White Bean Brownies (or Blondies) | gluten free brownies made using garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas) instead of flour. Soft, easy to make, delicious and healthy. Gotta love a dessert like that!
It’s a good day! Today is another Mystery Dish and this month it’s MY TURN!!!
I’ve been looking forward to April since we started the Mystery Dish, knowing that it would be my turn to pick the ingredients and host. That day is finally here! Okay, so here are the ingredients I chose:
-garbanzo beans
-eggs
-flaxseed
-cilantro
-potatoes (any variety)
-bread
-quinoa
-lime
-popcorn
-dark chocolate
-ground turkey
-asparagus
Not terribly hard, right?? My husband gave me some grief because he thought my ingredients were too easy but I had literally written down 30 ingredients that had to be narrowed down to only 12!
So I picked my favorites and I’m so happy with the recipes everyone in the group came up with!
I love this group of bloggers. They’re all so talented and creative. We have 11 bloggers doing the Mystery Dish every month and one extra spot that gets filled by a guest blogger, whom the person hosting that month gets to choose.
Who did I choose? My friend Andi from The Weary Chef! She is so awesome. Her recipes are fabulous and geared toward busy people – quick, easy and delicious. If you don’t follow her blog yet, get on over there and check it out. Go ahead, I’ll wait. 😉
Let’s talk brownies for a minute. My favorite dessert. Ever. I LOVE brownies. I guess technically these ones should be called blondies, right?
Whatever. Either way, they’re delicious and happen to be healthier than most bars. 🙂 They’re made using an entire can of garbanzo beans and not one drop of flour. I used coconut oil and Truvia to cut down on sugar. It’s prepared entirely in the food processor which makes it so easy!
I used three of the Mystery Dish ingredients: garbanzo beans, eggs and dark chocolate. You can’t taste the beans in these. I mean, just look at them? Do they look like they’re made with beans?? Nope.
Even my boys loved them! They had no clue they were made with chickpeas. Muahahaha! 😉
White Bean Brownies (Gluten Free)
Ingredients
- 1 15.5-oz can garbanzo beans, drained
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. Truvia or 3/4 c. sugar
- 2 Tbsp. coconut oil
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips plus any extra for the top if desired
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350º F. Spray an 8x8" pan with cooking spray.
- In a food processor, blend beans until very pureed and creamy. Add in eggs, Truvia, coconut oil, vanilla, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Blend together.
- Add in oats and pulse until combined. Add in chocolate chips and pour into prepared pan, smoothing down top to an even level.
- Bake 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Sprinkle some extra chocolate chips on top of brownies, if desired. Let sit for about 20 minutes until cutting into bars and serving. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Here’s what my fellow Mystery Dish friends made this month:
1. Easy Flourless Chocolate Cake by Culinary Couture 2. Pineapple Cashew Quinoa “Fried Rice” by Blahnik Baker 3. Chili Lime Popcorn by The Pajama Chef 4. Cilantro Lime Hummus by The Weary Chef 5. Gluten Free White Bean Brownies by Yummy Healthy Easy 6. Homemade Popcorn with Cilantro Lime Butter by The Well Floured Kitchen 7. Tex-Mex Chickpea Salad by Joyful Healthy Eats 8. Quinoa Salad with Asparagus and Tomato by Chez Catey Lou 9. Key Lime Pie Popcorn by I Dig Pinterest 10. Turkey Sausage Breakfast Casserole by I Want Crazy 11. Frozen Pineapple Cilantro Mojito by Baking a Moment 12. Pretzel Caramel Crunch by The Dessert Chronicles
Other Mystery Dish Recipes:
Carrot Oatmeal Cookies – March Mystery Dish
Easy Pesto Pita Bread Pizzas – February Mystery Dish
Red Velvet {Beet} Cupcakes – January Mystery Dish
These brownies look amazing!! Chocolate chip brownies never looked so delicious and healthy. Thank you for a great list of ingredients this month that inspired us to push the limits again!!
I had way too much fun hosting Mystery Dish this month, lol! Thanks for coming up with a great recipe again, Zainab! xo!
I have always wanted to sneak in chick peas in my brownies, but haven’t had the courage! This will change! These look fabulous Jen!
Thanks Tanya!!
Such a creative idea – I would never have thought of brownies/blondies with that list of ingredients.
Thanks Corina! I’ve made brownies out of black beans so I thought, what the heck! Let’s give it a try! Thanks for stopping by!
Such an interesting twist on blondies! You did a great job picking ingredients! I love how you girls are really challenging each other.
I can’t believe these are made with chickpeas! I have to try these now! I love how you fooled your boys completely too :-). Thanks for hosting this month! I love what everyone came up with.
They look amazing, Jen! I can’t believe they are gluten free and no sugar! And garbanzo beans! Wow awesome recipe, way to rock it out this month. 😀
These are so intriguing to me, and look so GOOD! Might have to venture into baking with beans:)
We used the exact same ingredients, soul sister! Garbanzo beans are the best at concealing themselves in delicious desserts!
Thank you so much for inviting me to join in the fun this month, Jen! I really appreciate all your kind words in your post and support every day! Now, let’s talk about these brownies. They look amazing! Are you sure they are made with beans!? You are such a brilliant baker, my friend!
I’ve tried black beans brownies before and was not impressed. white beans definitely seem more mild so I’ll have to try them out see what I think.
Brilliant idea though!
Have a beautiful Wednesday!
I made these last night & they turned out perfectly. Your recipe was spot on & that’s not always the case when I find recipes from some blogs. The only thing I did differently was I doubled the vanilla (because I think it makes all baked goods better!) & I sprinkled chocolate chips on top as soon as I took the blondies from the oven. They started to melt & I smoothed it out to create a frosting of sorts. My toddler son couldn’t get enough of these. I finally had to cut him off.
Ok, you are seriously so creative Jen. I don’t think I would have thought of using garbanzo beans. I’ve been people use black beans and such, but have always wondered, can you still take the actual bean? I guess I will just need to give it a go. Love this recipe and that it is gluten free…. and GUILT FREE! 🙂
I’ve always wanted to try the ‘beans in brownies’ thing, but yours makes me want to try it even more. These look so perfect!
Thanks Brandie!! They were surprisingly really yummy!! You’ve got to try them!
I’ve tried black bean brownies, but not white bean! These look like the best version of cookie dough bars ever! Except in brownie form … my mind is officially blown. Looks delicious, Jen! Pinned!
this is totally what i was going to make! but then i decided on popcorn. yum!
I’ve seen lots of black bean brownies. but I LOVE your blondie idea! These look like the perfect texture, I need to try these!
Fun! I love the mystery dish idea and what you did with it….would never have thought to put garbanzo beans in brownies! What a great idea!!
I can’t do Truvia or artificial sweeteners. Do you think you could sub agave nectar or honey or do you need the sugar or substitute for the texture?
Hi Tracey! Great question – I haven’t tried them using agave or honey but I’m thinking with the texture of the oats and garbanzo beans that it just might work! Cooking time might need to be adjusted but I say it’s worth a shot! If you do try them with the honey/agave, let me know how it turns out – I might give it a try myself to see what happens. Thanks for the comment!
What a fun game! I love your choice of ingredients too. But the brownies!! What a great twist! I love sneaking more vegetables and nutrition into dishes. Can’t wait to see what you and Andi from the Weary Chef are cooking next month!
I’m so intrigued by these! They look delicious like always!
This recipe looks great, although technically oats aren’t gluten free so I can’t really eat them (I have Coeliac Disease) . Any ideas what else I could put in there?
Hi Lydia! I have no clue what would replace the oats in here! However, I DO have a super amazing gluten free black bean brownie recipe that doesn’t have any oats! Do me a favor and click on this link: https://www.yummyhealthyeasy.com/2013/08/black-bean-brownies-gluten-free.html and check this recipe out for me. I think you’ll like them!
WOW! These turned out amazing!! I am also used to the taste of healthy baking and beans in my baked goods, so I don’t know if it would be different to someone who is not used to that! I used kidney beans instead of garbanzo beans, only the whites from the two eggs, and instead of adding the chocolate chips, I used 2 tablespoons of cacao powder for a lower calorie version. I also omitted the salt and doubled the cinnamon in mine, and they turned out AMAZING! Great recipe! Definitely bookmarking this for the future!
Yay!!! So happy you liked them! That makes me so happy!
All 16 squares are only 149 calories!?
Or is each 1/16 squares 149 calories?
Sorry for the confusion! Each square is 149 calories!!
These look incredible Jen, thank you for this post! Just out of interest, do you definitely need to include eggs or can you sub them out for olive oil? I do quite a bit of baking without eggs these days but I’m curious as to whether leaving eggs out would work in a bean brownie mixture 🙂
Ooohhh… if you do try these without eggs, let me know! I haven’t tried it before!
Hi Jen, I made them today! Instead of using the 2 eggs, I whisked together one big tablespoon of olive oil with a cup of water… I should have probably used less oil and less water as the mixture was slightly too runny, but the brownies still came out pretty well- it’s going to take a few tries and I’m going to make them with eggs to compare! But they still look and taste reallllly good. Thank you for the recipe- using beans to bake with is a stroke of genius!!
Is the serving size nutrition label for per brownie or is it for all 16 brownies. I am sure that 16 brownies is way more than 149 calories
Hi Morgan! The nutritional information is for one serving, not the whole pan. 🙂 I hope you’ll try them!