Chocolate Pumpkin Protein Brownies - veggie and flavor filled!

I know, I know - this is a LIBRARY blog, not food and  lifestyle. I have sent the recipe for these brownies to so many people I finally had a brain flash and realized it would be so much faster to send a link with the recipe and details included. Total Blog Perks.

I really really try to eat the best, most nutritious food I can. That said, I have a sweet tooth as big as Dallas and I am as busy as most other moms. These brownies are a major boost to a nutritious lifestyle AND they are delicious.

Before I go any further I would like to let everyone know I came across the original version of these on Pinterest from the Natural Nurturer. The original version is ah-ma-zing!!! You can eat these for breakfast, in between, even a late dinner. This is a picture of the ORIGINAL brownies (click on picture for link to that recipe):

The original recipe calls for black beans and beets. One day this September I was pulling out ingredients to make a batch (once a week for easy work snacks). Totally out of beets and totally not in the mood to go back to the store for the 322nd time that weekend. 

My daughter had dropped off some canned pumpkin the night before and voila! I figured switching the pumpkin for the beets was worth a try. I did not have the highest expectations and I was HAPPILY SURPRISED!!! These brownies are da bomb! Like I said, I make a batch almost every Sunday and they last through the week for mid morning or afternoon snacks. 

I use my ninja food processor and process in batches. I begin with the dry ingredients, process, and then add the wet stuff before processing again.

PreHeat Oven to 350, prep Corian dish or 5 x 9 glass pan

2 cups Oats

1/4 cup (or small handful like I use) Brown Sugar or honey, maple syrup

1 tsp Baking Soda (another switch from the original recipe)

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/3 cup Cocoa

Pinch of Salt

1 Cup Almond Milk

1 Ripe Banana

1 can drained, rinsed Black Beans

1 can Pumpkin

1/4 Cup Coconut Oil  (optional)

Chocolate Chips

Walnuts

Coconut

Add dry ingredients to Ninja. Pulse about a minute until a fine "sand" texture happens. Add wet ingredients and hit "blend" until smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape down sides with spatula and add optionals like chocolate chips, walnuts and/ or coconut flakes.

Bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until baked through. I look for a split in the middle. Because this is a dense batter it takes a while to cook through.