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! It’s the perfect healthy dessert recipe that you can feel great about indulging in!
This recipe was originally posted on March 31st, 2016. The photos have been updated and a video has been added to give an old favorite a little facelift!
Today I’m sharing a recipe with you that has been 2 years in the making. These Healthy Peanut Butter Blondies are a dessert you can feel great about eating! As you know by now…I always have some sort of healthy dessert on hand or just coming out of the oven in my house.
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, there are so many chickpea peanut butter recipes out there, what makes this one different?
I’ve tried (and liked) many of those recipes, but there’s something about this one that just did it for me. I really love the combination of honey and coconut sugar as the sweetener, and the addition of 1 TBS 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 {and will want to!} lick the Vitamix clean without a care in the world! Yay! 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 Healthy Peanut Butter Blondies
This vegan blondies recipe is SO easy! Simply toss everything (except the chocolate chips) into the container of your Vitamix (or other high-powered blender or food processor) and blend away! 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!
Healthy Peanut Butter Blondies: Substitutions
Like I said earlier, I tweaked and tested this recipe many, many times before deciding to share it with the world. So I recommend making it exactly as written. However, if you must, here are a few possible substitutions! 🙂
- Chickpeas. Great Northern Beans {aka: white beans, aka: Cannellini beans} also work well in this recipe! However, chickpeas (aka: garbanzo beans} are my favorites!
- Peanut butter. I honestly have never tried this recipe with any other nut or seed butter, but I am guessing that any all-natural variety would work very well!
- 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 and tastes amazing!
- Almond milk. Any non-dairy or regular dairy-full milk works excellently in this recipe! I have also used non-dairy creamer with yummy results too!
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Healthy Peanut Butter Blondies
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! It’s the perfect healthy dessert recipe that you can feel great about indulging in!
Ingredients
- 1 15 oz can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
- ½ cup peanut butter
- ¼ cup honey can substitute maple syrup for a vegan option
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- 1 TBS almond milk
- 2 tsp vanilla
- ½ tsp 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!
Recipe Video
Question: have you tried baking with beans?! If so, how did you like it?
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Denise
Hi, these look awesome! Can you substitute skim milk for the almond milk? And something else instead of coconut sugar? Mine don’t need to be vegan but I don’t have those ingredients at home – thanks!
Laura
Hey Denise! Yes! You can use skim milk in place of almond milk! And any granulated sugar works well!
Lee
These were awesome. Frankly the batter was so good I’m not sure if the next batch will go in the oven or not! I made them using beans I had cooked in the instant pot and found that they needed a couple tsp of the aqua fava water to get the right consistency. This made the rise really well too. By the way, for dairy free chips, Costco’s Kirkland brand chocolate chips are much better than Enjoy Life and about 1/4 the cost.
Thanks for the recipe.
D
I agree about that, but my son is allergic to tree nuts and Costco’s brand isn’t safe for him. For my lactose intolerant husband, those chips from Costco are the best!
Ashley
Hello! I am planning on making this either tonight or tomorrow for my birthday dessert tomorrow evening! (I am just recently both gluten and sugar free and my store-bought cake family is stumped haha.) Is it still good if it sits out covered or the next day and what is the best way to store it for that amount of time? Thank you
Laura
Hey Ashley! I usually store them in the refrigerator overnight, not out at room temperature!
Rilea
These are the real deal! I’m a college student, and finding protein packed tasty breakfast/snack foods can be a challenge. I’ve been making these every week for a few months now, they’re such a life saver! I’ve made them for my friends who enjoy processed foods and they were shocked to hear that these are healthy. There is so much tasty plant based flavor in these bars! Thanks for creating this recipe!!
Laura
Thank you so much for stopping by to let me know you enjoy them Rilea! They really are a great snack, and you’re right…so much better than processed snacks!
Beth
I am planning to make them in the mid afternoon …. can they sit out a few hours before serving or would you refrigerate them ?
Laura
Yes! they absolutely can sit out to cool on the counter until you serve them!
Teri
Just made these and they are wonderful. Made exactly as written, other than using regular white sugar in place of coconut sugar, which I didn’t have.
Baked them for about 20 mins and they looked done and tasted delicious. As others have said, they were a bit soft in the middle so next time will allow another five mins or so. May be personal taste, but I still find them incredible while a bit soft and they did hold into bars, though slightly soft bars!
Andrea
Where do you get vegan chocolate chips and chunks?
D
I live in the south and I get them from my regular super market Publix. I’ve also seen them Walmart, Whole Food, a Target
Denielle
I love these and have been making them regularly for the last few months. Have you tried doubling the batch for a 9×13 pan before? I’m thinking it might work but need a longer bake time.
Laura
Hey Denielle! I’m so glad you love them! I honestly have never tried to double the recipe. My only concern would be that they might stay pretty gooey in the center. You’d definitely want to increase the baking time (I think)! You could always double the recipe and bake it in two 8×8″ pans! 😉
Jeanne
Hi laura, these blondes tasted amazing, however my bullet didn’t do very well at blending everything. I doubled the recipe but it still didn’t want to blend. I ended up throwing some whole chick peas away because my bullet would not blend them. Maybe I should have used my cuisinart processor, not sure.
Jeanne
Laura
Hey Jeanne! I don’t mean to sound like a snob, but a bullet is NOT a powerful enough blender to make treats like this. A food processor would definitely be a better choice, if a Vitamix isn’t in the budget! 😉
Gwen
My bullet actually worked perfectly for this. I didn’t feel like pulling out my large food processor so decided to use the bullet!
Laura
I’m SO glad to know that Gwen!!! Thank you for letting me know!
Angie
Made these tonight and they were delicious!! My family finished the whole pan. I would say that they all loved them!
Angie
Made these tonight and they were delicious! My family finished off the whole pan. I would say that they all enjoyed it!
Gillian
Can’t wait to try these today!!! I’ve made my own hummus before and found the texture is better when you take the skin off the chickpeas. Do you feel that would impact this recipe in a positive way or not worth it because it’s baked?
Laura
As long as you have a high-powered blender, it shouldn’t matter! I have never removed the skins and I love them! 😉
Lee DeBusk
Thanks so much for this recipe. It’s my new go to as I usually have all of the ingredients in the pantry. But the best thing is that these treats are so delicious and easy to make!!!
Jenn
Just made these and they were amazing!!! I used organic agave five instead of maple syrup to make it lower carb and it worked fantastically. I wish I made 2 batches because everyone loves them!
Thanks for a great recipe!
Lori
Omg I LOVE THESE!! I am truly obsessed with making them!! I can’t believe how delicious they taste!! I make them all the time.
Susan
I made these tonight as a Valentine treat for my husband who is eating Paleo as much as possible. I followed the recipe exactly and they turned out perfectly. Mine look just like your pictures and they are, unbelievably, delicious! I bake a lot would serve these to anyone and I don’t think they would even know how much healthy goodness is in here. What a great surprise.
Nameni
I agree with you, the recipe is very easy to make at home. in the first trial I managed to make it almost perfect though it does not look like the picture 🙂
I am very happy that my parents really liked that, thanks for the idea and the recipe
DM
I made these with cannellini beans. These were amaze balls! 👍 👏 👏 👏 😎 I used less sugar and used tupelo honey. Yum!
Laura
SO glad you enjoyed them!!!
Erica
These are simply fabulous. Thanks for sharing!
Britt
These blondies are AMAZING!!!! I was beyond impressed. I was a little apprehensive at first because I’m not a peanut butter lover and normally try to avoid it as much as possible. However, this year I said that I am going to be adventurous and cook with items and foods that I normally shy away from. This dessert was sooooooooo worth the adventure . I made one adjustment to the recipe, I added pecans and coconut flakes to give it some texture. Thanks for the new recipe!
Laura
Ok, these are amazing! My son has a dairy allergy, my good friend is celiac, her daughter has an egg allergy and I’m just sort of a plant-eating hippie. Our families do dinner together once a week and I have made it my mission (with little success unfortunately) to find a dessert we can all eat that is actually good. Just like you, I too will NEVER give up dessert. My mission is complete with these here blondies. THANK YOU!! Mine turned out very soft in the middle but definitely set. I used a ninja blender to mix without any issue, and baked them in a glass 8×8 fyi.
I have two questions for you. Can you use cannellini or great northern beans instead of garbanzo? I am fresh out and want to make these again right now! Also, what is your username on Instagram so I can tag you? Do you have a hashtag? The world needs to know about these!
Laura
Hey Laura! I’m SO glad you enjoyed these blondies! They’re a favorite around here for sure! I have used white beans (I believe I tried great northern) before and they still taste good, however I prefer garbonzo! But if you must make them ASAP I do not think you will be disappointed! 😉 My username on instagram is @joyfoodsunshine and the hashtag is #joyfoodsushine !
Joanne
I could not get these to bake through. They taste good but are like they are unbaked. And did not rise at all. Any suggestions?
Allyssa
Calorie count/nutrition facts? These look great!
Alyssa
Can the recipe be doubled for a 8×13 pan? Would you bake it longer?
Kelly
these were absolutely amazing. I would never have known that they didn’t have flour or dairy in them. Very rich and decadent for a gluten free, vegan recipe. I will definitely be making these again!