These healthy peanut butter blondies are gluten-free, dairy-free, refined-sugar free and vegan friendly! Made with chickpeas but you’d never know it! A delicious healthy dessert recipe.
These healthy peanut butter blondies are one of my all-time favorite dessert recipes that I've been baking for 15 years!
I have this habit that I can't don't want to kick, of sitting down and having a legit dessert every night after dinner. However, I would like to live past 45, so I love making treats that taste indulgent but are actually good for you, like these chickpea blondies. One of my favorite ways to achieve this goal is by using beans in place of flour in baked goods.
Chickpea Blondies?
These healthy peanut butter blondies use chickpeas instead of flour and peanut butter in place of butter or oil. I know what you're thinking, do they really taste good? Yes, I promise you that they do!
I really love the combination of honey and coconut sugar as the sweetener, and the addition of 1 tablespoon of almond milk really made the texture perfect. This recipe ended my search for a delicious, healthy, peanut butter cookie that's high in protein and fiber.
These healthy peanut butter blondies are also vegan-friendly (no eggs)! So you can eat the batter too. I love adding a touch of sea salt to the top of these before baking them, you can't go wrong with sweet and salty!
How to Make Chickpea Blondies
This vegan blondies recipe is easy to make. Just put all the ingredients (except the chocolate chips) into the container of your Vitamix (or other high-powered blender or food processor) and blend.
It takes 5 minutes to put together and 30 minutes to bake. Which means that you can have a delicious dessert ready to go in no time.
Room temperature. One thing to note is that these blondies blend the easiest when all the ingredients are at room temperature.
If you're using a solid peanut butter, I recommend melting it a touch before putting it in your blender. Rinse the chickpeas with warm water, and let the almond milk warm up a bit at room temperature too.
Store/freeze
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 2 months. Reheat in the microwave or oven or enjoy them cold (they are delicious cold too).
Reipe FAQs
Yes, double it and bake it in a 9x13" pan.
No, you can omit the chocolate chips or use a different add -in like dried fruit, nuts, etc.
Healthy Peanut Butter Blondies: Substitutions
I recommend making this recipe exactly as written. However, if you must, here are a few possible substitutions!
- Chickpeas. Great Northern Beans (white beans, Cannellini beans) also work well in this recipe! However, chickpeas (garbanzo beans} are my favorites!
- Peanut butter. Any nut or seed butter works well in place of peanut butter.
- Honey. Use pure maple syrup for a vegan variety.
- Coconut sugar. Any granulated sugar works well in this recipe. I prefer coconut sugar because it is unrefined.
- Almond milk. Any non-dairy or regular dairy-full milk can be used in this recipe. I have also used non-dairy creamer.
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Healthy Peanut Butter Blondies (Chickpea Blondies)
Ingredients
- 15 oz can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans) rinsed and drained (or 1 ¼ cups cooked chickpeas)
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- ¼ cup honey (maple syrup for vegan)
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- 1 TBS almond milk
- 2 tsp vanilla
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ cup chocolate chips
- extra sea salt & chocolate chips for the top
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8" or 9" glass baking pan and set aside.
- Put all ingredients except for chocolate chips into your blender (Vitamix) or food processor. I highly recommend a great blender like the Vitamix so you get a perfectly smooth consistency.
- Blend until creamy and smooth.
- Once smooth, add chocolate chips and mix by hand.
- Pour mixture into your prepared pan and spread out evenly.
- Sprinkle a few more chocolate chips and sea salt on top.
- Bake in your preheated oven for 20-30 mintues until the edges just pull away from the pan, the top is set and slightly golden brown.
- Let cool for at least 15 minutes, then enjoy!
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. You can eat them cold or warm in the microwave for 15 seconds to regain the fresh-from-the-oven deliciousness!
Video
Notes
Ingredient Substitutions
- Chickpeas. Great Northern Beans (white beans, Cannellini beans) also work well in this recipe! However, chickpeas (garbanzo beans} are my favorites!
- Peanut butter. Any nut or seed butter works well in place of peanut butter.
- Honey. Use pure maple syrup for a vegan variety.
- Coconut sugar. Any granulated sugar works well in this recipe. I prefer coconut sugar because it is unrefined.
- Almond milk. Any non-dairy or regular dairy-full milk can be used in this recipe. I have also used non-dairy creamer.
Store/freeze
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 2 months. Reheat in the microwave or oven or enjoy them cold (they are delicious cold too).Nutrition
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jane
delicious!!! Can I double the recipe and use the same pan and bake for same amount of time? Also do you have any other recipes that don’t have any refined sugar?
Laura
If you double the recipe I suggest using a 9x13" pan. If you decide to make a double batch in an 8x8 or 9x9" pan you will need to increase the baking time. I have many healthy dessert recipes! Check them out here: Healthier Desserts. My favorites are black bean brownies and flourless brownies!
Ariana
I love this recipe! Can I add vegan protein powder as well? Thank you
Katie
These were amazing! I used a food processor and had stray bits of chickpea that weren’t fully blended, but they were still delicious. I am still in shock at how good they are! Thank you for sharing!
Laura
Hey Katie! I'm so glad you love them as much as we do! I suggest using a high-powered blender for the best texture!
Rita
I make these in my nutribullet and I did have trouble blending everything. If i were to make again, I would blend the chickpeas first. We ended up having to go in with a fork to smooth out any remaining chickpeas.
While I am crazy about the black bean brownies, I thought these were good, but nothing to write home about. My boyfriend remarked that they tasted "healthy." Lol. That said we both kept returning to the pan for another piece. Long story short - I enjoyed them but would be interested in trying another recipe to compare.
Laura
I suggest using a high-powered blender like a Vitamix or Blendtec (not nutribullet)!
Anna
I went low-cal a few months ago and was searching for a low-cal dessert to satisfy my sweet tooth. I stumbled across this recipe, hesitant of the chickpeas, and ended up eating the entire pan in two days. Warning: DANGEROUSLY DELICIOUS, AND ADDICTING!
Rebecca
LOVE this recipe!!! So good! My boyfriend is allergic to peanut butter though. Recon I could make this with a different nut butter?
Laura
Yes! Any nut or seed butter should work well!
Miranda Lawler
These are DANG good. I'm not one to shy away from chickpea desserts, but this is by far the best I've had. YUM!
Laura
Thank you Miranda I'm so glad you love them as much as we do!
Megan
I have no idea if these taste better all the way cooled because my family devoured them before they cooled 🤣. This is the first time I've liked a dessert made with chickpeas!