After missing two months of participating in the Peanut Butter Bash, I was bound and determined NOT to miss this month! Trouble was, I just could not find anything, anywhere, that included peanut butter and the extra ingredient - which was coconut for May. That is not strictly true, I could find loads of refrigerator type peanut butter balls that sounded delicious. One problem I have is that I try not to keep yummy goodies in my house, so the requirement has to be that it can be transported elsewhere - hence the need for refrigeration is a deal killer since I like to post whatever I bake to my son in London!

Another option I like to keep is to use British recipes since most members of the Peanut Butter Bash are American. Just makes it a more fun challenge. But challenge it certainly was this time around.

Peanut Butter Bash is a group for food bloggers and it is fun to try to find the added ingredient each month! If you are a food blogger and would be interested in joining this group here is the link: The link to our Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/groups/peanutbutterbash/ .

Also, since the official Peanut Butter Bash has gotten so many requests from non-bloggers wanting to join that the group The Peanut Butter Recipe Box was created. Here is the link for that: (https://www.facebook.com/groups/ThePeanutButterRecipeBox/). Please feel free to join the group if you're not already a member too and would like to share your recipes and have access to a number of new recipes!

Eventually I located an even more interesting cookie recipe than I had ever bargained for. From the second I read that this recipe included Black Beans, I just had to try it! Ok, it also relies on refrigeration, but I had the get out clause that I could take these cookies to my own office. That would make it more interesting to see if Black Beans really were an acceptable cookie ingredient!

The recipe I found was from Nic's Nutrition and this looks like a blog I will return to again and again!

I don't think you could do this without a food processor, but with one, it takes such a short time to make such a fantastic (and healthy) treat! I had not read the amount of cookies this recipe was supposed to make until I had finished adding all the ingredients and was surprised at how little was in the food processor! So that is why I have put the number of servings in large print!

On Nic's Nutrition, there is a warning that these cookies are very soft right out of the oven and this is true. She suggests keeping them in the fridge and that is good advice. We took them out and left them for folks to eat in the office and, after a while, they were just too soft to handle. But they are amazing straight out of the fridge!

So here is the recipe:

Chocolate Black Bean Cookies

Servings : 12

Prep Time : 5m
Cook Time : 20m
Ready In : 25m

Ingredients

1 can black beans
2 tbsp nut butter - I used crunchy peanut butter
2 tbsp milk of your choice
2 tbsp coconut or olive oil
2 tbsp oat flour (blended oats)**
1/2 cup (125ml) sugar or a sugar substitute of your choice
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch salt
1 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp cocoa powder
Optional - chocolate chips, coconut flakes, chopped nuts

*Canned Black Beans are not easy to find. But Morrison's and ASDA usually have them.

**I interpreted this to mean blend porridge oats (or oatmeal as it is called in the US) in your food processor until it resembles flour)

Oven temp - 175C/350F

1. Add drained and rinsed black beans, peanut butter, milk and oil to the food processor. Blend until the batter is smooth.

2. Add the dry ingredients: oat flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and cocoa powder - blend until smooth. Stir in optional ingredients, if using. (I added 1/4 cup coconut)

3. Using a well rounded teaspoon, place cookie mixture onto the baking sheet. (I used parchment paper, but if not available, grease the sheet well to avoid sticking.)

4. Bake for 20 minutes. Cookies will be extremely soft until cooled.

5. For best results, keep cookies in the refrigerator!

Yield: 12 cookies ( I got 13 and they were large cookies!)

These cookies are so dark, I imagine with all the cocoa in them, plus the black beans come to think of it, that I just could not get a good picture of them. But, take my word for it, they are good!

#peanutbutterbash

Here is the link to our Peanut Butter and Coconut recipes for the month of June!

Or you could visit our Board on Pinterest - Peanut Butter Bash