Description
Chickpea brownies, my original protein based dessert, that I think I have refined to near perfection. These bars are a great protein and fiber packed snack to take on the go. They're much less sweet than traditional brownies, as they're more of a baked protein bar, but I personally prefer the almond and banana taste that these provide. Don't count out the beans until you try them! For more protein packed chickpea desserts, make the high protein cookie dough Chickpea Chows, or check out any of my other brownie recipes!
Time
Prep Time:
10 minutes
Cook Time:
50 minutes
Total Time:
1 hour
Cost
Total Cost:
Cost per Serving:
$0.25
Ingredients
Serving(s)
Beans
- 15.5 oz can Chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Wet Ingredients
- 4 medium Banana, overripe
- 1/2 cup Plain nonfat greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup Natural peanut butter
- 3 tbsp Honey
- 2 tsp Vanilla extract
- 2 tsp Almond extract
Dry Ingredients
- 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp Powdered peanut butter
- 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp Cocoa powder
- 1 scoop Whey protein powder, unflavored
- 4 tsp Baking powder
- 1/4 tsp Salt
Instructions
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- Drain and rinse your chickpeas, and blend all ingredients in a food processor until fully combined and smooth
- Line a 9x13" baking pan with parchment paper and lightly spray it. Pour batter in, and even out. Bake for 50 minutes at 350F, covered, until a toothpick comes out almost clean
- Move to the fridge and let cool for around an hour. Cut into slices and store in a ziploc bag or airtight container in either the fridge or the freezer
Notes
- Any kind of beans will work. Normally I use chickpeas, but I've also made them with black, kidney, cannellini, and pinto beans with no difference
- My canned beans are salted, but unsalted will work. Just add another 1/4 tsp (1.5 g) salt to the batter
- I've gone with a 50/50 blend (1 scoop, 30 g, each) of whey and casein, but either all casein or all whey (2 scoops, 60 g, total) will work as well
- If you have flavored protein powder, either reduce or omit the honey. Adjust the sweetness to your taste
- Any liquid sweetener will work in place of honey, like maple syrup, sugar free syrup, or Homemade Fruit Syrup
- You can also use liquid monk fruit or stevia. Replace the honey with about 2 tsp (10 g) of liquid monk fruit or stevia. Again, taste the batter and adjust the sweetness to your personal preferences
- Unsweetened applesauce, No Sugar Added Apple Spread, Roasted Sweet Potato Puree, Roasted Butternut Squash Puree, or Homemade Pumpkin Puree will all work in place of ripe bananas
- Feel free to use any natural nut or seed butter in place of peanut butter. Good options are almond butter, cashew butter, tahini, or sunflower butter
- I've used both immitation vanilla and almond extract, but if you use real extracts, you may want to cut the amounts in half
- To make this into a layer cake, bake the batter in two 9" circle cake pans for about 40 minutes, covered with foil. Spread frosting on the middle layer, the top, and down the sides. Dust the top with cocoa powder
- Here's a simple protein frosting recipe
- 1 cup (226 g) Nonfat cottage cheese
- 1/4 cup (60 g) Unsweetened applesauce
- 10 tbsp (60 g) Powdered peanut butter
- 1 tsp (5 g) Almond extract
- If you make a layer cake with the above frosting and cut the cake into 12 slices, this will yield the following nutrition facts
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Total Fat: 5.4g (7 %)
Sodium: 378mg (16 %)
Total Carbohydrate: 26.5g (10 %)
Fiber: 5.9g (21 %)
Net Carbs: 20.6g
Total Sugar: 12.0g
Protein: 16.6g (33 %)
- Or you can use either my Banana Bread Hummus Spread or Date Sweetened Frosting as frostings too!
Nutrition Facts
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Total Fat: 2.4g (3 %)
Saturated Fat: 0.5g (2 %)
Sodium: 154mg (7 %)
Total Carbohydrate: 11.5g (4 %)
Fiber: 2.5g (9 %)
Net Carbs: 9.0g
Total Sugar: 5.4g
Added Sugar: 2.1g (4 %)
Protein: 5.9g (12 %)
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Vitamin B12: 0.1mcg (4 %)
Vitamin D: 0.0mcg (0 %)
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Calcium: 77mg (6 %)
Iron: 0.63mg (4 %)
Magnesium: 29mg (7 %)
Potassium: 181mg (4 %)
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