Healthy Peanut Butter Blondies (Chickpea Blondies)
Posted Feb 23, 2018, Updated Oct 05, 2021
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
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 9×13″ 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.
If you make and love our recipes, it would mean so much to me if you would leave a comment and rating! And don’t forget to follow along with us on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and Youtube – be sure to tag @joyfoodsunshine and use the hashtag #joyfoodsunshine so we can see your creations!
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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
The links in this post are affiliate links, thank you for supporting JoyFoodSunshine.
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.
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.
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
I made these with cannellini beans. These were amaze balls! 👍 👏 👏 👏 😎 I used less sugar and used tupelo honey. Yum!
SO glad you enjoyed them!!!
These are simply fabulous. Thanks for sharing!
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!
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!
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 !
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?
Calorie count/nutrition facts? These look great!
Can the recipe be doubled for a 8×13 pan? Would you bake it longer?
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!
chocolate chips have milk in them
Barry you’re in luck, there are MANY brands of semisweet and dark chocolate chips that are completely dairy-free and vegan! My highest recommendation is Enjoy Life Foods chocolate chips ! Other brands include Sunspire, Kirklands, Guittard, and Trader Joe’s!