These shockingly rich and gooey chocolate chip chickpea blondies are one of the most popular recipes I’ve ever posted!
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Even readers who don’t normally like healthy desserts LOVE these blondies!
Have you tried them yet???
In the years since first coming up with the recipe, I’ve served it probably over a hundred times to both strangers and friends, always with rave reviews.
No one can ever believe the ingredients or resist the charms of the moist and fudgy secretly healthy blondies.
Also try these Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
No dairy
No butter
No eggs!
White Bean Blondies
The recipe works with either chickpeas (garbanzo beans) or white beans like cannellini (white kidney beans) or great northern beans.
I like both versions equally, but many readers say they prefer using white beans because the resulting batter is smoother.
*Sugar note: You can use regular sugar, coconut sugar or date sugar, brown sugar, evaporated cane juice, or xylitol or granulated erythritol for sugar free blondies.
I once made a batch using stevia, which I thought were delicious. But my friends informed me they tasted like bars of soap. So make that substitution at your own risk!
For refined-sugar-free blondies, try these Sweet Potato Blondies
Above, watch the chickpea blondie recipe video
How to make chickpea blondies
Start by gathering all of the required ingredients.
If using canned beans instead of cooked, be sure to rinse and drain them very well.
(The drained liquid can actually be used to make Vegan Marshmallow Fluff!)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Blend everything together except the chocolate chips until it resembles cookie dough.
I use and recommend a food processor for smoothest blending and best texture, but some readers say they’ve used a blender (making sure to stop the machine and stir the contents occasionally) with good results.
Stir the chocolate chips into the batter, and smooth into a greased or parchment-lined 8-inch pan. Add a few chocolate chips to the top if desired.
Bake 30 minutes on the oven’s center rack, then remove while they’re still a bit gooey, because they will firm up as they cool.
Chickpea Blondies
Ingredients
- 1 can chickpeas or white beans, or 1 1/2 cups cooked
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp each: salt and baking soda
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar of choice (Substitutions are listed above)
- 1/3 cup flour (white, oat, spelt, sorghum, or 1/2 cup almond flour)
- 1/4 cup applesauce, mashed banana, or yogurt
- 3 tbsp oil or 1/4 cup nut butter
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips, or more if desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drain and rinse beans very well. Blend all ingredients (except chips) until very smooth in a good food processor (see not above about using a blender). Mix in chips, and scoop into a greased or parchment-lined 8×8 pan. Optional: you can stick some chocolate chips on top of the batter as well. Bake for 30 minutes. They'll look a little undercooked when you take them out, but they firm up as they cool.View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
More Healthy Chickpea Desserts
Flourless Banana Blender Muffins
Hi Katie, what kind of stevia do you use? Mine is the pure kind that you only use microscopic portions of. I can’t imagine using the same amount as of regular sugar. If I do use stevia – how much? Thanks!
I’m one of your newest fans!
I loved these blondies, had them today and will make them again 🙂
Keep the recipes coming.
Yum! I ran out of brown sugar, so I used the remaining 7 tsp along with 1/2 cup maple syrup. I baked ’em at 350 for 30 minutes, let them cool for 15 minutes (hoping they would harden), cooked for 3 minutes, took them out, and cooked them for 5 more minutes. They’re gooey and delicious! I asked my 16-year-old big brother how they compared to your black bean brownies, and he said, “they’re both too healthy, but other than that, they’re amazing!”
P. S. I only noticed the comment about subbing white sugar when they were in the oven. Whoops!
These are delicious. I just wanted to share that I used coconut flour in place of the flax/oats with good results. (used flax the first time, but I prefer coconut flour.)
Oh yeah – and I am also able to make them using an immersion blender (I don’t have a food processor) and I add a few TBS of coconut oil (I didn’t measure), to give it a little more liquid, but I think this ultimately adds to the delicous gooey-ness of them. 🙂 …I just blend the beans, oil and vanilla with the immersion blender first, then I stir in the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon. HTH anyone else sans food processor out there!
Recipe looks yummy.
The list of gluten-free food my Dr. gave me contained a note that said many products that claim to be gluten-free will contain peanuts, you must be careful when reading ingredients. Peanuts/Peanut butter are on my Foods You Cannot Eat list. Hope this helps.
Thanks for the ideas.
I just made these and they are delicious! I did half chocolate chips and half peanut butter chips, sooo good! I think I didn’t bake them long enough, but they just ended up even gooier! My daughter loved them, and my brother who is afraid of beans liked them, even after I told him the ingredients!
Thank you so much for the recipe!
These are soo good – too good! I don’t want to eat them all right away so is there a way to freeze these once they are cooked? If so, defrosting them would just be sticking them in the fridge or leaving them out? I shared this recipe with my friends on facebook and my boyfriend, who doesn’t like chocolate (gasp), even said they taste like they’re from a bakery!
Thanks so much!
Fridge is good… I’ve never tried freezing them though.
Hi! I subbed some mashed banana, and the banana flavour definitely comes through. Paired with the chocolate chips, it tastes likes a banana chip muffin. But with a gooey texture and in a bar. Not a bad thing, they are delicious! But next time I might try without, and add more peanut butter!
I think ALL girls, of ALL ages…act like the “damsel in distress” because it gets mens attention. What did most little girls with their own fathers? (Given they came from a non=dysfunctional upbringing). They batted their little eyes, and used their tiny little voices to bend their daddy’s heart for attention. What’s gross is that kind of behavior has followed a lot of young women (blond, brunette, and other colors alike), into adulthood where they bat their eyes at men in the bars, while driving, at male teachers, etc…AND use their annoying little girl voices (that should have been long, dead and buried) to get what they want. And men, they are idiots…because what do they do but arise to the occasion. Blondes, eh…my mother was a blonde…but all that attention she recieved turned to vapor when the age fairy came…So, if you’re a blonde, brunette, red head, or whatever…go ahead, feel free to act like a complete ignoramous just to get a man’s attention…when you do that…you give HIM all that power. My grandmother use to tell me (yes, it’s old fashioned young ladies but it WORKS if you WORK it!), the power isn’t in your little girl voice or the batting of your eyes…it’s being yourself. It’s being an enigma. Most men can have any two bit eye lash batters but once they’ve HAD them…the mystery is gone and so is the ATTENTION. You want LONG TERM attention…keep em guessing…always worked for me. And I’m HAPPILY a BLESSED BRUNETTE! (Thanks to dad’s gene pool!)
check my version – thanks for this, beautiful by the way
http://thecooksnest.wordpress.com/2013/10/16/chic-choc/
Can you use any kind of white bean (like a white kidney bean)? Could you make this with fruit and nuts in lieu of chocolate (e.g., dried goji berries and crushed almonds or sunflower seeds)? And/or could you make your own chocolate (i.e., three ingredient chocolate) and break that up to use in this? I just don’t have chocolate chips in the house and don’t want to wait to try this.
Yes you can use white kidney beans. You might be able to use the three ingredient chocolate. If you do try it, please report back so others will know how it went!
Hi katie!! Love this recipe, gonna try it out tomorrow for a the class and i have my fingers crossed!! I was wondering what you would recommend, chickpeas or white beans? Which did your “testers” like more?? Thanks.
Reading through the comments here on this post, it seems like readers are split.
Katie,
I found this site and this girl has a recipe that is almost a copy cat of your blondies, how do I know she is coping…well, for one I know you don’t copy and if you post a recipe that is similar to someone else’s, you always mentioned…and her post is dated April 8, 2013, your is May 18 2011…about 2 years earlier!!
I don’t think she is practicing good “blogging etiquette”
http://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/2013/04/flourless-chocolate-chip-chickpea-blondies-with-sea-salt-vegan-gluten-free-healthy/
I made these and they are awesome! I made a batch for my extended family using the brown sugar (the original recipe). They were delicious, with a cookie dough kind of flavor. For my husband and me, I made a batch in which I replaced the sugar with chopped dates (approximately 2/3 the weight of the brown sugar) and a banana. Those were also delicious and plenty sweet enough (especially with the chocolate chips) for us. Of course, they had more of a banana flavor, but that’s not a bad thing. Thanks so much for posting these awesome recipes.
Can I use pumpkin puree instead of chocolate chips? I just wanted to make them more seasonal, for a Thanksgiving work party. Should I use 1/2 cup? More? Less? I’m not good at making recipes, I’m better at following them. I appreciate any advice.
I cannot WAIT to try these!!!!!! I will be having healthy blondies for lunch =)
Thanks for a great recipe, Katie!