favorite place dessert spot back then! Ever since I tested positive for gluten and lactose intolerance its been like a never-ending journey to find the best possible allergy-free brownie. Now this journey has morphed into something bigger – a blog/a website/creative outlet for us to share all our favourite discoveries and recipes! It has been amazing to see how much our philosophy has changed also from believing desserts are “guilty” to being able to convince ourselves and the people around that dessert can be both delicious and healthy: from Avocado sweet potato brownies to cashew zucchini chocolate cake to black bean brownies…you can tell by now that we love sneaking in vegetables and legumes when we have the chance! Just gives me another reason to have another bite of dessert!
A few weeks ago, we decided to remake our black bean brownie recipe on the blog. Its been a year since we have touched that recipe. As food bloggers, we get to test and test new recipes all the time and sometimes it leaves no time to make things we have before.
When the first batch came out I was pretty excited! But despite the deliciously-smelling kitchen, my mother was not impressed. She gave the final verdict: it was too soft and too…powdery. My usually “uncritical”, “not-picky” mother didn’t like it! I was so dispapointed! My rpide owuldn’t let me give up so we decided to make another one immediately. After scrambling all over the internet, we finally decided on adding some oats for more body and texture, and dial back on the cocoa. Despite the common belief that there cannot be too much chocolate, there can be such thing as too much cocoa!
The second test did the trick. After successfully passing the “family and friends” test, we knew it was good to go! The only problem was that we had a whole pan of unwanted “failed” brownies. Being someone that hates to waste ingredients, we piled up the brownies with some whipped cream, berries and some granola. When we ran out of granola, we tried them with roasted nuts and they work beautifully too.
Despite the ravings we got from the black bean brownies, I didn’t expect the LOVE we received for these parfaits. IT WAS MIND BLOWING. Yup, everyone – including my dad! Vegan, gluten free, legume packed brownies? Seriously? I was bombarded with texts and messages from instagram about this gorgeous looking parfait we had made. Everyone loved it. From failure to such a huge success, sometimes there is such thing as unexpected luck! Really though, I don’t think I could ever serve brownies on its own anymore – especially not after these legendary brownie parfaits, comparable CPK’s famous brownies!
Did I also mention they were gluten-free, vegan, oil-free and refined sugar free?
- 1 Batch Black Bean Brownie - No fillings (Click here for the recipe)
- Coconut Whipped Cream*
- Strawberries
- GF Granola (or roasted nuts)
- Small Jam Jar
- Make up 1 batch of our black beans brownies (without any nuts/chocolate/coconut). Pour into a loaf tin. Bake for 30 minutes.
- Once cooled completely, cut into small squares.
- In a cup/jar, place 1 layer of cooled brownies at the bottom (1 single layer).
- Slice your strawberries into 3. Place the strawberries, cut side facing out, pressing them along the edges of the jar.
- Fill the middle with whipped cream and smooth the top. Repeat again until you reach the top.
- Finish off with granola or roasted nuts of choice!
*Coconut Yogurt: This is a lower fat option. Sweeten the yogurt to your liking and use as a substitute
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