Bean Brownies … The Fun Never Ends. A Recipe for White Bean Blondies Made with Garbanzo Beans!

by The Meal Makeover Moms on July 12th, 2011

It was exactly two summers ago when our dream of creating a delicious, kid-friendly black bean brownie became a reality. We posted our then-new recipe for Fudgy Black Bean Brownies on our blog, and since then, it’s been the number-one, most popular post ever. Who new?!

Recently, fellow dietitian and friend Regan Miller Jones over at The Professional Palate made our Fudgy Black Bean brownies. She’d been watching the growing bean-dessert trend in the blogosphere for quite some time and was determined to try our recipe. She was more than pleasantly surprised with the results, and from there, turned her culinary attention to blondies … using garbonzo beans (also called chickpeas).

Interestingly, a few months back, we were on the same white-bean-brownie mission but decided to use cannellini beans. We had limited success (the brownie texture was a bit “gummy” for lack of a better word), so when we saw Regan’s recent White Bean Blondies post (recipe adapted from our Fudgy Black Bean Brownies and Chocolate-Chip Blondies by Chocolate Covered Katie), we headed straight to The Meal Makeover Moms’ test kitche to give ‘em a whirl. The brownies turned out so great, and our kids loved them so much, that we have awarded Regan our Healthy Meal with Kid Appeal Award (we haven’t given out this award in quite some time — been soooo busy — so we’re excited to get it up and running again).

White Bean Blondies

Makes 16 Servings

Regan calls for cinnamon in her recipe to “soften” the flavor of the beans, and she also recommends blending the beans in a food processor until very smooth to avoid biting into any “bits” of beans! We tweaked the recipe just a tad by using mini chocolate chips versus regular chips. Next time we make these, we will probably cut the amount from 3/4 to 1/2 cup. Please note too that we adapted the recipe format a bit to adapt to our blog style.

  • One 15.5-ounce can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
  • 3/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly oil or coat a 9 x 9-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

2. Place the garbanzo beans in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs, sugar, oil, vanilla extract, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon and process until smooth.  Add the oats and chips and pulse just until blended.

3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.

4. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand at least 20 minutes before slicing. Store in refrigerator. (Recipe adapted from The Professional Palate.)

Nutrition Information per Serving (1 brownie):  130 calories, 5g fat (1.5g saturated), 70mg sodium, 20g carbohydrate, 2g fiber,  3g protein

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We love these brownies for several reasons:

> They are super kid friendly!
> They taste great.
> They are easy to make.
> They contain some of our favorite nutrient-rich ingredients: beans, eggs (we use Eggland’s Best eggs because of their vitamin E, D and omega-3 content), and old-fashioned oats which are a whole grain.

Let us know if you try Regan’s White Bean Blondies or if you have another bean brownie recipe that’s worked out well for your family. As always, we enjoy hearing from you. A huge congrats to Regan for her award and a huge thank you for contributing such a delicious recipe to our kitchens.

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16 Comments | Filed Under Awards, Beans, CulinaryAdventures, Desserts, Vegetables 

16 Responses to “Bean Brownies … The Fun Never Ends. A Recipe for White Bean Blondies Made with Garbanzo Beans!”

  1. Regan @ The Professional Palate on July 12th, 2011

    Janice & Liz… Thank you all SO much for the award. I am truly honored! And so glad you tried them and liked them. As I said in the original post, it was a complete surprise to our family, too… bean desserts… who knew? Thanks for inspiring me to try the trend out in my own kitchen!

    p.s. Love the idea of mini chocolate chips… all the more to go around. What kid (and Mom) wouldn’t love that?

  2. Kristin Burns on July 12th, 2011

    Can’t wait to try this!!!!!!!!

  3. Neil Butterfield on July 14th, 2011

    These sound absolutely stunning and I am going to ask my wife to make some.

  4. Suzanne on July 15th, 2011

    I can’t wait to try these, fudgy black bean ones disappear rapidly!

  5. Kristen Turner on July 21st, 2011

    These brownies were excellent! Tested by 2 moms and kids ages 5, 4, and 1 – Rave reviews by ALL!

  6. Recipe Roundup: Heat Wave Edition — Real Mom Nutrition on July 22nd, 2011

    [...] kid-tested by their own children. I loved their Black Bean Brownies so much that I had to try their White Bean Blondies. Verdict: Thumbs up from everyone. I even took these to a potluck dinner, where no one could guess [...]

  7. Virginie on July 24th, 2011

    So delicious!!! We love them.

  8. karen on July 25th, 2011

    sounds great, adding the ingredients to the shpping list this week

  9. Leslie on July 25th, 2011

    These sound great!

    I am wondering whether a substitution could be made for the eggs. My son has an egg allergy. Could I substitute ground flax seeds or applesauce? Any suggestions?

  10. Leslie on July 25th, 2011

    These sound great!

    Could I make a substitution for an egg allergy?

  11. Sandi B Hemming, RD LD on August 27th, 2011

    Just wondering, how many portions you cut this into. I like the 130 calories but quite sure that if I only cut it into four pieces, the calories will be a little higher :)

  12. Suzanne haiker on August 27th, 2011

    Wow! those muffins have my top three favorite things, bananas, peanut butter & chocolate!

  13. Janice on August 29th, 2011

    Hi Leslie, we read in the book, Substituting Ingredients, the following substitutions for eggs in recipes: 2 tablespoons oil plus 1 tablespoon water, 1 teaspoon cornstarch plus 3 tablespoons liquid, or 2 tablespoons liquid plus 2 tablespoons flour plus 1/2 tablespoon fat, plus 1/2 teaspoon baking powder. Good luck and let us know if these work for you.

  14. Janice on August 29th, 2011

    Hi Sandi, we cut the blondies into 16 portions. Each on is a little more than 2 inches square. Cutting it into four pieces would quadruple the nutrition numbers! :) Enjoy!

  15. Liz on September 7th, 2011

    Hi ladies! I wanted to thank you for this wonderful recipe! I have made it twice now; the first time for a cookout with my friend who is a food scientist, and her husband. We made our husband’s try them and asked them to “name the secret ingredient”. Their guess–coconut? They had NO IDEA these were made from beans. Everyone agreed they are great and so moist. I also took these to a party where the host has a gluten allergy; she loved them and was so grateful for a dessert that is easy and so delicious.

  16. More beany treats – Garbanzo Bean Blondies « Feeding My Tribe on September 27th, 2011

    [...] lots of sources for white bean blondies recipes and some of the recipes that inspired mine are at Meal Makover Moms, Struggle Muffins, The Blissful Baker, The Runny Egg, Peanut Butter Lover, and Professional [...]

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