WhooOOOoo loves you?

Owl always love you!

Happy Valentine's Day!

What a hoot that little guy is, right? So sweet.

He's actually a mini brownie cake with spiced butter cream frosting. But, the brownie is a bit unconventional...and not just 'vegan unconventional'...we're talking special ingredient unconventional.

Basically, I was looking to make a healthy Valentine's Day treat in the shape of a heart so I could transform it into an owl. Owls are such beautiful animals; they're graceful, intelligent, and whoooo doesn't like a good owl joke? :)

I was first on a mission to make sugar cut-out cookies, but most all the recipes required some extra refrigeration time, and extra time was one of the things I just did not have.

Then I remembered the mini heart-shaped novelty baking pans my parents had given to me when I first moved out.

They're 4'' wide and 4'' long and 1'' deep - perfect for personal cakes, treats, and such. I set out to make little owl brownie cakes.

While searching for a recipe outline to follow for vegan brownies, I realized most contained 1/2 - 1 cup of vegetable or canola oil. That was a little too much for me; I prefer to make treats that are a little lower in fat. I switched up the wording in my Google search and stumbled upon this little ditty from Two Steps One Step.

Black Bean Brownies (with spiced butter cream frosting)

You'll need:

1 can black beans, rained and rinsed

2 ripe bananas

1/4 cup cocoa powder

2-4 T sugar (depending on how sweet you like your treats)

1/2 t almond extract

To make:

1. Preheat oven to 325degrees

2. Combine all ingredients into a food processor and process until smoth

3. Pour batter into greased cake pan and let bake for 1hr15min (this is what the recipe calls for. I used my 3 heart-shaped novelty pans and it filled them all).

4. When brownie is cooked, let cool completely. Frost with butter cream frosting and decorate into an owl!

These brownies were very mild in their sweetness. The butter cream frosting really gives these babies a punch of sweet...which is nice because the brownie (in my opinion) could have used a little more sugar.

 

Did you make any special Valentine's Day treats? Do you have any fun/special/chill plans for tonight?