Black Bean Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I have a hypothesis about cookies.  No one hates them.  Sure, we all love certain types better than others — but in a land without back fat, would you ever *really* want to turn down a cookie?  I am thinking no.  And I have come to realize that I can use this fact to make my children eat just about anything.  Things they would never normally eat can be put in a cookie and (to them) taste like a french fried chicken nugget dipped in chocolate sauce with a side of cotton candy.

So my daughter hates black beans.  And white beans.  And kidney beans.  She has declared that she hates beans in general, but I have had to remind her that she loves lima beans, green beans, soy beans, and cocoa beans.  As I have mentioned before, there is always crying if I she finds out we are having a bean-based dinner.  So when a friend mentioned she had a recipe for a lentil cookie, I started thinking about the concept.  We recently had a free afternoon and I decided to give it a try.  I didn’t have any lentils in the house, so I decided to do a black bean chocolate cookie.

I wanted to make something that could legitimately be considered an after school snack — including some protein, lower in sugar and fat, and whole grain — but in cookie form so the kiddos felt like they were having something special. What we ended up with was quite good, and the bean hater had no clue what the secret ingredient was until she asked for her second helping.  I am going to continue to play around with the recipe and plan to try some other basic cookies with white bean or lentil puree in them.  Give it a try and let me know if you come up with some good combinations or proportions.

Black Bean Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Makes 2-3 dozen

1-15 oz. can of black beans, drained, rinsed, and pureed with 1/8 cup of water
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted and slightly cooled
2 cups white whole wheat flour
3/4 t baking soda
3/4 t baking powder
3/4 t salt
6 T butter, softened
1/2 cup of honey (or agave nectar or sugar of your choice)
1 egg
2 t vanilla extract
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, cut into small chunks

1.  Preheat oven to 375 F.  Mix together dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and set aside.

2.  In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, cream together butter and honey for 1-2 minutes until light and fluffy.  Add egg and incorporate well.  Mix in vanilla extract.

3.  Add black bean puree and cooled melted chocolate to butter mixture and mix well.

4.  Mix dry ingredients into the chocolate/black bean mixture in about three additions until cookie dough just comes together.  Finish mixing with a wooden spoon.

5.  Stir in chocolate chunks and drop by tablespoon onto parchment lined baking sheets.  Bake at 375 F for about 8-10 minutes.  (Don’t overbake or they will get dry.)