Peppermint Black Bean Brownie Wreath

Use a standard bundt pan to make this fun, festive, and slightly healthier holiday dessert with classic Yuletide flavor!

This Peppermint Black Bean Brownie Wreath is a fun holiday dessert and not at all complicated to make. With all the super indulgent treats that surround us this time of year, it’s nice to offer one that is a tad healthier but still delicious and festive. If you haven’t tried black bean brownies yet you might be skeptical – I was too. All I can say is that it’s truly amazing how pureed black beans can be transformed into something that tastes like a chocolate truffle. Let’s not kid ourselves though, this is still a decadent dessert, and I’ve decorated it with peppermint candy canes and Twizzlers Twists so it’s definitely not health food! Having said that, you’ll be hard-pressed to find any dessert this good that contain 6 grams of fiber per serving, which is nearly ¼ of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of fiber.

A standard size bundt pan will produce a beautiful wreath shaped brownie cake. You’ll need to let it cool completely before coating it with the chocolate and sprinkling on the candy cane pieces.

What makes this Peppermint Black Brownie Wreath so Chirstmassy, aside from the fact that it’s shaped like a wreath, is that it’s decorated with peppermint candy canes. There is no other candy that represents the Yuletide season better than peppermint candy canes. Strangely, however, nobody knows exactly why or how this delicious confection came to symbolize Christmas. Stories abound with all sorts of religious symbolism. One account says that a choirmaster in the 1600’s, worried about the children sitting quietly during the nativity service, gave them candy shaped like a crook to remind them of the shepherds who visited baby Jesus on the first Christmas. Another claim is that the shape of candy canes, when inverted, is the letter “J” which stands for “Jesus”, and that their colors symbolize his purity (white) and bloodshed (red) on the cross. Much of this folklore, all fun and interesting, has been passed along as fact, but none of it has any real historical accuracy. So, we many never know the true origin of candy canes but I’ve no doubt their seasonal importance will endure.

Cut small slices of the Peppermint Black Bean Brownie Wreath as it is very rich. The interior texture is fudgy with a dark chocolate exterior coating highlighted by crunchy peppermint. It’s a wonderful, wintery flavor combination perfectly befitting the season.

                                                            HAPPY HOLIDAYS! 

Peppermint Black Bean Brownie Wreath

 

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Author: QUEEN OF MY KITCHEN

Serves: 12 servings

Ingredients

• 1½ ounces candy canes (about 3 standard size candy canes)
• 4 Twizzlers Twists candy - sugar free, strawberry flavor
• 1 – 15.5 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ cup (40g) ground flaxseed
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ⅓ cup (75g) maple syrup
• ⅓ cup (53g) coconut oil, melted
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon + ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
• 16 ounces bittersweet (60% cacao) chocolate baking chips

Instructions

1. Place the candy canes inside of a plastic zip lock bag. Seal the bag and, using a small hammer, meat pounder, or the bottom of a glass, gently break up the candy canes into small pieces. (Don't crush them too much. You want some larger pieces intact for nice color.) Set aside.
2. Make two bow loops. Use one Twizzlers Twist for each loop. Fasten the ends together with toothpicks, cutting off the excess so that hardly any toothpick is visible. Set aside.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and brush a standard size (10 cup) bundt pan with ½ teaspoon of the melted coconut oil.
4. Combine the black beans, cocoa powder, flaxseed, salt, maple syrup, ¼ cup melted coconut oil, baking powder, 1 tablespoon vanilla, and ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract in the work bowl of a high-powered food processor and blend until smooth, about 30 seconds.
5. Stir in (by hand) ¾ cup (5 ounces) chocolate baking chips.
6. Transfer the batter to the bundt pan and spread it into one even layer.
7. Bake on the bottom rack of the oven for 20 minutes. Let cool completely (at least one hour) before removing the cake/wreath (rounded side up) to a wire rack.
8. Melt the remaining chocolate baking chips in a metal bowl over barely simmering water. Add the remaining melted coconut oil (about 1 tablespoon), ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract, and ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract and stir until the mixture is smooth.
9. Pour the chocolate mixture over the cake so that it runs down the sides evenly and coats the entire cake.
10. Sprinkle with the crushed candy cane pieces and let the chocolate set and harden. Before serving lay the Twizzlers Twists at the top of the wreath to form a bow.

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