This post contains affiliate links.
These double chocolate black bean muffins are fudgy and intensely chocolatey (no flour required!). So rich that it passes for dessert but doubles as breakfast.
save this recipe!Go grab your muffin tin. Here’s what makes these different from the black bean brownies you might already know and love: brownies are a dessert you slice and share. These are individual grab-and-go. The kind of thing that lives in the fridge for weekday breakfasts and disappears by Wednesday.
The black beans are the ingredient people ask about, and also the one that makes this work. As a nutritionist, this is the kind of swap I find endlessly interesting: blended completely smooth, black beans replace flour as the structural base of the batter while quietly adding protein and fiber.
Reader rating
“These are incredible! I made them for my very picky 83 year old dad. He loved them. He want back for seconds last night. Today he’s eaten another. He had no clue they has beans in them.” —Kellie
Can you taste the beans?
Nope! From a sensory science standpoint, what we perceive as chocolatey is almost entirely driven by fat, sweetness, and cocoa aroma. The bean base provides the structure for all three without contributing a flavor note of its own.
Key ingredients
- Black beans: The flour replacement. Drain and rinse thoroughly, then blend until no lumps remain before adding anything else. If you’re starting from dried beans rather than canned, this guide to cooking black beans from scratch has everything you need.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder: The backbone of the chocolate flavor. A teaspoon of espresso powder added alongside deepens the chocolate without adding any detectable coffee flavor (optional).
- Yogurt or sour cream: Keeps the muffins moist for days rather than drying out after the first. Greek yogurt adds a slight tang and keeps them lighter; sour cream makes them richer.
- Eggs: Provide structure and lift. Because there’s no gluten network from flour, the eggs are doing more structural work here than in a standard muffin. Don’t reduce them.
- Chocolate chunks: Folded in last so they stay whole rather than melting into the batter. They melt into pools during baking, which is what gives every bite its double chocolate quality.
- Cornstarch: Just enough to firm up the crumb and give the muffins a set structure without adding density.
P.S. If you love black beans hidden in dessert, you’ve got to try my black bean chocolate mug cake!
Fudgy Chocolate Black Bean Muffins (No Flour!)
Ingredients
- 1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
- ⅔ cup light brown sugar, 120 g
- ¼ cup butter, melted, 60 g
- 2 large eggs, 100 g
- ⅓ cup milk, 80 mL
- ¼ cup plain yogurt or sour cream, 55 g
- 1 tsp vanilla extract, 4 g
- 3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, 17 g
- 1 tsp cornstarch, 3 g
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt, 3 g
- ⅛ tsp baking soda
- ¾ cup chocolate chunks, 130 g
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with 12 liners.
- Blend Beans: Drain and rinse 1 15-oz can black beans. Using a food processor or immersion blender, blend until completely smooth, scraping down the sides to ensure all of the beans get blended. The mixture should look smooth, with no bumps.
- Beat Sugar: In a large bowl, whisk together ⅔ cup light brown sugar and ¼ cup butter (melted) until well combined, about 1 minute.
- Add Wet Ingredients: Add 2 large eggs and whisk until fully emulsified and slightly glossy, about 1 minute.Add ⅓ cup milk, ¼ cup plain yogurt or sour cream, and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Continue beating for 30 seconds.
- Add Dry Ingredients: Add 3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 tsp cornstarch, ¾ tsp baking powder, ½ tsp salt, ⅛ tsp baking soda, and blended black beans. Whisk until fully incorporated and no clumps remain. Batter will be on the thinner side .
- Add Chocolate: Fold in ¾ cup chocolate chunks, using a spatula.
- Fill Muffin Tin: Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling about ¾ to slightly fuller for better rise.Optionally sprinkle the tops with more chocolate chunks!
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until tops are set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean (a few moist crumbs are fine).Cool in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information calculated by Sarah Bond, degreed nutritionist.
did you make this?Leave a comment below and tag @liveeatlearn on social media! I love seeing what you’ve made!
Do you have nutritional info, macros for this recipe?
Thanks so much for pointing out that those were missing, Pamela. I’ve just added the nutrition information below the recipe card!
Could you use non-dairy yogurt to make it dairy-free?
These are incredible! I made them for my very picky 83 year old dad. He loved them. He want back for seconds last night. Today he’s eaten another. He had no clue they has beans in them.
So happy he loved it Kellie, happy eating!
Could you use maple syrup instead of brown sugar?
I haven’t tested this one with maple syrup, so I really can’t say for sure. I think it could make them a bit too wet, although you might scan through the comments because I seem to recall some readers saying they had success with it.
Hi there,
Looks delicious! I’m looking forward to trying this recipe for my kiddos. Is the butter salted or unsalted?
Unsalted! Happy eating!
These look delicious, do you know if subbing Greek yogurt for the plain yogurt will give any issues? I’m also hoping my immersion blender can handle the beans but it should be okay?
I think the Greek yogurt would just give it a bit of a tart flavor, but the texture should be similar. Yep, I don’t see there being any issues with an immersion blender!
Can you make in a pan instead of muffins? Thanks!
Yes! We actually have a black bean brownie recipe that’s very similar to this recipe and is baked in a pan. Happy eating!
Hi, do you mean 15 oz of black beans before draining and rinsing or 15 oz of black beans drained? I am kind of confused by that. Thanks!
It’s a 15 oz can that you drain and rinse, so the finished weight of the beans will be less.