Dining In - Healthy Chocolate Chip Blondies

Healthy Chocolate Chips Blondies - Chocolate Covered Katie

These aren't your average blondies. These are a much healthier version of the sugar-packed, high-calorie blondie - the secret is chickpeas! You would never guess that chickpeas could work in a dessert but this legume has a mild flavor and when processed has a creamy texture that lends itself well to dessert batter. This is actually my second successful dessert recipe using chickpeas (I will post the other one soon!). The mild flavor is disguised and you end up with a dessert that is more filling from the fiber and protein, and much healthier with a fraction of the fat. Instead of white sugar, it calls for brown sugar. As for a fat source to make them yummier, peanut butter is a tasty alternative to the empty calories of oil or margarine.

This recipe was super quick and easy to make with little mess to clean up! They came out a little mushier than I would have liked, so I highly recommend drying the chickpeas well and possibly adding additional flaxseed or quick oats. You can find the full recipe here, on the Chocolate Covered Katie site.

1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup ground flaxseed (or quick oats)
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/3 - 1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips (I used the Enjoy Life mini chips)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease an 8x8 pan.

Combine all ingredients in a food processor, except for the chocolate chips. Once all other ingredients are blended together and you have a wet, smooth batter, stir in chocolate chips.

Pour or scoop into the pan and sprinkle a few extra chocolate chips on top.

Bake in oven for 30 minutes. Allow to cool and cut up into squares before serving.

Wasn't that easy?