Years ago I tried black bean brownies. I enjoyed the flavor and texture, but what I liked best was the fact they contained an unusual ingredient and that they were gluten free. Today’s Gluten-Free Chickpea Brownie Bites are along the same line as black bean brownies, but instead of black beans the secret ingredient is chickpeas.
Jump to Recipe
Packed with protein, fiber and fat, chickpeas are great on salads or pureed into hummus, but how would they be in brownies? Would the brownies be mealy? Could I taste the beans? Inspired by Brian’s guest post on a blog written by Chef Dennis, the Culinary Director at Mount Saint Joseph Academy in PA, I made my own batch.
Thanks again to Brian from A Thought for Food for the recipe and congrats on getting his picture selected by Tastespotting. His photo his far superior than the one I took today, but I’m very happy with my variation on the recipe and thought I’d share it with you along with Brian’s.
A Few Tips
As of 2024, I still like this recipe a lot and have updated the photos. I also updated the recipe to make it a little less rich. The older version called for agave syrup, butter and a lower ratio of chickpeas. I left in the egg because it adds protein and structure, but you might be able to get away with using aquafaba from the chickpeas.
- I recommend a mini muffin pan lined with mini liners over a regular size muffin pan because Chickpea Brownie Bites are very soft. They won't dry out even after 20 minutes at 325F.
- I've not yet made these with honey, but maple syrup works well.
- For the melted chocolate, you could use the equivalent chocolate chips, but the texture will be better with chopped chocolate.
- Consider the amount of additional chocolate chips a suggestion and use more if you like. I don't recommend omitting them at all, but you could substitute with more chopped chocolate.
- Be sure to let them cool completely, as the texture firms up a bit.
Recipe
Chickpea Brownie Bites
Ingredients
- 2 oz chopped bittersweet chocolate (56 grams)
- 2 tablespoons refined coconut oil (24 grams)
- 1 tablespoon natural or Dutch process cocoa powder
- 15 oz can chickpeas (about 8.8 oz drained)
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 1 large egg
- ½ tbsp vanilla
- ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips plus more if needed (3 to 4 oz) (84 to 114 grams)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line mini muffin cups with paper liners.
- Melt the chopped chocolate with the oil. If using a saucepan, melt over low heat. If using microwave, heat at 50% power and stir every 40 seconds. Add the cocoa powder and set aside to cool.
- In a food processor, puree the drained chickpeas, syrup, salt, egg and vanilla until smooth.
- Combine the chickpea mixture and melted chocolate. Let cool if still warm, then stir in the chocolate chips.
- Spoon heaping tablespoons of batter into mini muffin cups dividing equally. Bake at 325 F for 18-20 minutes or until brownies appear set and a toothpick inserted comes out with moist crumbs rather than batter. Let cool completely.
Ashley says
How fun!
Chef Dennis says
Great job with these lovely brownie bites!! wasn't Brians recipe great!!
Thanks so much for the mention!
justJENN says
Yeah after I made those chickpea chocolate chip cookies...I'm over it. Your pics look nice!
Sue says
I like the idea of beans in brownies! I'll have to give these a try.
Holly says
I'll have to try these. I made cookies with chickpeas some time ago and, while they were good at first, the texture changed dramatically within 24-48 hours. The chickpeas really dried out and were hard - bleh.
Brian @ A Thought For Food says
I forgot to say that I have to disagree with you about your pictures. They are fantastic!
Jess @ Bakericious says
I saw the guest post from Chef dennis's blog as well, very curious on the taste of this brownie.
Fallon says
Very interesting!
Betty @ scrambled hen fruit says
I'm going to make these to take to work. A good friend I work with is gluten free and she always complains that she can't eat goodies that people bring. These will be perfect!
Anna says
Lisa, let me know what you think. I thought these were really good and so did the rest of the family.
Cindy, thanks for the link. She used brownie mix. Interesting.
Stacie, I liked the black bean brownies a lot but I liked the texture of these better.
Stacie @ Imperfectly Healthy says
I've made black bean brownies which taste incredible, so I'm tempted to try these to see if there's a big difference. They look really good!
CindyD says
Brownies with chickpeas are popular today - check out this blog from the Houston Chronicle -
http://www.chron.com/channel/momhouston/commons/thehomeguru.html?plckController=Blog&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3aa0cd99aa-4c67-4e2a-906b-78c22d737da0Post%3a9996ec0f-98aa-4f28-b7fa-4e1889d7b2da
Lisa Ernst says
Thanks for this recipe and review. I'm always looking for alternative recipes that actually taste great. I'd never have thought that chickpeas could sub for flour, but I'll take your word for it. Can't wait to try these!