While charming in it’s own frosty, soupy, woolly, kind of way, winter has inflicted on our little family a deluge of viruses in what feels like a never ending supply of coughs, sniffles and chills. As a consequence, we have been quite housebound, so cooking with whatever ingredients we have on hand has been a necessity. Searching for something to bake that would both lift the spirits and provide a lovely hit of nutrients, I whipped up a batch of brownies featuring canned black beans, banana, dark chocolate and cashews. Fresh from the oven, these little squares of chocolatey gooeyness were thoroughly enjoyed, helping to put some much needed pep back in our step.

Enjoy xx

Low Salicylate Brownies

Very lightly adapted from The Gut Health Doctor

Equipment

• Loaf pan
• Measuring cups
• Measuring spoons
• Blender
• Storage container

Ingredients

125g tinned black beans (drained and rinsed)

2 large eggs

20g cocoa powder

80g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 Tbsp maple syrup

1 large just ripe banana (peeled)*

120ml milk

Pinch of salt

50g dark chocolate (roughly chopped into small pieces)

20g unsalted roasted cashew nuts**

2 Tbsp cashew butter**

Method

1.) Preheat fan-forced oven to 180 degrees celsius. Line a loaf pan with baking paper.

2.) In a blender, mix together all the ingredients except the chocolate chips, cashew butter and cashews.

3.) When a smooth consistency has been achieved, stir in half of the chocolate chunks and then pour mixture into the prepared loaf pan, smoothing the top out evenly. Swirl in the cashew butter, then dot in the extra chocolate chunks and chopped cashews

4.) Bake for 30 mins or until the centre no longer jiggles then allow to cool in the loaf pan for 10 minutes before slicing up into small squares.

* Just ripe bananas are listed in the RPAH handbook as moderate in salicylates, something to be mindful of if you’re very sensitive or looking to limit your chemical load.

**While cashews have historically tested low for salicylates, more recent tests (Malaker et al. 2017) which retested with free and bound salicylates found cashews to be in the high category. Most people tolerate cashews well, while others may be prone to a reaction, in which case, omit cashews in future if you do find you experience any adverse affects.