Livin' on a Prayer

Of one day finding a (somewhat) healthy alternative to this:

courtesy of

(Sigh) My favorite thing in all the world is ice cream. And ice cream with cake, brownie or cookie? Even better.

Since the temperature highs are due to be in the high 70's for the rest of the week and I'm somewhat over pumpkin for the time being, I figured now would be the perfect time to get this sundae project rolling.

This will have be a two part post, seeing as the brownies must set overnight in the fridge.

The unlikely brownie recipe in question was found at 101 Cookbooks and BOY did it pique my interest.

With a title like "Amazing Black Bean Brownies," how could it not?

For the full recipe, click here.

The main ingredients:

That's right: Black beans, instant coffee, chocolate and (gasp!) not sugar, but light agave nectar.

As I write to you now, the batch is baking away in the oven, so I'm eager to see tomorrow's end result myself ;)

To start, I melted 1/2 cup of butter with 1/2 cup an earth balance and the chocolate (the recipe calls for a whole cup of butter, but I was trying to salvage the saturated fat where I could).

To read more about baking with butter and its substitutes, check dis out.

As that was going in the microwave, I started on the curious black bean mixture in the food processor.

It went from this:

To this:

Mmmkay....

Then I mixed the melted butter/ chocolate mixture with some walnuts and instant coffee

It smelled amazing.

Onto the eggs:

Beat 'em til fluffy, add a cup and a half of agave nectar

and beat some more.

'Twas then time to put all but 1/2 a cup of egg mixture together

and dump it into the pan...

look how shallow....

I added the rest of the egg mixture, then marbled

And stuck it in the oven.

Here I sit now, anxiously awaiting the results.

Too bad they're going to take about 16 hours.

In the meantime, I put together a delicious lunch composed mainly of this mix I found at erewhon:

Yeah seitan!

I added it to this pan of sauteeing veggies...

And let me tell you, it is definitely hitting the spot!

Alright, I'm off to watch some friends rehearse, then it's work time...

Stay tuned tomorrow to see how it all pans out :)

***By the way: Black Swan was amazing! I love Natalie Portman anyway, but what the movie says about an artist's commitment is what I really hit a cord with me. It's pretty dark and sort of gruesome at times, but if you've got the stomach: GO SEE IT!! (you can always cover your eyes through the nasty parts)