Healthy Peanut Butter Blondies

What is a blondie? It's the nonchocolate counterpart to a brownie, duh!

Blondies have more fun. Topped with NuNaturals Cocoa Syrup (0 cal)
I know that blondies still don't seem to be as popular as brownies, but these babies are pretty tasty! Don't worry, I added mini chocolate chips because chocolate is necessary.

Now what makes these "healthy"?

  • No refined sugar (aside from chocolate chips)
  • No refined flours
  • No oil 
  • Extra protein and fiber 
How? Chickpeas. Bean there, done that, back again! My father taste tested it and after I revealed that they were made with no flour, rather, they were made with chickpeas, he said he couldn't tell! Success!

They're pretty simple, but word to the wise: My blender is not a high powered food processor so the batter became pretty warm as I blended to a good consistency so when I folded in the chocolate chips, it turned the batter a bit brown as some of them melted. They were still delicious but if you're going for aesthetics, you may want to cool the batter before folding in the chocolate chips!
So fudgy and dense!

Ingredients:

  • 1 can (15oz) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter (I used a natural variety)
  • 1/4 cup honey 
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp imitation butter flavor
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tbsp cashew milk (or milk of choice)
  • additional sweetener to taste (I used NuNaturals No Carb blend stevia packets - I used 6 if I remember correctly)
  • 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare a 8" baking pan with cooking spray or line with parchment paper. 
  2. Rinse, drain and dry the chickpeas. Most of the "skins" came off as I dried. 
  3. Combine the chickpeas, peanut butter, honey, milk, and sweetener in a high powered blender or food processor.
  4. Blend until smooth. 
  5. Allow batter to cool and fold in the chocolate chips. 
  6. Bake for 25-35 minutes until the edges pull away and/or the top is golden brown. 
  7. Allow to cool and dig in! Store in the refrigerator. 
My dad described these as "rich" which he attributed to the peanut butter. He's been known to strongly dislike my "healthy" recipes so I counted this as a success and I enjoyed them a lot myself! How can you go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate?? 

Let me know if you try these! Have you ever made a dessert with beans? Can you believe I still haven't tried black bean brownies?

Recipe adapted from Joyfoodsunshine.com

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