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You are here: Home / Healthy Recipes / Peanut Butter Chickpea Blondies

May 21, 2018 43 Comments

Peanut Butter Chickpea Blondies

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These peanut butter chickpea blondies are gooey, delicious, and made with no refined sugar. They’re nutritious enough to enjoy as a mid-afternoon snack and rich enough for an after-dinner dessert! And these healthy peanut butter blondies happen to be flourless, naturally gluten-free, and vegan, too.Healthy Peanut Butter Chickpea Blondies with Chocolate Chips

A couple of months ago, I joined my friend, Riley, for a mini staycation while she was housesitting for a family friend. We played with their dogs, went for a long run on the American Tobacco Trail nearby, taste-tested the 3 kinds of mint chocolate chip ice cream in their freezer (they were happy to share their food!), shopped at the outlet mall, and had a fun staycation.

Riley brought these peanut butter chickpea blondies to share and they were soo good. Like usual, I was a bit skeptical of any dessert that’s “healthy,” but I liked these enough to make them myself several more times, and I’ll keep making them in the future!

Healthy Peanut Butter Chickpea Blondies with Chocolate ChipsThese peanut butter blondies do have chickpeas in them, but they don’t have a strong chickpea taste, fortunately. The ingredients (chickpeas, peanut butter, maple syrup) magically turn into a soft, gooey blondie. 

It’s just a bonus that these flourless blondies have nutrients like fiber, protein, and healthy fat from the peanut butter.

I don’t think dessert need to be healthyโ€“ I eat ice cream a few times per week just because I love it! But I’m always up for trying a healthier dessert as long as it doesn’t have crazy expensive ingredients and it tastes good. (I’d honestly rather just eat fruit rather than eat a healthy dessert that tastes bad.)

They’re good both hot out of the oven and later at room temperature or refrigerated. They don’t taste exactly like traditional blondies and are a bit softer, but I think they’re great for a healthy treat.

Healthy Peanut Butter Chickpea Blondies with Chocolate Chips

You can make the blondie batter in either a food processor or a somewhat powerful blender. I actually made these twice to test how powerful the blender needs to be. The first time was in my family’s Vitamix blender, and that definitely did the job.

The second time was with the much less expensive (but still pretty good) blender in my dorm room. I had to stop the less powerful blender to stir a few times, but it ended up doing the job. You definitely want the blondie batter to be smooth and mixed well!

Healthy Peanut Butter Chickpea Blondies with Chocolate ChipsSince I love to bake and find it really relaxing, I’m always looking for new recipes to try, and it’s nice to have some healthier treat recipes in my arsenal.

Most weeks, I make some kind of healthy baked good/snack like baked oatmeal or energy bites, in addition to making one or two main dish recipes for dinner.

You can read more about how I loosely meal prep here, if you’re interested! I’ll be adding these peanut butter chickpeas to the rotation. ๐Ÿ™‚

Healthy Peanut Butter Chickpea Blondies with Chocolate Chips

If you try these healthy peanut butter chickpea blondies, let me know in a comment or take a photo and tag me @livbane on Instagram!

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4.54 from 15 votes

Peanut Butter Chickpea Blondies

These peanut butter chickpea blondies are gooey, delicious, and made with no refined sugar. They're nutritious enough to enjoy as a mid-afternoon snack and rich enough for an after-dinner dessert!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 16 blondies
Calories: 130kcal
Author: Liv

Ingredients

  • 15 oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 5 Tbsp. pure maple syrup or honey
  • 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp. natural peanut butter
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp. salt (add extra 1/8 tsp. if using unsalted peanut butter)
  • 1/2 cup semisweet or dark chocolate chips, plus a few extra to sprinkle on top

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Add chickpeas, maple syrup, peanut butter, and vanilla to a powerful blender or food processor. Blend until smooth, and then add salt, baking powder, and baking soda, and blend again. Stir in chocolate chips.
  • Line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray and spread cookie dough into an even layer. Sprinkle a few extra chocolate chips on top.ย 
  • Bake for 22-25 minutes, until the top is just beginning to slightly brown or a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean.

Notes

Although I think typical cookies and blondies taste great when they're super gooey, I personally find that you can taste the chickpeas in these blondies if they are not baked long enough. So, slightly under-baked, but not too gooey, is ideal.

Nutrition

Serving: 1blondie (1/16 recipe) | Calories: 130kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 6g | Sugar: 8g

Source: My friend’s recipe was originally from Ambitious Kitchen, and we tweaked it slightly to add more peanut butter and chocolate (and slightly lessen the amount of maple syrup and salt), although I’ve seen chickpea blondies recipes floating around for years, so there are quite a few similar ones out there (ex: here, here).

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Healthy Peanut Butter Chickpea Blondies with Chocolate Chips

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Comments

  1. Sarah @ Bucket List Tummy says

    May 21, 2018 at 11:33 am

    5 stars
    The tobacco trail was my favorite place for long runs when I was training for Tobacco Road – love that trail! Helped me clear my mind from grad school craziness. Love that you addd peanut butter in here ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
    • Liv says

      May 22, 2018 at 7:36 pm

      Yes!! I love that trail and the fact that we went to school at the same place!! Go Heels!!

      Reply
    • ToriLeeGA says

      November 9, 2022 at 10:37 pm

      5 stars
      I have a recipe for double chocolate chip cookies that uses the aquafaba (liquid) from chickpeas, so I was looking for a recipe that would use up the chickpeas themselves. I love to put them on my salad, but a whole can was a bit much. I found this recipe and it is perfect!!!

      I used almond butter instead of peanut butter and I substituted Lily’s White Chocolate-Style Baking Chips sweetemed with Stevia instead of chocolate chips, since I already had a batch of double chocolate chip cookies!! The taste was fantastic!! And NO, I could NOT taste the chickpeas. I happen to love chickpeas, so I’m in seventh heaven with these. They were definitely gooey, so I will be increasing the baking time from now on. Thanks for sharing this recipe!! Now I can make a batch of chocolate chip cookies and a batch of Blondies from one can of chickpeas!! Yay!!!

      Reply
  2. Carol Eiseman says

    May 21, 2018 at 2:17 pm

    I have never purchased chick peas, but if you can’t taste them in this recipe, I need to try it. Using dark chocolate, it sounds as though the brownies would be wholesome.

    Reply
    • Liv says

      May 22, 2018 at 7:40 pm

      Yes! They’re pretty good for you! ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  3. Emily Swanson says

    May 24, 2018 at 5:08 pm

    I absolutely love stay cations. We had a little bit of that this month when my dad was gone in Africa. And I LOVE that you baked together. That’s one of my favorite bonding activities. These look insanely DELICIOUS and fudgy.

    Reply
    • Liv says

      May 29, 2018 at 6:33 pm

      Yes!! Staycations are so fun- you can turn anywhere into a vacation ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  4. Sheila says

    May 31, 2018 at 3:12 pm

    Dropping by to say thank you for sharing this recipe. We tried making this last Saturday and it was delicious. The kids had a great time following the recipe.

    Reply
    • Liv says

      May 31, 2018 at 4:59 pm

      Hi, Sheila! Thanks so much for letting me know! I’m so happy that you and your kids enjoyed this recipe ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  5. Lauren says

    June 21, 2018 at 4:04 am

    5 stars
    Just tried these tonight with using natural ground almond butter and unsweetened chocolate chips. Came out fantastic, although a tad salty, but I believe that’s from using unsweetened chocolate. I think I’ll cut the salt in half next time to compensate, but definitely on my desert rotation from now on!

    Reply
    • Liv says

      June 21, 2018 at 9:33 am

      So glad to hear you enjoyed these and thanks for the tip about the unsweetened chocolate!

      Reply
  6. Laurette Bignell says

    August 6, 2018 at 1:43 pm

    4 stars
    I followed the recipe exactly and baked them according to directions. They came out much too gooey. There is such a thing as under baked. They are delicious but I think I will add ten more minutes to the baking time. Did anyone else have this problem?

    Reply
    • Cathy J says

      April 22, 2020 at 9:02 pm

      Yes I baked about 10 – 15 minutes extra. They were delicious!

      Reply
  7. Kimberly says

    October 14, 2018 at 10:58 pm

    5 stars
    Hi Liv,

    I am a long time reader, first time commenter. Your chickpea blondies look amazing. I will have to try them! They would also be good made into chocolate mint brownies – just add cocoa powder and a few drops of mint.

    Reply
    • Liv says

      October 24, 2018 at 12:28 am

      Hi Kimberly! Thanks for reading and for commenting!! Hope you enjoy the chickpea blondies ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  8. Saroja says

    January 6, 2019 at 10:26 pm

    4 stars
    I made this today with almond butter. It was good. But, it was little soft. I feel, may be I could have cooked for another 5 min. I would do it again,

    Reply
    • Liv says

      January 8, 2019 at 6:49 pm

      I’m glad you enjoyed these! It sounds like they may need a bit longer in the oven (although they are a softer blondie in general)!

      Reply
  9. Erin says

    January 8, 2019 at 12:04 am

    5 stars
    Well I’m probably never making cookies or blondies the “real” way again! These were so delicious and easy! I didn’t tell my husband what was in them until after he finished one. He shrugged, got a glass of milk, and helped himself to another. I’m trying it with cocoa powder mixed into the batter right now to see if I can produce a healthy brownie, too!

    Reply
    • Liv says

      January 8, 2019 at 6:44 pm

      Haha! So happy to hear that you and your husband enjoyed these. How did they turn out with the cocoa powder added?

      Reply
  10. Kevin says

    January 31, 2019 at 12:59 am

    5 stars
    I subbed in almond butter because I’m allergic to peanuts and added 2tbs cocoa powder to make them brownies. I also had to bake them for about 30 mins because the almond butter is runny but they came out really good! Still gooey.

    Reply
    • Liv says

      January 31, 2019 at 12:25 pm

      Thanks so much for sharing your version! Sounds delicious ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  11. AB says

    March 23, 2019 at 4:11 pm

    My brand new blender couldn’t blend the mixture as it was so thick. Had to add water. Made soups and pesto with the blender and worked beautifully. Maybe mine just cant handle the peanut butter?!

    Reply
  12. Jane says

    March 26, 2019 at 3:59 pm

    5 stars
    Just made these with chopped pecans instead of chocolate chips (& only 1/4c maple syrup bc I ran out). SO GOOD!! I would even just eat a bowl of the dough. My kids loved them too.

    Reply
    • Liv says

      April 2, 2019 at 11:21 am

      So glad you and your kids love these blondies, Jane!!

      Reply
  13. Heather | Southern Honey says

    April 10, 2019 at 2:11 pm

    Hey, Liv! How long do you think these will last if I store them in the fridge?

    Reply
    • Liv says

      April 11, 2019 at 10:43 pm

      Hi Heather! I’d say they’d be good for over a week! They’d taste fresh for about 1-2 weeks ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  14. Allison says

    April 13, 2019 at 11:53 am

    Excited to try! Are these better with a Skippy/Jif brand peanut butter or will natural peanut butter work too?

    Reply
    • Olivia Bane says

      April 16, 2019 at 11:15 am

      Hey Allison! I use natural peanut butter!

      Reply
  15. Tara says

    May 27, 2019 at 1:57 pm

    5 stars
    Oh my gosh! I just made these with butter beans rather than chickpeas (as I didnโ€™t have any in the cupboard) and can say that they are just delightful. Excellent recipe, thank you!

    Reply
    • Liv says

      May 31, 2019 at 5:32 pm

      I’m so glad to hear it, Tara! Great to know that they’ll work with butter beans, too ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  16. Jane says

    June 4, 2019 at 12:19 pm

    I have been looking for chickpea recipes to recommend to folks that come to a food bank our church has. I noticed that people were leaving the chickpeas because they didn’t know what to do with them. So this month I am taking samples of your blondies, slightly modified so all ingredients would be things on their shelves. (Sugar and water instead of maple syrup) Thanks for a great recipe.

    Reply
  17. VeGan says

    June 29, 2019 at 1:43 am

    Tried these with all organic ingredients & added shredded coconut ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ
    Would love to find a replacement for the maple syrup to keep the sugar content even lower.
    These were great thanks for sharing! โœŒ๐Ÿผ

    Reply
    • Liv says

      July 4, 2019 at 2:13 pm

      So glad you enjoyed these blondies!

      Reply
  18. sally rawlins says

    March 7, 2020 at 6:09 am

    5 stars
    Delicious! turned out perfect. My daughter is being vegan for lent and I’ve been struggling finding proteins she’ll like so these treats are great for topping that up and better than biscuits for her. Thanks for sharing this recipe.

    Reply
    • Liv says

      March 14, 2020 at 4:47 pm

      Hi Sally! So glad your daughter enjoyed these ๐Ÿ˜€

      Reply
  19. Sally says

    March 15, 2020 at 1:33 am

    4 stars
    I liked these! My kids too (and was super easy for them to follow along with me as we made them). They aren’t very sweet, however, but they don’t have any oil/refined sugars so are definitely the healthiest chickpea dessert recipe I’ve seen. I have a big sweet tooth, so I drizzled a little maple syrup on top and its was delishhhh. Thanks for this recipe! I’ve been trying as many as possible chickpea dessert recipes (especially with this whole “socal distancing” business).

    Reply
  20. Kayleen says

    March 27, 2020 at 2:27 pm

    1 star
    I am sorry to hear all y’all have lost your damn minds when you say you dont taste chickpeas

    This is baked peanut butter hummus (I did not have chocolate chips, is that the magical ingredient that makes it taste like choclate and hummus?)

    If baked beans with peanut butter swirled in is your idea of a wild time, cool for you. It will taste exactly like that.

    I’m here to warn the folks thinking this is a blondie and are trying to use up what they have in the cupboard. It is not a blondie. This and a blondie dont even live in the same state. Its baked hummus. A real zinger of hummus for sure, but hummus none the less.

    Reply
  21. Liane @ Foodie Digital says

    April 6, 2020 at 1:07 pm

    5 stars
    Super delish! The texture is just right.

    Reply
  22. Paula says

    May 5, 2020 at 1:00 am

    I followed the recipe just as it was written other than adding some coarse sea salt on top when it came out of the oven. It’s delicious and satisfied my sweet tooth in a non-guilt kind of way.

    Reply
  23. Alanna says

    October 5, 2020 at 8:42 pm

    Is it possible to use regular not natural pb? I am dying to make these tonight please advise ๐Ÿ’•

    Reply
    • Liv says

      October 6, 2020 at 3:35 pm

      Absolutely! Hope you enjoy!

      Reply
  24. Emma Winter says

    January 26, 2021 at 9:20 am

    5 stars
    So delicious! ๐Ÿฅฐ
    Could you freeze them?

    Reply
    • Liv says

      January 26, 2021 at 1:14 pm

      So glad you enjoyed, Emma! And absolutely, you can freeze these.

      Reply

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Hi, Iโ€™m Liv! I originally started blogging to share easy meals I made in my college dorm kitchen. Years later, as an attorney now, my goal is still to share delicious, approachable recipes with simple ingredients. You can most often find me running, eating ice cream, and making a mess in my kitchen. More...

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