Chickpea Blondies Recipe
These chickpea blondies with peanut butter are healthy, fudgy, vegan blondies with chocolate chips.
It’s a delicious healthy vegan protein dessert or snack ready in 30 minutes!
What Are Blondies?
Blondies are like vegan brownies. Well, except for the color, hence their name. Brownies are named for their chocolate color, the same is true for blondies.
They are blonde because of the lack of chocolate in their dough, replaced with vanilla.
How To Make Chickpea Blondies
Chickpea blondies are fudgy healthy blondies bars made in 10 minutes in your food processor using canned chickpeas.
The trick to making a fudgy blondie with chickpea is to drain and towel-dry the chickpea first!
Ingredients
This is the key to making blondies with canned chickpeas. All the other ingredients you need are pretty simple pantry staples:
- Canned chickpeas – Canned chickpeas, also known as Garbanzo beans must be drained and towel-dried, to remove any excess water that could make the blondies too soft and fragile. If you love chickpeas, try my other chickpea recipes.
- Maple syrup – or any unrefined liquid sweetener of your choice, such as coconut nectar or rice malt syrup.
- Peanut butter – Find out how to pick vegan peanut butter.
- Baking soda
- Baking powder
- Vanilla
- Dark chocolate chips – or pieces of 70% dark chocolate. Most dark chocolates with more than 70% cocoa are vegan friendly.
Flourless Chickpea Blondies
This recipe is flourless, meaning there is no all-purpose flour used in the recipe. Instead, the recipe is using almond flour, which is basically thin blanched ground almonds.
Other options are oat flour that you can make at home by pulsing rolled oats into your blender for 30 seconds.
Allergy Swaps
While I love the combination of chickpea and peanut butter in this recipe, there is a nut-free option too!
First, you can replace peanut butter with sunflower seed butter (careful, as it might turn the batter slightly green).
Next, swap the almond flour with oat flour.
Finally, if you can eat almonds and you are only looking for a peanut-free option, replace peanut butter with any other nut butter, such as almond butter or cashew butter, and keep the almond flour.
Storing Chickpea Blondies
Yes, you can freeze chickpea blondies individually, in ziplock bags, or in an airtight box.
If you are using a box, separate each blondie bar with a piece of parchment paper to prevent them from sticking together.
Defrost your chickpea blondie bars on the counter the day before or at least 3 hours before.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not at all, they have a sweet, chocolatey taste and a very moist texture. It’s a delicious treat that everyone will love.
Brownies are made with chocolate in the batter, giving them a brown color.
Blondies are made with no chocolate in the batter, so they keep the golden color of the flour and ingredients.
Blondies are called this way because of golden blonde color of the batter.
Blondies tend to remain moist and gooey in the middle and this remains true for chickpea blondies.
They’re not undercooked, just moist!
Chickpea Blondies are a healthier alternative to classic blondies. Chickpeas are rich in fiber, protein, iron, and vitamin.
They are a complete protein source, meaning that they contain all the essential amino acids.
Chickpea blondies should be cooked between 25 and 30 minutes.
More Healthy Vegan Dessert Recipes
If you love these healthy vegan blondie bars, you will probably love my vegan brownie recipes!
Made this healthy chickpea blondies recipe yet? Share a picture with me on Instagram.
Chickpea Blondie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup Canned Chickpeas - or 1 can of canned chickpea of 400g (14 oz), drained, towel-dried
- ⅓ cup Peanut Butter (Unsalted) - or sunflower seed butter if nut-free
- ½ cup Maple Syrup - or any liquid sweetener like agave syrup or date syrup
- ½ tablespoon Vanilla Extract
- ¼ teaspoon Baking Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Sea Salt
- ⅓ cup Almond Flour - or oat flour
- ⅓ cup Vegan Dark Chocolate Chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a 9-inch x 9-inch brownie pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Open the can of chickpeas, rinse, drain and dry/rub the chickpeas in a clean towel to remove all the water or moisture. This is very important, or the blondies will be fragile and too moist.
- Place the chickpea in the bowl of a food processor and add peanut butter, maple syrup, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- Blend on high speed for 1 minute or until smooth, and no big lumps are left.
- Add in almond flour and process again at high speed for 15-30 seconds to blend evenly.
- Remove the food processor blade and stir in chocolate chips. I recommend keeping 3 tablespoons on the side and sprinkling them later on top of the blondies. This prevents adding too many chocolate chips in the batter that will melt and turn your blondies into brownies.
- Spread the blondie batter evenly onto the prepared baking pan and sprinkle the chocolate chips you set aside on top.
- Bake 20 – 30 minutes or until golden and crusty on top. If your pan is wider, it will cook way faster. On the other hand, if your pan is smaller, the blondies are thicker, and it may take more than 30 minutes to set. Always insert a pick in the center of the blondie to check baking. If it comes out clean with little crumbs, it is ready.
- Cool 10 minutes in the pan to firm up the blondies. Don't skip this, or they will break. Then gently loosen the sides with a knife and lift the pieces of parchment paper to easily release the blondies from the pan and transfer it onto a cooling rack. Careful, the blondies will still be soft and fragile. If you feel it is too soft or moist, wait for 10 more minutes before transferring it onto the cooling rack. This prevents the blondies from breaking.
- Cool for at least 1 hour before slicing into 1 bar, or they can be fragile. After 1 hour, you can pop the blondies in the fridge for 1 hour. It will add an extra fudgy texture and make it easier to slice.
Storage
- Store up to 5 days in the fridge in an airtight container.
Can you make these without a food processor?
It might work in a blender, but it’s a lot more work as you have to push the batter to the blade all the time.
Family favorite in our house! I am beyond shocked this had chickpeas in it. I love this healthier alternative dessert and everyone I have made this for thinks it’s just like the regular blondies. So easy & good. I have it as a treat with my afternoon coffee. I have been trying hard to get in shape and eat healthier and this is a great dessert to keep me on track.
Hi,
I have garbanzo flour instead of chickpeas/garbanzo beans. What would be the correct amount of garbanzo flour to use instead of the whole beans??? Thank you in advance!
I haven’t tried this recipe with chickpea flour, I can’t tell if it would work, feel free to experiment!
Thank you! The entire family enjoyed the chickpea blondies. Great recipe! My children waited the 10 minute cooling period, but not the hour!
So good! My favorite healthy sweet snack to keep in hand!
I’ve made these several times now and they are so delicious every time! I like to dry out my chickpeas on a cookie sheet in a 200º oven for 15 to 20 minutes or so. I think it really helps the blondies to come out perfect. I use an 8-inch square glass baking dish to bake them in. I’ve taken them to different functions and they are always well received. No one has any idea they’re eating chickpeas unless I tell them.
can i use all purpose flour and sugar free liquid sweetener?
I didn’t try these option but I guess it will work, texture might be a bit more dense with AP flour
I made these once with peanut butter (tasty!) and decided to try sunflower seed butter. They turned a blue/color.
Any idea why? I’ve never baked with sunflower seed butter so not sure if that is common.
That’s the natural chemistry of sunflower seed butter or sunflower seed flour, they turn greenish with heat
Can we freeze these?
Absolutely !
i have a question. a 400 g of cannes leas is actually 240g of drained chickpeas. is that ok? or should i use 400 g of actual chickpeas?
thanks
The recipe mentioned a can of 400g, drained so you are all good with your can of chickpea!
Could you use molasses as the sweetener?
I didn’t try that but since it’s a liquid sweetener it should work. I guess the color of the blondies will be much darker and flavor different too.
I cut the maple syrup to 1/3 and they were still amazing and fudgey
I am excited to try this! I have never baked using chickpeas. When you rub them dry is the goal to remove most of the shells or do you want those in there?
It better to remove them, the blondie texture is better without but it won’t hurt to keep them for fiber. The texture will simply be a bit gritty with them
What is the baking temp?
Instructions appears before the comment section. in the recipe card, enjoy!
Hi there – when you say vanilla is this vanilla extract or vanilla essence?
Vanilla extract
These are amazing! I made a few substitutions and calculated calories: I used all purpose flour instead of almond flour and for 2 tbsp of the peanut butter, i substituted a seed butter (chia seed, sunflower seeds, etc.). I only used 2 tbsp of maple syrup. I came up with ~1700 calories for the whole batch and cut into 16 pieces, so ~110/piece. Two pieces make a perfect breakfast bar!
My husband wanted a little sweeter and topped his with a tsp of nutella. I’ll probably use the full 1/4 cup of maple syrup next time.
Thank you! I will definitely be making these again.
Thank you. This worked great for dessert on Thanksgiving. I made a few changes. One being, I backed down the maple syrup from 1/2 cup to 1/3 cup. They were still plenty sweet.
I made these with soya beans (I’m allergic to chickpeas) and oat flour, using half the amount of sweetener, and wow were they incredible, much better than black bean brownies. I wanted a breakfast bar with more protein, and these definitely fit the bill, so they’ll be on my list now! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for such a lovely comment and sharing your idea to make this recipe differently!
Can regular flour be used?
Probably, yes feel free to experiment.
O.M.GGG these are perfect. Super easy to make. Followed the directions with no substitutions. The only thing I did was use an 8×8 glass pan since I don’t have the size she asked for but it came out just fine! I will def be making these again. Thank you for the amazing recipe.
Hello I made these and the top turned green. I’m what did I do wrong hah-
Did you used sunflower seed butter instead of peanut butter? That’s the only product I know that turn food green in baking
These came out great. However I’m questioning the calories here. How can 12 bars equal 125,000 calories (125kcal)?!
Kcal is just short for kilocalories
I think your are confused about calories and kcal. When we talk about calories intakes it always refer as kcal, never calories. We should say I can eat xxx Kcal a day
So I’m pretty lazy when it comes to baking (even though i do enjoy doing it) and i used my NutriBullet & Air Fryer for these. Soooo good! I plowed through 3 big pieces in no time haha
Hi! How did you make them in the air fryer, I tried but mine turned out a mess!
Thank you
I don’t think the air fryer will do well with this particular recipe. I didn’t experiment baking chickpea blondies in mine but I think it will not set well in the center.
I just made these yesterday for friends who are vegan and even my incredibly picky kids loved them and asked me to make them again! I made them in mini muffin tins for a fun little bite. I’ve already shared the recipe several times. They are so good!!
Can I make these in a high speed blender rather than food processor?
Thanks for this fab recipe!
You probably can if you have a tamper attachment provided to help you push the beans next to the blender blade
These are so yummy! I used soy butter and coconut nectar. I doubled the recipe for a thicker Blondie and baked for 1/2 hour. The texture is spot on and hits the sweet spot! Next time will try with black bean, choc soy butter and a little less coconut nectar. Would be great with some vegan whip!
Holy! These are epic!
I didnt have the issue with the delicateness however. I actaully added a tsp of egg replacer powder, after reading that so I wouldnt have an issue. Worked really well fyi(;
Thank so much!
I’ve been gluten free for 8 years, and I’ve never used chickpeas for baking before. I was definitely a little nervous about how the texture would be with chixpeas, and I have to say that they turned out amazingly. I was so impressed with this recipe, I had to stop myself from eating the entire pain. Thanks for the recipe, I can’t wait to try to make more desserts with chixpeas.
OMG these taste amazing. Fabulous recipe, easy to whip up for a heathy treat.
Hello! Can you use chickpea flour instead of canned chickpeas? If so, what measurement?
No sorry it won’t work
These turned out quite squishy for us. Even though we followed all the steps like towel drying the chickpeas, baking for a full thirty minutes, and cooling thoroughly before cutting, they still have a very raw cookie dough kind of flavor and texture. Which I guess isn’t a bad thing if that’s what you’re going for. 😀 I’ve definitely made chickpea bars that turned out with more of a “baked” final flavor and texture, though.
It’s a soft blondie, so maybe use a different flour next time, like all purpose flour. They will be more like a real blondie with a flour higher in starch
Wow! I made these this evening and they are incredible. I was a bit sceptical they wouldn’t turn out as fudgy as the pictures make them look but they really do! We have already scoffed half of them. I made my own almond flour from a pack of blanched almonds too and that was surprisingly easy to do. Great recipe with great ingredients. Definitely going to be a staple in my house and can’t wait to make some for family and friends.
I would just love to go to a recipe again quickly refresh the read and not be overwhelmed by ads galore redundant wording and pics or videos etc before checking to make sure I’ve got what I need before starting the task of making the recipients no recipe.
You an use the jump to recipe button on top of the post to go directly to the recipe card or click the print button to open the recipe ad-free in another tab. Enjoy! Carine
Soooo good! Thank you so much. Delicious No one gets there is a cheekpeas inside
Hi! Can I use coconut flour
No sorry it won’t work here
I am not vegan, but macros conscientious. I substituted the peanut butter for PBFit for less fat, almond flour for coconut flour because it is what I happened to have, and instead of 1/2 cup maple, I went with 1/3 cup agave to keep it just as sweet but with less carbs. Because i was able to control water in the PBFit, had less liquid from exchanging the sugars, and coconut is notoriously more absorbent than almond flour, I had no issues with them becoming too moist. They are perfect and ended up coming to only 97 calories each!
I love this!! I am also macro conscientious. May i ask how much PB powder you used? And did you follow the same cooking time and temp?
This is FANTASTIC!! I just tried this recipe and it’s so good I can’t even tell it’s healthy!
just made these and so yummy! we couldn’t wait so sampled some straight off the cooling rack so they were a tad fragile…but like all chickpea sweet recipes, I’ve no doubt they’ll firm up/be even better the next day. Only thing i didn’t like was the maple syrup was a huge amount and a good quality one in the UK is expensive so an alternative suggestion would be appreciated 🙂
Really delicious, wouldn’t know they were vegan unless someone told me – I would use slightly less honey next time though (between 1/3 – 1/2 cup)
These are CRAZY delicious! I was so shocked by the taste- instead of a blondie, they tasre like the best chocolate chip cookies ever. I’m enjoying delving deeper into the world of veganism!
Hi thanks a lot for your recipe it seems fantastic! I just had a question, do you believe that peanut butter can be replaced by dairy-free yogurt ? I’m allergic to nuts and wondered if that could be an option !
You can’t replace the nut butter by yoghurt, but nut-free options are sunflower seed butter or tahini, same amount. Enjoy, XOXO Carine
oh.my.goodness. i have been vegan for 5 years HOW have i just come across this recipe. i made them today, and waited patiently all day to have one for dessert and let me tel you, THEY ARE HEAVENLY. i am making them for all of my friends for the holidays, i seriously can’t say enough good things about these. THANK YOH
Easy to make, and very fudge-y! Thank you for the recipe.
I just made them and am pleasantly surprised how it turn out!!!! Never expected chickpeas can be used for bar snack! Mine might be a tad dry so next time I will check the baking time a few minutes early. Already thinking about what to add in to them in my next batch! Thank you so much for the recipe!!!
I find sunflower seed butter to be quite bitter. Would swapping sunflower seed butter for the peanut butter significantly alter the taste of the blondies or make them bitter?
Definitely, I always recommend peanut butter or almond butter. Sunflower seed are always bitter. Enjoy, XOXO Carine
I used sunflower seed butter and didn’t find them bitter at all. They were good. Hope this helps those with nut allergies.
Can I use a zero calorie maple syrup instead regular maple syrup or that would affect the blondie?
I am not sure how it will work since I didn’t try this option. It will probably make the blondies more fragile since there is no sugar. Enjoy, XOXO Carine
Tried this recipe today and it worked brilliantly! Awesome squidgy texture, will try with hazelnut butter next time!
Great recipe! I used lentil flour instead and they turned out perfectly 🙂
Thanks for sharing your option! I will try that too, sounds delicious. Enjoy the recipes on the blog, XOXO Carine
Really good! I used 1/4 cup of maple syrup and 1/4 of Swerve sweetness. I used almond flour but will try with the oat flour as well. I love the gooey texture in the middle!
The recipe looks very interesting and i definitely want to try it. I will be using oats flour to make this. however i do not have maple syrup, can i use honey instead. If yes then how much? and if no then what else can i use as a sweetener. Thanks.
You can use the same amount of honey to replace maple syrup in this recipe. Since its a vegan recipe blog, I don’t recommend honey but the recipe will work well with it. Enjoy, XOXO Carine
Hello, could you recommend me a good food precessor? thank you x
Quick question – anytime I’ve baked sunflower seed butter it has turned my baked goods emerald green in color the next day – any thoughts on this or tips?
When sunflower seeds mix with baking soda they turn green. You could try reducing the baking soda, but I would suggest maybe using tahini instead.
I never had this issue so I would recommend buying a different brand to see if it gets better. Enjoy the recipe, XOXO Carine
LOVED these! One batch is simply not enough!!! So excited to have a healthy alternative to a Reese’s blondie treat I once enjoyed before shifting to a more conscious diet.
I love the picture thank you so much for sharing ! Enjoy the recipes on the blog, XOXO Carine
Hello, could you recommend me a good food processor? I have a blender but it’s very weak it doesn’t work to make batter
Sure! I am using a Kitchen aid at the moment. It is not the cheapest brand but it is robust and blends anything even hard nuts. I also love that the warranty is 5 years on all parts, my kid break the bowl and they exchange mine in a few days, no questions asked. Enjoy, XOXO Carine
Could you use all purpose flour if you are not vegan or don’t have oats/almond flour?
I am sure it will work well yes. Enjoy, XOXO Carine
These are delicious! I’m not vegan and usually would steer clear of things that are, but these are now a staple in our house! Used oat flour (blended up my own for oats) and was feeling more like the traditional cookie bar flavors rather than chocolate peanut butter, so blended up almonds to make my own almond butter and added a splash of avocado oil to make up for the left out oil that would usually be in the peanut butter. Added 1 tbsp of chia seeds for some crunch and these are golden!
I am so happy you enjoy the blondie recipe ! Love the addition of chia seeds in thIs recipe too. Thanks for sharing your tips, Enjoy the recipes on the blog, XOXO Carine
Amazing! Thank you for this and every other one of your recipes I come across. You allowed me to snack healthy again!
I am so happy to read that ! Healthy snack is a great feeling I agree. XOXO Carine
These are so tasty!!!! Thank you so much for this recipe!!
Thank you so much for trying my recipes and being here with me, XOXO Carine
Soooooo good!!! Totally enjoyable. Thanks for the receipe.
Thank you ! XOXO Carine
Have made these twice! Yesterday, my 6 yr. old grandson, kept, in his words, “snooching” more of them because they were so good! Thanks for sharing your recipes, going to try more!
That is amazing ! My kids are also in love with this recipe. It feels good to serve them healthy treats like this. Thanks for trying my recipes, XOXO Carine
The whole pan was gone within 5 minutes. My four little boys and I will be making these again for sure. Quick, easy and was just what we all needed for a little pick me up. Thanks for sharing your gift with the world!
That is amazing ! Thanks for such a lovely feedback, XOXO Carine
These are absolutely outstanding!!!! Kid and adult approved. I’ve officially decided they are a new category of health food Thank you. All the best, @veganmiaorganics
Thank you fo the lovely picture and review ! Enjoy the recipes on the bog, XOXO Carine
Incredible! Kid approved too!! Used oat flour instead. Will be making this over and over again. Thanks for the recipe!
It is great when the kids are on board too! Mine are crazy about these blondies as well 🙂 Take care, XOXO Carine
Okay here’s my simple review: anyone who loves cho colate should make these blondies, they’ve become one of my favourites because they’re super easy to make, healthy and delicious. I will definitely make them again soon 🙂
Ps. I used 1/3 cup zero calorie maple syrum instead of 1/2 cup regular maple syrup and I used stevia dark chocolate. I chose oat flour bc I didn’t have any almond flour.
Thanks so much for sharing all your ideas on upgrading this recipe ! Love it. Take care, XOXO Carine
Definitely love this yummy recipe and will be using it in the future! I subbed maple syrup for agave because it’s all I had and used gf namaste flour instead of almond flour and its delish!
I am so happy you found my blog and enjoy the recipes around here. Take care. XOXO Carine
How many servings?
Serving size appears on top of each recipe cards on my blog. This blondies serve 12 bars and the nutrition panel is for 1 serve, 1 bar. Enjoy, The recipe. XOXO Carine
I made this recipe with oat flour and it seems to hold together well 10 min out of the oven. I loved the peanut butter and chocolate together, yum! I aim for low sweetener so I used 1/4 cup maple syrup and 85% dark chocolate chunks and it’s just barely sweet enough, might do 1/3 cup maple syrup next time.
I used a trick I learned for smooth hummus and it worked nicely for this recipe – boil the chickpeas 20 min with 1 tsp baking powder. Let them cool or they’ll melt the chocolate chips, like mine did, oops, still yummy!
Could you please clarify when to add the salt? For the vanilla is 1/2 tablespoon correct, equivalent to 3/4 tsp?
Hey Tess!
Did you try with a 1/3 cup? Please let us know when you do!
1/2 a tablespoon is equivalent to 1 1/2 teaspoons
Canned chickpeas come in a variety of sizes here. What size did you use? Thanks!
My can are 400 g (14oz) . Enjoy the recipe. XOXO Carine