Prepare to fall head-over-heels in love with these ooey gooey rich dark chocolate chickpea brownies.
Brownies… made from chickpeas???!
I know the concept sounds completely crazy.
But if you’ve tried any of my bean-based dessert recipes (especially the deep dish cookie pie!), you probably already know that the results can not only taste just as good as traditional butter-and-flour desserts, they’re often even better.
The beans add a softness and moisture to the texture that you just can’t get from flour, and people who don’t already know the secret ingredient ahead of time are seriously never able to guess!
Currently Trending: Banana Recipes – 30 Healthy Ideas
Flourless Chocolate Chickpea Brownies
These brownies are a combination of two reader favorites:
In other words, it’s the perfect recipe for anyone who hates making decisions.
They’re also great if you’re following a whole food plant based diet, because you can easily make the brownies oil-free without sacrificing any of the rich texture or decadent chocolate flavor.
Try frosting them with my Healthy Chocolate Frosting.
Or, the brownies are so deeply fudgy they honestly don’t even need any frosting at all.
I decided to add some because it makes them look much prettier, and also because I will never pass up an excuse to add an obscene amount of chocolate to a recipe any time the opportunity presents itself.
I’m Chocolate Covered Katie for a reason.
(Above – Watch the video of making the chickpea brownies)
Have leftover chickpeas?
Make up a batch of Flourless Blender Muffins, or use them in my favorite Veggie Burger Recipe.
Or, you know, just make more brownies…
Chocolate Chickpea Brownies
Ingredients
- 1 can chickpeas or white beans
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp dutch cocoa or additional regular
- 1/3 cup flour (white, oat, spelt, almond, sorghum, etc.)
- 3 tbsp milk of choice or applesauce
- 3 tbsp oil or nut butter of choice
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp each: salt and baking soda
- 1/2 cup sugar (for refined-sugar-free, try these Black Bean Brownies)
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips – not optional (omit at own risk)
InstructionsÂ
- To make the brownies: Drain and rinse beans very well. Preheat oven to 330 F. Grease or line an 8-inch pan. Combine all ingredients in a food processor until completely smooth. A blender can technically work, but both taste and texture will be better in a food processor. Spread into pan. If desired, sprinkle extra chocolate chips on top. Bake on the center rack 14 minutes, then chill the still-underbaked brownies until firm. They taste better the next day, so I highly recommend not sneaking a taste until then! If desired, frost with melted chocolate chips or my healthy chocolate frosting recipe linked above in this post.View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
More Healthy Brownie Recipes
(No crazy ingredients!)
You know, I can remember a time when there were zero brownie recipes on my blog? How things have changed!
Wow! I had three cans so I tripled the recipe, came out so yummy! And moist! Give this a try and nobody would know they are vegan!!
These brownies are truly the best brownies you will ever have! They are so moist, fudgy, easy, and amazing! I have made these multiple times and people never know they are made from chickpeas! I added more chocolate chips, used almond flour, half oil half peanut butter, regular sugar, and came out to have 16 brownies with about 120 calories per brownie. About to make another batch right now!
Could I use banana, vegan butter, or even water in place of the milk? We just ran out of the hemp seeds we use to make our milk!
You could definitely use banana! Probably vegan butter too 🙂
A fantastic recipe! I have to admit I was sceptical but you’ve made me a convert. This will be my go-to brownie recipe from now on. Thank you so much for sharing and keep up the great work!
I only have a small food processor. Would it work to process just the chickpeas and then use a hand mixer to mix all of the ingredients together?
Sorry, we have never tried so honestly don’t know!
This might be too late, but in case you’re still interested, I did that and it worked fine. I only have one of those small smoothie blenders. I blended some oats to make flour, then blended the chickpeas with the milk and oil (when I did it with just the chickpeas it jammed up the blade). Then I tipped it into a mixing bowl with the dry ingredients and mixed by hand.
So they’re still in the oven but the batter was amazing. It was so thick that scooping it in I realized it would make a wonderful raw frosting. Instead of sugar 1/4 tsp stevia powder and 1.5 Tbsp applesauce. Used almond flour and peanut butter in place of oil.
Should the chocolate chips get blended too?
Either way works!
Hi,
Can I use Maple Syrup or Honey instead of Sugar?
Sorry we have never tried it!
These are delicious! I used 1/4 cup of maple syrup instead of the sugar, flax milk instead of applesauce, and sunflower seed butter instead of oil, and I threw in rolled oats instead of oat flour because I was using a food processor so I figured it would combine anyway. I baked it for longer than 14 minutes so they’d be a little more solid, and I loved how they turned out! Super fudgy and chocolately but guilt-free 🙂
Fantastic recipe. I try a lot of online recipes but I have never liked any of them enough to leave a review. This one is a really great use of chickpeas. You end up with a high protein dessert that tastes great but isn’t filled with butter or lot’s of flour.
Thank you for taking the time to create such a wonderful recipe!
Thank you so much for making them!
Thank you so much for making them 🙂