BEANS, BEANS . . .

Beans, Beans, good for your heart,

The more you eat 'em, the more you fart. 

You know the rhyme. . . My sister and I have been getting together just about once a week (hit or miss) to learn about and implement food storage and emergency preparedness.  This week we learned about supplementing cooked beans for the fat called for in baking recipes.  Want to know how?  It's easy, just dump the whole can of beans into a blender and blend until smooth.  Substitute cup for cup.  For example, if your recipe calls for 1/2 cup oil, you would use 1/2 pureed beans instead.  Easy, right?  Not only does it reduce the fat, it also adds fiber and protein, which fills you up faster.  BONUS!!!! 

Now there is one draw back- adding beans will make your baked good fluffier (is that a word?).  This is great for cakes, breads, and stuff you want light and fluffy, but I don't prefer it for my fudgey brownies or my cookies.  Don't worry, there is a way around all the fluffiness, only substitute beans for half of the fat.  For example, we made brownies (from a box) the recipe called for 1/2 cup oil.  We only put in a 1/4 cup of oil and substituted the other 1/4 with beans!!!!  Still Fudgey, not cakey, and No, we could not taste the beans. 

What type of bean should you use?  We learned that black beans are best disguised in chocolate recipes, pinto beans in lighter colored baked goods, such as pumpkin, and German chocolate, and white beans for everything else --yellow cake, white, chocolate chip cookies, etc.

Go ahead, TRY IT!  I don't think you'll be disappointed.