Desperately Seeking Chocolate…SCN to the Rescue!

by Mary Jo David

Black bean brownies from the April edition of this paper helped satisfy a chocolate craving—without using processed sugar. Photo credit: Mary Jo David

For the second year in a row, I decided to give up processed sugar for Lent. Thirty-three days or so into the season, I was REALLY starting to regret my decision. But when you’re raised on Catholic guilt, you don’t cave! Then I remembered an article in the recent print edition of the Stockbridge Community News. “Indoor Activities for Kids During a Time of Shelter in Place” was an article provided by 5 Healthy Towns. And there, just waiting for the “big kid” in me, was a recipe for Black Bean Brownies that called for honey—a natural sweetener—rather than processed granulated sugar. I pulled out my baking pan and a jar of “The Sweet Honey Trail” local honey from Gregory neighbor Paula Hesselsweet and got to work. I made up the brownies (minus the frosting, which called for processed sugar). I did not use the blender; instead I just used a potato masher to mash the canned black beans and my KitchenAid mixer to blend the ingredients. Admittedly, the finished product wasn’t quite the same as a pan of sugar-laden brownies, but they were just what I needed to satisfy my chocolate craving and get me through those last days of Lent. Thank you, Stockbridge Community News! And to you skeptics out there—no they did NOT taste like black beans!