Chickpea Blondies

Soft and fudgy chickpea blondies made from healthier ingredients. These blondies are easy to make and are naturally vegan, refined sugar-free and can be made gluten-free.

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 25

Total Time 35

Servings small bars

Calories 140

Author Anthea

Ingredients

~1 ½ cups (250g) chickpeas canned or fresh and drained well (I got this amount from one 15oz or 440g can)
½ cup (125g) cashew butter or nut butter of choice (note 1 for alternatives)
½ cup (45g) oat flour (note 2 for alternatives and gluten-free note)
½ cup (170g) maple syrup (note 3 for alternatives)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract or to taste
1 teaspoon baking soda
⅛ teaspoon salt or to taste
½ cup (85g) mini dairy-free chocolate chips plus extra to decorate

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F). Line an 8-inch (20 cm) square baking pan with parchment paper.

Prepare the chickpea blondies:

Add all the ingredients except the chocolate chips to a food processor or blender Blend until the mixture is as smooth as possible. It should be slightly runny.
Remove the blade of your food processor. Add the chocolate chips and mix with a spoon or spatula. Make sure your blondie batter isn't warm when you add the chocolate otherwise the chocolate will melt.
Pour the batter into your prepared baking pan. Smooth the surface with a spoon or spatula. If desired, sprinkle additional chocolate chips on top of the batter and press them in.

Bake the chickpea blondies:

Bake the chickpea blondies for 23-28 minutes. The blondies are ready when they have puffed up and the surface is golden brown. If you insert a toothpick in the middle, it should come out clean (a few moist crumbs are fine but there shouldn't be any wet batter).
Place the square baking pan on a wire rack. Allow the blondies to cool completely in the baking pan for at least 1 hour. The blondies are very soft when they're warm.
When the blondies have completely cooled, remove them from the baking pan and cut them with a sharp knife. The blondies are very fudgy so it may help to run your knife under hot water before cutting them (see the blog post above for more tips for cutting). If desired, sprinkle the blondies with flaky sea salt or enjoy with vegan ice cream.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Notes

Natural peanut butter or almond butter will also work. Sunflower seed butter will make your blondies turn green, although they will still be delicious! My cashew butter was quite thick so if your nut butter is runny, your final batter will be a different consistency. The blondies will bake similarly.
To make oat flour, blend ~1/3 cup (45g) of traditional rolled oats in a food processor or blender until as fine as possible. Alternatively, you can use the same amount of all-purpose flour or almond flour (blondies made with almond flour will be more fudgy and moist). If you're gluten-free, use uncontaminated gluten-free oat flour. Note that oats in Australia and New Zealand contain traces of gluten.
Alternatively, you can use any other liquid sweetener in the same amount. Brown sugar and coconut sugar will also work (use the grams measurement). You're welcome to reduce the amount of sweetener but I recommend baking your blondies for less time. Your final blondies will also be thinner.

Nutrition