Chocolate Chunk Chickpea Blondies (GF)

Soft and squidgy, these chickpea blondies are sure to cure any sweet tooth cravings. Sprinkled with chocolate chunks, it's time you tried out this simple one bowl treat. 

Happy New Year everyone! It feels like 2016 went by in a blink of an eye. Now the back to work blues have set in and I'm kind of missing shorter working weeks.

The struggle is real. 

This year, I made no resolutions. Instead, I'm just making goals as I go. The difference is that I want my goals to be more realistic, not resolutions that feel a million light years away and that I’ll probably forget by February.

One of these goals is to try and eat healthier every week. I don't mean drastic changes like a salad for every meal. Because where's the fun in that? More like a yoghurt instead of an oreo, eat more greens and more protein, or have a nakd bar instead of a chocolate bar. 

Part of that eating healthier, means trying the odd kinda-good-for-you bake... Enter these little blondie dreamboats.

Most of my “healthy” baking attempts have failed in the past, there’s been a few successes, like my healthy almond crisp bars. But for the most part, they don’t taste as good as I’d hope they would.

But these blondies are different. With chickpeas as the main ingredient, they are packed with protein, fibre and other nutrients to make yourself feel better about eating them. They are gluten free too!

Tempted to try them yet?

Try not to be put off by the fact they have chickpeas in them. They are whizzed down until they are a smooth chickpea base and then everything else is added in, making this a super easy all in one recipe. To finish off, and to treat you a little bit, they have chocolate chunks mixed into them too.

The chocolate sweetens them up a little bit, especially as I used white and milk chocolate. You could use dark to make them ever so slightly healthier, but that is entirely up to you.

You can eat these little healthy treats fresh from the oven, or served up with ice cream, or even pack up for a mid afternoon snack. The next time I whip up a batch of these, I'm definitely going to try it out with some dried fruit mixed in.

Chocolate Chunk Chickpea Blondies

Makes 9 generous squares or 16 modest ones

Ingredients:

15oz chickpeas, drained and rinsed (one whole tin)
1 egg
1/2 cup (270g) almond butter
1/3 cup (115g) honey
2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 baking powder
1/4 bicarbonate of soda
1/2 - 1 cup chocolate chunks

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4/350F. Line and grease an 8x8inch tin.
2. Place the chickpeas into a food processor and whizz until smooth. Scrape down the sides and then add all of the remaining ingredients, except the chocolate chips. Whiz again to combine all the ingredients until smooth. 
3. Once combined, stir in chocolate chips. 
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the edges are browned and the a skewer comes out clean. Like brownies, you want them to be ever so slightly underdone so they stay soft and squidgy. 
5. After briefly cooling in the tin, remove and leave to cool completely on a wire rack before serving. 

My next challenge is to try and tackle a copycat nakd bar and even a chocolate fibre bar. What healthy things are you cooking up this January? Did you make any resolutions or goals this year?