HEALTHY Red Velvet Brownies

These truly healthy Red Velvet Brownies taste like pure nostalgic fudge without sludging you down! Add a vegan cream cheese icing to take them over the top! How do they manage to be vegan, gluten-free, grain-free, nut-free, soy-free, and sugar-free? Well, Thanks to two secret ingredients that not even Superman’s tastebuds could detect; kidney beans and pureed tomatoes! Shhh… they are anything but taste-free. 

I could have called these “red velvet bean brownies” but that might be a turn-off. After all, I don’t want to fall into the flood of black bean brownie recipes out there! These use kidney beans, which add a rich body and a natural red hue! The tomatoes and balsamic vinegar are acidic and scarlet-colored, too. Don’t knock ’em til you try one (aka all of them!) I was blown away. Honestly, the whacko combo of ingredients put me in a skeptical mood, and I chickened out of tasting the raw batter, but the baked, finished product was far out.

Hot out of the oven! If you have ice cream, bust it out now. No red #40 needed. Or beets! Seriously, what’s up with the beets in healthified red velvet recipes? It doesn’t matter how much sugar or nut butter you add, the dirt taste lingers. Beets are for the birds! Or the worms! I known I’m in the minority on that one…

Healthy Red Velvet Brownie Recipe

Yield: 1 9×5 inch pan, double for an 8×8. I’d say 4-6 brownies is a reasonable division.

WHAT YOU’RE GONNA NEED

• 3/4 cup (140g) cooked red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup (120g) diced tomatoes
• 2 teaspoons (4g) cocoa powder
• 1/2 tablespoon (8g) balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup (30g) coconut flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/3-1/2 cup (65-72g) granulated sweetener, such as monk fruit or erythritol*
• 1/2 teaspoon liquid stevia*
• Nondairy milk to thin out, if needed
• Optional: Natural red food coloring. Calm down! I am NOT encouraging artificial dyes. Never. Please follow the link or refer to my smoothie color cheat sheet for advice.

WHAT YOU’RE GONNA DO

1. Preheat the oven to 325F. Add a large strip of parchment paper to the loaf pan (a 7×5 Pyrex works, too.)
2. Blend the red beans, balsamic, and tomatoes. We’re not making veggie burgers, but it’s important to combine the “savory” ingredients first.
3. Once pureed, dump in the cocoa powder, coconut flour, sweeteners, optional color enhancer, vanilla extract, and baking soda. It should be fairly thick if a touch fluffy/grainy.
4. Spread the brownie batter into the loaf pan and bake for 30 minutes, until the top is cracked and developed. the oven incubation time is so long. I get turned off of recipes that don’t come out in a snap. Still, it’s even greater the next day!
5. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. To make this wait time fly by, whisk together a quick glaze: 1/4 cup vegan yoghurt, 1 tablespoon vegan cream cheese, and Swerve confectioner’s sugar. I like a couple tablespoons of protein powder in there as well. Pour over the cooled red velvet brownies.
6. Dive into the soft sweetness! A crimson sensory blanket, if you will.

INFO DE NUTRITION:

No Frosting – 330 calories | 16g protein | 22g fiber | 8g fat

With Frosting – 450 calories | 20g protein | 22g fiber | 13g fat

You could refrigerate the brownies overnight, eat the batch as a single-serving for breakfast, and brag to your coworkers that you ate red velvet cake and brownies, and consumed more fiber than 3 bowls of oatmeal. If you have the heart to give them a bite, refer them to this recipe:) Maybe don’t tell them the secret ingredients (kidney beans and tomatoes) until after they’ve tasted this slice of heaven.

Best Dishes,

The Hippie Happy Foodist™