Healthy Chickpea Blondies

These Healthy Chickpea Blondies are a vegan, gluten-free, and grain-free alternative to the classic Blondie recipe. You won’t even taste the chickpeas – promise!

Recently, my friend from elementary school, Ben, reached out to me on Facebook after seeing my blog (Hi Ben!). I hadn’t heard from him in years, so when he asked me if I ever made my mom’s congo bars it brought back a flood of memories. I hadn’t thought about my mom’s beloved congo bars in ages. In fact, I couldn’t even recall that last time she made them.

But when I was growing up, my mom used to always make Congo Bars. By the way, if you’re sitting there scratching your head, wondering what the heck a congo bar is, then think of it like a blondie. In fact, I don’t even know if there is a discernible difference between a congo bar and a blondie. Is there?

Whenever I had friends come over for playdates, study sessions, sleepovers, etc. there seemed to always be a batch of ooey-gooey melty congo bars.

Ben, in particular, loved my mom’s congo bars. In fact, he loved them so much that he made up a song and dance about them.  No joke. My mom loved this, of course, so just about every week she asked me if she should make a batch of congo bars just for Ben (my mom is one of the most thoughtful, generous women you will ever meet and if she knows you love one of her baked goods, she will make sure to always bake it for you).

Ben’s comment got me craving one of my mom’s congo bars. So, I set out a healthier version of my beloved childhood treat, but this time we’re using chickpeas.

Yup, chickpeas. No flour. These are gluten-free. In fact, they’re vegan, too (unintentionally, but hey now I am just pleasing loads of different diets!)

And what goes better with chickpeas then peanut butter, am I right!?

*Crickets*

I’m kidding. I’ll admit we’re doing weird things with these Chickpea Blondies. It is completely strange combination, but it works, so just hang in there a little while longer, would’ya?

You’re going to need a food processor or a very good blender. Everything gets thrown in and blended up all nice and smooth. You just let that food processor do alllllll the work.

When they’re baked, you end up with a delicious batch of gluten-free congo bars / chickpea blondies / whatever the heck you want to call them. Try them out on friends and family and see if they can tell that they’re gluten and dairy free!

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Healthy Blondies

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

25 mins

Total Time

40 mins

 

These Healthy Chickpea Blondies are a vegan, gluten-free, and grain-free alternative to the classic Blondie recipe. You won't even taste the chickpeas - promise!

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Chickpeas, Chocolate Chips, peanut butter

Servings: 9 bars

Author: Rachel (littlechefbigappetite)

Ingredients

• 1 15 oz. can unsalted chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/3 cup natural unsalted peanut butter or almond butter* (See note below)
• 1/4– 1/3 cup maple syrup, to taste**
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips, divided

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8×8 baking pan.

2. Combine all ingredients besides the chocolate in the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth (about 45 seconds).

3. Chop half of the chocolate chips (1/4 cup) coarsely with a knife. Fold the chopped chocolate and unchopped chocolate chips into the batter.

4. Pour the mixture into the baking pan. Bake for 25 minutes or until the edges begin to harden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. The blondies will harden as they cool, so be careful not to overcook them. Cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Do not attempt to cut them sooner, or they will crumble. Wait and you'll get nice squares!

Notes

*Peanut Butter will provide a noticeable peanut butter taste and almond butter will be mild and less detectable.

**You can substitute honey, but blondies will no longer be vegan.

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