I must thank our daughter for sharing this amazing recipe for vegan blondies with me! There is no sacrifice of flavor in these babies; they are delicious! I would never have tried baking them without tasting them in her kitchen.
Karen is experimenting with gluten-free and vegan cooking and baking for our granddaughter while they figure out a healthy diet for our girl. She has found several wonderful recipes that I'll be sharing!
These are not blondies like the famous Toll House bars, but they are quite good when a gluten-free and vegan version is needed. The texture is different; they are softer and moister, but do they taste like chickpeas or hummus? Absolutely not.
I love hummus and chickpeas, but I would never have guessed they could be used as a substitute for flour in baked goods! I've mentioned it before, but I am always amazed at the ingenuity of people who cook and bake!
You do not need a bowl to make these vegan blondies. The easiest way to make them is in a food processor. The ingredients are very simple and readily available in your local grocer. There are no fancy or expensive products needed.
Begin by draining the chickpeas and rinsing them thoroughly, then dry them as much as possible. I emptied the strainer onto a clean dishtowel and gently rubbed them dry. As I did, many of the husks came off. When they do, discard the loose ones. Remove as much moisture as you can. If the chickpeas are too wet, the blondies will be overly moist and crumble easily.
Empty the chickpeas into your food processor and add the peanut butter, vanilla, maple syrup, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
Pulse or blend for about one minute until there are no lumps and everything is well blended, then add the almond flour and pulse for another thirty seconds or so to incorporate the flour.
Add half the chocolate chips to the batter and pulse a few times to distribute them. Save the rest to put on top just before baking because these are blondies, not brownies! 😉
For the record, I did not use vegan chocolate chips in this batch, so my blondies were gluten-free but not entirely vegan. Ghiradelli now offers a fabulous vegan dark chocolate chip that would be perfect. The recipe lists vegan chocolate chips.
Pour the batter into an eight-inch or nine-inch square baking pan lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips evenly over the batter.
Bake at 350 degrees for about thirty minutes. A nine-inch pan will take a little less time to bake, but check for doneness by inserting a toothpick or cake tester in the center. It should come out clean with no crumbs clinging.
It's important to let the blondies cool completely before removing them from the pan. Carefully move them onto a cooling rack to set them up completely. You will use the parchment paper to lift the vegan blondies out of the pan after they have firmed up.
I cut my eight-inch square pan of vegan blondies into 16 bars; for me, it's a great serving size. They are very moist and tender, so I keep them refrigerated and covered, which is good because they are less tempting when out of sight! 😋
If you want a healthier alternative to bars made with butter, sugar, and eggs, this chickpea blondie recipe is a good one to try. Chickpeas are cheap and readily available, so they are an attractive alternative for baking!
PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD
This is a recipe for moist peanut-buttery blondies dotted with chocolate chips. Made with chickpeas and almond flour, they are gluten-free.
You can use regular chocolate chips, but the blondies will not be vegan.
You can substitute oat flour.
You can substitute agave or date syrup for maple syrup.
I've been a very traditional baker, but I am always looking for quick and easy cookies and bars. I have no problem using cake mixes and other shortcuts to make what I call semi-homemade goodies. Here are a couple of my recipes that have been very popular: Desperation Cookies and Busy Day Lemon Bars.
If you enjoyed this recipe today, please share it on your social media accounts like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. I'd sure be tickled and ever so grateful; thank you!
If you haven't already, check out my Facebook page and Pinterest, where I'll post easy, delicious, and family-friendly recipes every week!
Love, GB (Betty Streff)
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in the recipe where u put things in the food processor u forgot to list peanut butter ..it's in the instruction above but not in the printed part ..wasn't impressed