"All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt."

- Charles M. Schulz

Personally, I believe in destiny, but of course, just like with how you take a shot of tequila, prepare the grain of salt. I believe in hard work, first and foremost, but sometimes, life just hands you lemons and you can't make anything sweet out of all the squeezing and sacrifices. That's just how it is. The world owes you nothing, no matter how much effort you put in sometimes. There are instances though that take you by surprise because the good things just happen. Destiny.

Or a happy accident. Or fate. Or serendipity. Or whatever you want to call it. But even in that movie Serendipity (don't even pretend you haven't seen it yet), a lot of effort is put in by Kate Beckinsale and John Cusack. Ironically, the movie is called Serendipity. I guess it's all just meant to be. See, I worked hard for the grades I earned in school. Sure, I breezed through some classes, but for the most part, nights of fun were sacrificed to get extra hours of studying. But I seemed to have been destined to bump into Shia Laboeuf and Jake Gyllenhaal and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. No, I'm not a stalker, who meticulously planned each encounter. I'm not deranged. Not really.

So, you can only imagine how much I've praised all deities when I happened to have made vegan black bean brownies. You see, I was putting all effort into preparing a vegan Mexican dish with black beans. But, randomly and rather unconsciously, the black beans ended up in the food processor and I somehow managed to add cocoa powder. That, to me, is destiny. Who says destiny has to mean a life-changing event? Small miracles count, too.

Of course I've heard of black bean brownies before, but really, all I knew about them is that you need black beans and you add no flour at all. Without any exact measurements, I eyeballed the whole thing, a little afraid of the possible outcome. Like, come on, Carla, that can of organic black beans could have been a delicious burrito! I've also ran out of brown sugar, which I typically use in baking, so coconut sugar was my replacement. I had made chia eggs, which really was for my chia pudding with coconut yoghurt, but decided, hey why not, let's add it in the food processor. You see, not having a recipe in mind and without much thinking can lead to fortunate happenstance. Sometimes, at least. My kitchen bore witness to many accidental disasters.

I wasn't particularly sure about the batter though. It was a cross between brownie batter and muffin batter. Since my mum already pulled out the muffin tin, I went for it. It didn't turn out as bad as I thought it would've. Here goes...

Vegan Black Bean Brownies
Makes 11-12 brownies

Ingredients:

• 1 15 oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 chia eggs (I used Prana chia seeds)
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 3-5 tbsp of water, as needed
• Vegan chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life chocolate chips)

Prepare chia eggs by mixing 2 tbsp of chia seeds with 15 tbsp of water. Mix well and let sit until jelly-like texture is achieved. Note that this adds a bit of crunch to the brownies. You can also substitute with ground chia seeds or flax.

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease muffin tins with coconut oil.

In the food processor, add all ingredients except for water and vegan chocolate chips. Pulse until smooth. Then, depending on the consistency, add water so that the batter isn't too thick. Careful not too add too much liquid as the brownies would turn cakey.

Pour batter in muffin tin, reaching halfway of each cup. Top with chocolate chips.

Bake for at least 20 minutes. Make sure that the brownies aren't too soft and that the edges are well-formed. Cool completely before removing from the muffin tin.

Enjoy! xxx