This recipe for chickpea blondies with peanut butter couldn’t be easier. They are a great snack or lunch box filler to make for kids as they contain no refined sugar.
To make these chickpea blondies all you need to do is chuck all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and whizz them all up before baking in the oven. They are free from refined sugar, dairy and gluten. They make a great choice for picky eaters who aren’t keen on pulses or struggle to get enough protein as they’re packed full of nuts and chickpeas, both of which are good source of protein.
It’s been such a revelation to me how well beans and pulses can work in sweet treats as a flour replacement. Following the success of the black bean brownies I was keen to try a healthy version of a blondie, and decided to make them chocolate free to see how these went down with the kids.
These delicious chickpea blondies with peanut butter are free from gluten, dairy and can also be free from refined sugar if you pick your brand of peanut butter well. You could use any nut butter in its place if you prefer – cashew butter is particularly good.
When I originally wrote this post Miss R was two, R was four and Baby S was about an inch big with a long way to go before he was ready to be born! I wrote at the time that Miss R would eat peanut butter straight from the jar with her fingers given half a chance, yet it was the original picky eater, her big brother R, who really couldn’t get enough of these blondies. It’s wonderful to be able to give them a sweet treat knowing that it isn’t full of bad things, and might even actually contain some goodness. R still isn’t keen on chickpeas or peanut butter – or many other things – but he does love these and it’s good to know that he’s getting some goodness.
This recipe is based on this one from Ambitious Kitchen, which uses chocolate chips.
Here’s how to make chickpea blondies with peanut butter:
CHICKPEA AND PEANUT BUTTER BLONDIES
Ingredients
- 1 x 400g tin of chickpeas
- 175 g peanut butter cashew butter also works well
- 75 g maple syrup
- 2 tsp vanilla essence
- 1/2 tsp salt optional
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 75 g ground or chopped almonds
Instructions
- Grease and base line a square cake tin measuring 20cm x 20cm. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (fan)/200°C/gas mark 6.
- Place all the ingredients in a food processor and whizz up together. If you don't have a food processor you will need to mash the chickpeas up really well before combining with the other ingredients.
- Pour into the cake tin and spread evenly. Bake for around 20 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Be careful not to overcook or they'll be a bit dry.
- Cool in the pan for 20 minutes or so then turn out and cut into squares. Makes 16 blondies.
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NB: post and photos updated May 2017
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