Economics of Bean Brownies

The following concepts are dear to my heart but I know this is a somewhat nerdy post. If you just want to make brownies, click here to jump to my printable recipe pdf for black bean brownies and chickpea blondies.

Gluten Free Bean Brownies for the Win

As part of her 13th birthday celebration at our house, Felicity requested that we do some baking. She is enthusiastic about the principles of preparing food from scratch, so I put a fair bit of thought into how I could give her maximum skills and knowledge for time spent. I decided to show her how I make gluten free bean brownies. Like so many healthy and delicious recipes, once you understand the template, you have a springboard for your own creations.

Hundred of recipes for bean-based brownies are online. Black beans, turtle beans, navy beans, great northern beans, garbanzo beans, even kidney beans. For gluten free families, this is a revelation. But these brownies are much more than just the freedom to enjoy a treat without gluten.

The Other Costs of Food

Purchased snack food can be extraordinarily expensive, not only to the budget but also to our health. Usually it is highly processed, includes additives and preservatives, is often deep fried or contains one of the harmful oils. Then it is portioned into pricey packaging and transported long distances to our store.

To decide whether any grocery item is worth the price, the first thing I do is examine how it stacks up against my health value scale of EXCELLENT → GOOD → OKAY → NEUTRAL → POOR → NEGATIVE. Is it made up of empty calories? Does it contain health-harming additives? Was it fried in oil? How many stages of manufacture did it go through before it reached my kitchen? What is its origin? Is it non-GMO? Is it fresh? Is it nutritious? Is it a superfood?

For example, baking powder is a kitchen staple, but does the brand contain aluminum? Aluminum-free baking powder is better health value even if the price tag is higher. Salt is another staple. Does it contain an anti-caking agent? Is it highly refined? Grey sea salt contains many essential minerals and offers far better health value even though it costs a bit more.

How about a handful of walnuts versus a handful of bridge mix candy? Walnuts are high value on my scale, probably close to EXCELLENT. Bridge mix gets a POOR to NEGATIVE rating. A bowl of blueberries or a bowl of corn chips? Blueberries are a superfood which puts them in my EXCELLENT category; corn chip ingredients of corn flour, canola or cottonseed oil and salt rate POOR to NEGATIVE. I could keep going for months, but I’m sure you get what I’m talking about.

Gluten Free Brownie Economics

First of all, baking gluten free bean brownies from scratch costs much less than using a gluten free mix. For illustration I did a comparison using prices at my local stores in March, 2023. Since eggs and oil are required for both, those costs aren’t included.

Popular Gluten Free Brownie Mix = $ 7.99
These brownies are not sugar free. Icing sugar is the first ingredient.

Black Bean Brownies from scratch = $ 3.00
Beans $0.90; cocoa $0.35; Volupta sugar-free sweetener $1.65. Vanilla, baking powder and salt amounts are negligible so lets call it $3.00. Note that these brownies are sugar free.

Comparison: $3.00 from scratch versus $8 from a mix.
In each case, add your cost for eggs and oil to get your actual price per batch.

but that is not all …

Brownies from the Mix — The first ingredient of the mix is icing sugar, followed by gluten free flour substitutes. Dry, white, starchy, highly processed powders are not health building even if they are gluten free, and with all the sugar in the mix, this choice has a POOR to NEGATIVE health value.

Bean Brownies from Scratch — Black beans contain vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, folate, magnesium, iron, potassium, antioxidants, fibre and protein. Homemade black bean brownies rate a score of GOOD.

You can make a whole pan of gluten free bean brownies for less than the price of one brownie at a coffee shop – you can afford to treat the entire family.

Getting the Best from Beans

When you read my ingredient costs, you might have wondered why my price for beans is so low. Right now, a large 540ml /19oz can of beans would cost me at least $1.99, so canned beans push the cost of the recipe up to $4.10. However, I choose to use dried beans. They are economical, can be purchased in bulk, take less storage space, will keep for years, and there are no cans to recycle. One scant cup of dry black beans will result in two cups of cooked beans, approximately the contents of a can. Recent prices for dried beans have been be tween $0.42 to $0.45 per 100 grams, or about $0.90 for a cupful.

You can save money and greatly improve the health value of your beans by learning how to cook them from dry. Price alone might not be enough motivation to go to the extra bother, but you will spend less AND increase nutrition and digestibility by soaking and cooking them yourself.

Here’s why. By nature, beans contain phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors that protect the seed until it is time to grow. Soaking triggers the process that leads to germination so it helps neutralize the phytic acid as well as eliminate most of the lectin proteins. Lectins, as you’ve probably heard, can be hard on the digestive track. Soaking dried beans increases nutrient availability, especially if you soak them for 48 hours.

a scant cup of dried black beans equals one cup of cooked beans — A scant cup of dried black beans equals two cups of soaked beans

How to Soak and Cook Dried Beans

Put a scant cup of dried beans in a quart (litre) jar. Add room temperature filtered water or warm tap water almost to the top of the jar. Let the beans soak from overnight to 48 hours. Longer is better. Drain. Put the soaked beans in a large pot and cover with water, preferably filtered. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for one hour or more, until a test bean is soft enough to mash. Don’t add salt or acid until after they are cooked.