Meatless Monday: Pass the Chickpea Blondies, Please!

The United Nations has declared 2016 the International Year of Pulses, edible seeds of plants in the legume family. The UN limits the term “pulses” to crops harvested solely for their dried seeds; the garbanzo bean or chickpea is one example. 

Rather than dwell on the significance of this declaration [or the fine points of what makes a legume a pulse], I opted for a fun post this week. Nearly two years ago I made “Black Bean Brownies” using a recipe from the phenomenally popular blog Chocolate Covered Katie and raved about them to you all. Over the weekend I revisited Katie’s blog in search of another pulse- based dessert.

There were many tasty sounding choices. I decided to try “Healthy Chocolate Chip Chickpea Blondies.” Here is the recipe. 

Since I was in unfamiliar territory, I followed Katie’s instructions pretty closely, choosing brown sugar for the sweetener and oats over flax seed. Since I had some oat flour on hand, I did substitute that for the ground oats. 

Done at 25 minutes.

Click here for nutrition info provided by Katie.  The beans, peanut butter, and oats supply a significant amount of protein and fiber, something you won’t find in the typical blondie. Note that the information is based on fifteen squares [?]; you are more likely to get 12 blondies per batch; that means more protein and fiber, but also more calories per serving. 

As Katie warns, be sure to blend all the ingredients in a food processor until very smooth, don’t omit the chocolate chips, and bake no longer than 25-30 minutes. 

We loved Katie’s Healthy Chocolate Chip Chickpea Blondies. At the rate we’re going this batch won’t last long.

Come back next time for more on the UN Declaration and the role that pulse crops may play in feeding the world. 

Happy Monday. Have a great week!

On Mondays I often blog on food, food issues, or gardening in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.”