It's a what?!?!

One thing about working for a company of young people is we have somewhat similar tastes. I have a handful of girlfriends here who all enjoy exercise, cooking, and healthy things. We constantly share what we do and find out in the big bad world. The big bad world is ever growing with the blog-o-sphere and we are right there with the expansion. We sure do keep ourselves busy.

One of my friends recently sent me this recipe that she had found on a blog she found. It was for Butter bean cookies. Now this is no joke and apparently the next new "health" thing since not even a week before I had seen a brownie recipe that called for black beans. Now I enjoy beans in many dishes but my first reaction to this was GROSS! Obviously beans are fiber filled and have limited calories. By adding beans to dessert recipes you are substituting some flour for beans, adding protein and fiber. In the end each serving will be more satisfying and have less calories. Sounds pretty good huh? The one glitch is I am not so sure how it will taste.

After a fun filled last weekend that was jammed packed with activities I looked at my Sunday with both the comfort of having a slow paced day and the dread of boredom. My solution was to try out these cookies mostly because I am overly curious as to the actual taste then really wanting cookies.

Butter Bean Cookies

Adapted from Happy Herbivore and Gina M.

Ingredients:
1 cup rolled oats

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp cinnamon (optional)
a dash of ground cardamon (optional)
½ cup canned white beans, liquids reserved
¼ cup raw sugar
¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ cup chocolate chips

a dash of salt

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a large cookie sheet or line with parchment paper and set aside.

2. Transfer 3/4 cup of the oats to a food processor and pulse, about 15x, until crumbly but not powder. Transfer to a mixing bowl and combine with flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and cardamon. Whisk to incorporate and set aside.

Dry ingredients

3. Transfer beans to processor and blend till smooth, then add applesauce, sugar, vanilla extract and 1 tbsp of the bean liquid. Blend again until smooth. Pour wet mixture into dry mixture and stir about 10 times. Add chips, remaining 1/4 cup oats, stirring until combined. If the mixture is too wet, add more oats. If it's too dry, add a little water.

Wet ingredients mixed smooth

4. Drop tablespoon's of batter onto the cookie sheet, leaving an inch of room between each. Bake 15 minutes, until edges are just turning light brown and middles are firm. They will firm a bit more as they cool. Check the bottoms to make sure they are golden brown.

And the results...

More like mini scones than cookies as they were thick and chewy and cakelike. The taste was great though. No way to know beans had any hand in this sweet treat.