Black Bean Chocolate Chili Cherry Cookies

Yum. Fucking yum. The salt topping finishes these so perfectly.

Makes nine 3” cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups black beans, very soft (or one 15 oz. can)
• 2 Tbsp. coconut oil (or ghee)
• 1/3 cup organic cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/3 cup maple syrup (or honey, agave)
• 2 Tbsp. chia seeds (or use 2 Tbsp. ground flax seeds OR 2 eggs)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup chopped dark chocolate (80% or higher)
• 1/4 cup chopped dried cherries (optional, or use dried cranberries)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Mix chia seeds, maple syrup, and vanilla in a bowl and set aside. If using eggs, skip this step.
3. Place drained and well-rinsed beans, coconut oil, cocoa, salt and cayenne in a food processor and blend until well combined. Add maple syrup and chia mixture (or eggs) and pulse to incorporate. The batter will be quite liquid-y, but still hold together.  Remove blade from the food processor and add chopped chocolate and cherries. Fold to incorporate.
4. Spoon cookie batter onto lined baking sheet. Using the back of the spoon, flatten top of cookies slightly, as they will not spread when baking. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt (important!). Bake for 15 minutes until the edges are browning. Cool and eat. Store in the fridge.