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Fudgy Lentil Brownies. High Protein Brownies that dont taste beany! Just process and bake. Vegan Gluten-free Recipe. Can be Nut-free
I love my Chickpea Peanut Butter Cookie Pie (you all do too, so many remakes!!). Currently, 1. I am on a break from chickpeas, 2. Chickpeas can tend to dry out. 3. I know black bean brownies are the rage, but the texture hasn’t worked for me. Enter lentils. Red Lentils.
The Quick cooking Lentils that dont have a skin, hence will not add the skin texture like beans. Cook the lentils, melt some chocolate, Process together with a bit of nut butter and the rest of the ingredients to make a batter. Pour into a pan and bake! Super Fudgy, Super Delicious!
These are not the usual brownie texture when they are just baked, but settle into a more fudgy state after cooling, esp chilling. For the regular super gooey, super chocolatey, super brownie Brownies, See the version in my book! There is a gluten-free option too.
There brownies are higher in protein with the lentils and nut butter, are gooey and chocolatey and perfect for the chocolate craving! Lets get to these.
More Fun Bakes from the blog
- No Bake Hazelnut Walnut Brownies. GF
- Vegan Pumpkin Brownies
- Brownie Cookie Dough bars. GF
- Gluten-free Brownies and Brownie Mix. GF
- Vegan Almond Butter Blondies with Chocolate Chips , GF
- Bleuberry Brownies!
- Coconut Flour Brownies GF
You can use cooked chickpeas in these brownies. Just bake them until set at the edges. If you make these brownies, do let me know how they turned out! 7+ gm of Protein per serve!
Cook the lentils.
Lentil Brownies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup red lentils
- 3 tbsp oil
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/2 cup vegan semi sweet chocolate chips, ( or a mix of semi sweet and dark)
- 4 tbsp sugar, (1 tbsp more for sweeter)
- 1/3 cup nut butter (heaping cup), (I like cashew butter), Use sunflower seed butter for Nutfree
- 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup flour of choice, All purpose, oat or glutenfree blend for gluten-free (add a tbsp starch if using gf flour and not a blend)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup vegan chocolate chips to top and mix in.
Instructions
- Line a brownie pan with parchment paper ( I use 8 by 8 inch). Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F/180ºc . 9 by 5 loaf also works
- Rinse the red lentils. Drain and add to a saucepan. Add 1.5 cups of water and cook partially covered over medium heat. Cook for 12 to 13 minutes or until the lentils are cooked (total time including coming to a boil). Stir once in between. Cool for a few minutes, then drain any excess water from the saucepan (there should be hardly any). Add to a food processor or blender. (For instant pot, pressure cook for 2 minutes then quick release after 5 minutes, drain well and use)
- Heat maple syrup and oil in a skillet over medium heat. When hot, add chocolate and sugar and mix. Take off heat. Continue to mix until chocolate is melted and well combined
- Add the melted chocolate and the rest of the ingredients(except 1/4 cup chocolate chips) to the food processor and process until a smooth batter. (Add 1 tbsp Dutch processed Cocoa powder for chocolatey brownies (highly recommended as chocolate chips vary in flavor). ***
- Pour into prepared brownie pan. Sprinkle 2 tbsp chocolate chips on top and mix them in. Sprinkle more to top. (I like to use mini chocolate chips to top). Bake for 32to 35minutes. Bake them a bit longer for more set and crispier edges. Check with a toothpick from the center if too soft/wet.
- Cool for 15 minutes before slicing and serving. Refrigerate for upto 4 days, freeze for later. The brownie texture improves after refrigeration for a bit.
Video
Notes
Add spices such as cinnamon if you like , or fold in chopped walnuts in the batter for variation. *** You want to process or blend while the melted chocolate is still warm so that the batter is flowy and easy to pour out into the pan. Blending with a blender is also easier when ingredients are warm. Nutrition is 1 of 8 serves (2 pieces)
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
can we use any thing else instead of maple syrup ?
sugar
Hello,
I was wondering if canned black beans could work in place of the lentils?
Thanks!
it wont work as a direct sub as black beans are much dryer
If I use homemade gf oat flour do I need to add the starch?? I have made these with AP flour and they were amazing but making for someone who is gf!
THANKS
yes youneed the starch for binding as oat flour is gluten-free
Thank you ❤️
Really good! Thanks! Might be one if ny favourite brownies recipe from now on 🙂
P.s. Made it with peanut butter and oats flower
yay!
Made these last night exactly per recipe & did add the 1tbsp of cocoa powder suggested option. LOVED them, huge hit with husband & I. Had some w/ coffee on the way to work too. Very fudgy & satisfying! Yum!
awesome!
Hi! Just made my first batch of these and came out awesome with few changes: didn’t have any nut butter so substituted the total oil in the recipe for 1/4 cup sunflower oil + 1/4 cup applesauce, and added only 3 tbsp of agave as sweetener. Used semi whole wheat flour and 1 tbsp cocoa powder. They came out great! 😋
Hello! Can I use lentil flour instead? thank you!
flour works very differently compared to cooked lentils. You can use lentil flour in my regular flour based brownies
So yammy thank you for this delicious recipe
yay!
This recipe is incredible! Finally I am feeling more confident with vegan baking 🙂
I already had all the ingredients at hand so this recipe is excellent for spontaneous baking. I can’t wait to mix around with different flavors and combinations. Thank you so much, Richa! <3
awesome!!
Hi!
Can I use green lentils instead?
green lentils will taste more earthy and add the skin which might make them slightly gritty like black bean brownies. You probably will need to add more vanilla and sugar and blend longer to reduce chances of the texture and flavor not turning out.