Chickpea Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies

 Kick off the New Year with these fudgy, guilt free blondies!

It's the new year and the pattern is always the same. Everyone has a newfound spark of energy and motivation to eat healthy and workout. I've been enjoying the daily newspaper articles on nutrition and the fact that my Pinterest feed is now entirely made up of healthy recipes. I can't say I've been enjoying the packed parking lot at the gym, but hey, what can you do. I thought I might as well jump on the bandwagon and share a healthy treat that you can save to your Pinterest board and share with your friends (haha no pressure)! 

This peanut butter blondie recipe sure is tasty! You would never guess that the base is chickpeas. Go ahead and make it for your friends and family, they'll never know your secret! You can even try giving them to your kids if they are picky eaters... sneaky chef to the rescue! Reveal the secret ingredient after the first bite or never tell them at all :).

 

Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed well (about 1 1/2 cups) 
• 1/4 cup rolled oats 
• 1/3 cup peanut butter  
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 
• 2 T pure maple syrup   
• 3/4 tsp baking powder 
• 1/8 tsp baking soda 
• 1/4 tsp salt 
• 1/4 cup milk 
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract  
• 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a food processor, combine all ingredients except for the chocolate chips (do not use a blender if possible, they tend to not blend as finely). Blend until completely smooth. Once ingredients are blended, stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter in a greased 8x8 pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes. The blondies will look a bit underdone when you first take them out of the oven but they will set up after they cool. Store blondies in the fridge. 

Enjoy!