I’ve seen a bunch of bean-based brownie recipes flying around the Pinterest world lately, and have been admittedly intrigued by what a genius idea it appears to be. I pinned a bunch, and then finally worked up the nerve to whip up my own batch. Not only did I really want to try baking with legumes, but I was also determined not to let the hours I spent on Pinterest go completely to waste. (That site is a black hole for my productivity.)

Chocolate Covered Katie is a great source for healthy baking inspiration, and her Genius Blondie recipe caught my eye. Starting with her version as a base, I improvised based on what I had in the cabinets, and ended up with something pretty sharable. (Hooray!) The recipe below is gluten-free, and if you omit the white chocolate chips, is vegan as well.

Healthy White Chocolate Chip Blondies

Adapted from Chocolate Covered Katie’s recipe.

(15-20 blondies)

• 1 can of chickpeas or white beans, drained and rinsed (1.5 cups)
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup ground flax
• 3 tbs smooth almond butter (any nut butter is fine, as long as it’s smooth)
• 1 tbs unsweetened applesauce
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (white, milk or dark chocolate all work)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend all ingredients (except chips) until very smooth in a food processor. Fold in chocolate chips at the very end, and then transfer into a greased 8×8 pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Don’t worry if they don’t look completely done when you first take them out, since you want a texture of fudgey goodness.

Just be careful not to eat the whole batch at once. There’s a lot of fiber in those bad boys. Please let me know if you try them out!

I’m now a huge fan of baking with legumes. Do you have any recipes to share that use beans rather than flour? Link em up in the comments!