Peanut butter chocolate chip chickpea blondies are gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free, and super easy to prepare in your blender. Plus, they’re vegan and packed with fiber and protein for a healthful dessert!
Looky here, it’s the cousin to the Double Chocolate Chickpea or Black Bean Brownies recipe I showed you a couple weeks back! Did you try them? Are you sold on bean-based treats yet?
For this rendition of baked beans, we have a peanut butter-packed chocolate-studded chickpea blondies type of scenario made out of garbanzo beans…and you guys…UGH! It definitely gives the brownie a run for its money.
Oh, and, hey peanut butter lovers! Guess what day Wednesday was? That’s right…it was National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day.
Regardless of what day Wednesday was or wasn’t, it has been quite a long time since I’ve posted a peanut butter treat. In fact, the last one was the Flourless Peanut Butter Skillet Cookie I showed you circa October 2015, and prior to that, the Dairy-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Coconut Milk Ice Cream from August of 2014. Methinks we were long overdue.
Back to my story.
I did some serious contemplating over what to name these…
- Chickpea Blondies
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bites of Pure Bliss
- Barway to Heaven
- Stop in the Name of Peanut Butter Love
..were some of the options I thought of.
Name calling aside, really all you need to know is they are PACKED with peanut butter flavor…they’re not one of those hint-o-pb situations…they are a HOLY peanut butter, there’s peanut butter in there, no mistaking it, no sir types of scenarios.
Which reminds me…if you like peanut butter or if you’re intolerant/allergic to it, you can use any nut butter you’d like. Cashew butter would be my #1 recommendation for replacement, because have you had cashew butter? Dream boat.
And the chocolate…don’t forget the chocolate. I used a chopped up dark chocolate bar, but you can use your favorite chocolate chips – semi-sweet, milk chocolate, white chocolate, peanut butter for some double peanut butter action…you catch my drift.
How to Make Peanut Butter Chickpea Blondies:
So we prep the bar batter in a blender by whizzing up everything but the chocolate. Add in the chocolate, transfer the batter to a baking pan, bake, and wait patiently as our home fills with the most amazing peanut butter-scented fog.
All in all, we end up with a grain-free, dairy-free, eggless, refined sugar-free vegan treat that we may as well call health food.
Notes and Options for Change-Ups:
- The peanut butter I used was a no-stir peanut butter. If you use an oilier or drier peanut butter, it could affect the consistency of the bars. If the peanut butter is on the dry end, consider adding more coconut oil. If on the oily end, consider omitting the coconut oil.
- You can also prepare this recipe with cannellini beans (or black beans…it will just look kinda weird with black beans is all) instead of chickpeas.
- For a cake-like consistency, omit the coconut oil and add 1 egg. Bake for the same amount of time.
- You can use any liquid sweetener for this recipe, including coconut palm syrup, agave, and honey. If using honey, keep close watch on the bars, as honey has a lower burn temperature than other liquid sweeteners – check the bars after 25 minutes and go from there.
It’s your party and you’ll peanut butter if you want to.
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If you make this recipe, please feel free to share a photo and tag me at @The.Roasted.Root on Instagram!
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Chickpea Blondies
Ingredients
- 1 (15-oz) can garbanzo beans drained and rinsed, see note*
- 1/3 cup unsweetened peanut butter
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup see note**
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cider vinegar or lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon optional
- 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips or chunks
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and line an 8" x 8" baking pan with parchment paper.
- Add all of the ingredients for the bars to a blender except for the chocolate. Blend until completely smooth. Stir the chocolate chips/chunks into the batter.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared baking dish and smooth into an even layer. Bake on the center rack of the oven for 25 to 35 minutes (mine took 35).Â
- Allow the bars to sit 1 hour before cutting to help them set up (if you cut them before an hour, they will fall apart very easily). Cut, serve, and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Julia, you posted this recipe at just the right moment….grand-kids are coming up for a sleepover. I can spoil them in a more healthy way. Not that I have to have children in the house to enjoy these.!
Girl, this is making my water like CRAZY. I wish I could grab one through my screen so bad right now. UGH. Peanut butter is LIFE!!
I’m drooling hard core at this recipe right now and I can’t stop looking at these gorgeous pics of these bars! Chocolate chips and PB were made for each other! Wishing I could sink my teeth into one of these babies right about now!
Hi, this sounds so brilliant and I really wanna make it today without going to the store. I’m out of cider vinegar and lemon juice, though – would either rice vinegar or lime juice work instead?
Also, if i reduce the sweetener a little, would that be okay cuz I’m aiming for low-cost, low-sugar 🙂 thanks for your help!
Hi Melissa,
For sure, you can use rice vinegar! The only purpose for the lemon juice/vinegar is to react with the baking soda, so really any acid will work. You can definitely reduce the sweetener as well. If you reduce it quite a bit and the batter looks too thick, you can add some almond milk to offset it and make it more liquidy, but I doubt you’ll need to do that 😉 Hope you enjoy!
These chickpea bars look INSANELY good!! I love it when healthy foods are snuck into desserts 😉
Um, these look amazing! I can’t believe chickpeas result in a texture like that!!!
I AM IN AWE! BRB. Going to make these beauties right now!
Ummmmm… I have a good feeling about these bars and how they’re going to be my new favorite. GORGEOUS! Also, that peanut butter! SWOON.
So happy you like them, Erin! They’re definitely a solid-go to 😉
I rarely make sweets but this recipe made me want to try it. OMG, they are awesome tasting and super addictive (thus the reason I rarely made sweets!). I brought them into the office today for everyone to try and they are getting rave reviews!!! Thanks for an awesome recipe.
Yaaaaas! I’m so thrilled to hear it, Beth! They’re definitely addicting so that was very smart of you to share with others…my belly wasn’t too thrilled with me when I consumed the first batch by myself in 2 days, ha! Thanks a million for your feedback! xo
OMG these look so good I could practically smell them through the screen LOL!!!! I think this weekend is going to be my best shot at making these, and taking them to work Monday so I don’t eat them all myself 😉 Besides, I’ve been bragging that there are healthy treats that taste as good as the junk, so I hope to make converts of my heathen co-workers 😉
Yaaaas! I hope you enjoy them!! I’m the same way – I love making healthy treats and encouraging my friends and family to guess what they’re made of. They’re typically shocked when I say things like “beans” or “sweet potato” or “beets” lol! Thanks so much for your sweet note!
You’ve done it again! 🙂 These look like perfection!!!
These look SO good! I love the idea of packing all that power into a bar. I’ll have to try these and see if I can get my brownie loving dad to guess the secret ingredients 😉
These are my new favorite dessert bars! I have made them several times. So easy to just throw into the blender! I use natural peanut butter, it’s oily; so i omit the coconut oil. I think the chocolate chips make the sweetness just right so I only add half the agave. I bake mine a little longer, just till slightly firm. These chickpea blondies are a hit!
Oh these look amazing! Have you tried them with peanut butter powder? If so, same quantity?
Hi Kali,
I’ve never tried them with peanut butter powder. I think if you made them with peanut butter powder you’d need to add some oil to make up for the loss of the fat from the peanut butter. Definitely let me know if you try it! xo
Hi, I’m on a low carb diet and wondered is there an alternative to the maple syrup that I could add? ty
Absolutely! You can use a zero-sugar sweetener like Stevia or Swerve. Both are sugar alcohols, and you don’t need very much in order to make the blondies sweet. That said, I’m not sure how much you would use because I’ve never tested the recipe with a low-carb sweetener. I’d start with 3 tablespoons, taste the batter, and add more as desired 😉
I’m not going to lie… I love everything unhealthy, I did not have high hopes for this, I mean no grains, dairy or sugar?! But I am trying to be healthy and I needed desert so I thought I would give this a try (hopes very low) I tried the batter… it was good! And then while baking it smelt amazing! I ate a small price while cooling and holy smokes Batman I am in love! How is this so good?! I’ll prob eat the whole pan!! Thank you so much for this amazing recipe!! I’ll be making double next time!
Yaaaaas! I’m so happy to hear it, Tracy! It’s crazy how sneaky healthier food can be! xo
Do you have the macros listed? I could not find them… thanks Great snack for my kiddos!
Amber
Hi Amber! I just added the macros to the recipe card. Let me know if you have any other questions! xo
I so rarely leave reviews, which is horrible and trying to be better. I stumbled across this recipe after searching what to make with black beans. These are SO good that I made a batch for my own birthday dinner and again two days later. Amazing! My finished product isn’t as golden brown, and I’m not sure why? But, they taste just absolutely amazing. I added some sweet potato frosting to a few but I think I might like plain better. Mind-blowing!
I’m so thrilled to hear it, Karmen! I love how simple yet tasty the cookies turn out…definitely a great go-to! Also your sweet potato frosting sounds AMAZING! xoxoxo
@Julia, can you think of any reason mine aren’t turning out golden brown? Now I’m on a mission to make them look as good as yours too!
Ooh, great question…mine have always turned out golden-brown, so I’m not sure what the difference is. I wonder if it could be the peanut butter we use? Mine is the natural kind, which is slightly darker than regular peanut butter. Hope you’re able to get a golden-brown batch! xo
Can I substitute honey for maple syrup?
Hi Elizabeth! You can use honey instead of pure maple syrup, but I would keep an eye on the bars while they are in the oven because honey has a tendency to burn after a while, which causes baked goods to brown up quite a bit. So you may need to bake the recipe for less time 🙂
@Julia, thank you for this helpful information! I was not aware that honey may burn. I love learning something new!
My pleasure! Honey can still be used in baked recipes but typically you’ll want to bake them for less time and keep an eye on it. 🙂