Decadent and fudgy chocolate chip chickpea blondie cups boast added protein and fiber while replacing the flour in this decadent, gluten-free recipe. And can you believe there is no granulated sugar? No brown sugar? No eggs? No butter? And yet they still taste AMAZING! This guilt-free treat is sweetened with natural sweeteners (ripe banana and maple syrup) that help to replace sugar. I know…it’s hard to believe but you seriously have to try these!

Black beans in a brownie and white beans in a blondie–what is this world coming to! A whole bunch of deliciousness if you ask me! Now, don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against grains. I’m fine with flour and am not afraid of a cookie but lately I’ve been thinking about ways to give some of my favorite indulgent foods a healthier twist to add more protein, fiber, and/or healthy fat while decreasing calories and/or added sugar (especially refined sugar).

Unless you’re a stranger to Pinterest, it is likely that you’ve seen black bean brownies and possibly even white bean blondies come through your feed. I’ve also seen many dietitian colleagues develop some amazing desserts using beans that have piqued my interest. So finally the other day when I was talking to my cousin about a black bean brownie that a coworker brought into her office to sample and she couldn’t stop raving, I decided it was time to jump on the bean dessert bandwagon.

I have to warn you…I think the best thing and the worst thing about this recipe is that I can totally justify it as a healthy breakfast, snack, dessert, lunch, dinner, appetizer (is there anything else to categorize it as?). I mean, come on, it has beans (protein and fiber), peanut butter (protein and healthy fat), and a banana—it is basically a “diet food.” And since it makes 24 happy little minis, I found myself tempted to pop them all the time. Which led me to the need to FREEZE them! Because unless you have a family to devour them or an office to bring them to or amazing willpower, you’ll want to eat them all!

A few tips and tricks about this recipe…

-Use a very ripe banana. The riper the banana the more sweetness it yields. If your banana isn’t ripe (or ripe enough), consider the Express Banana Browning Trick.

-Blend, blend, and blend. Seriously, my food processor got hot I let it go so long. You don’t want chunks of chickpea in your dessert so blend until all of the ingredients are smooth and incorporated.

-Eat the batter! Seriously! It tastes like cookie dough and there is no guilt of giving yourself a terrible food-borne illness.

-If you want to make these paleo, nut or tree nut free, vegan, sugar-free, etc. , check out the options at the end of the recipe.

-The blondie cups are very dense. They’re fine to store in an air-tight container for up to 3 days but after that, I would recommend freezing to keep them tasting fresh.

Mini Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Chickpea Blondie Cups

Makes 24 mini muffins

Prep: 10 min. Cook: 20 min

1 (15-oz) no-salt-added chickpeas, rinsed, drained and skins removed

½ cup natural peanut butter

1 medium very ripe banana

2 Tbsp maple syrup

2 Tbsp vanilla extract

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (60% cocoa)

1 tsp vegetable oil or cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix all ingredients except chocolate chips in a food processor until very well blended, stopping every 20-30 seconds to scrape down sides. Mixture should be very smooth.
3. Transfer mixture to a medium bowl and fold in chocolate chips.
4. Lightly brush the cups of a mini muffin tin with oil (or spray with cooking spray, if preferred).
5. Spoon 1 heaping tablespoon into each muffin cup. Bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center of the blondie comes out clean.
6. Cool on a wire rack in the muffin tin for 5 minutes.

Options:

Nut-Free/Paleo: Substitute equal parts natural almond butter or sunflower seed butter for natural peanut butter.

Vegan: Choose a vegan dark chocolate chip product or chop a very dark chocolate bar into chunks.

No-Sugar-Added: Omit maple syrup and replace with an additional ripe banana.

Tags:

#GrainFree #glutenfree #norefinedsugar #vegan** #dairyfree**

#kidfriendly #breakfast #snack #dessert #tailgate #onthego #backtoschool