So, I saw a recipe for Garbanzo Bean Blondies on Pinterest the other day. I just happened to have all of the ingredients and found the idea so intriguing that I whipped some up after dinner last night.
My children were all confused as to why I was blending up garbanzo beans in the VitaMix. In fact, Silas (2 1/2) saw me dump them in and immediately hollered out, “Ewwww!”
But no one turned up their noses at the finished result. They were different than a typical blondie–not quite as sweet and a bit of a different texture. But they were yummy, especially for being gluten-free and fairly healthful.
Have you tried any interesting recipes recently? I’d love to hear about it!
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{ 52 comments }
I recently made a Pear & Gorgonzola Cheese Pizza! I wasn’t sure how the flavors would come together–pears, gorgonzola, walnuts, green onions, and provolone. Let’s just say we all fought over the last slice! http://www.jennifervandahm.com/2012/01/pear-gorgonzola-cheese-pizza.html
That’s everything I love on my favorite Salad! I’ll have to try it on pizza.
There’s a cookie dough recipe (to eat raw) that uses garbanzo beans I think? I’ve been wanting to try that one too! I’m chicken though. I should just go for it!
I’ve been experimenting a ton with new recipes lately! My favorite is a roasted broccoli recipe my friend gave me.
Although I made some super yummy baked potatoes with grilled onions, steak and blue cheese tonight and they were incredible!
I made the cookie dough with garbanzo beans. My kids LOVED it! They just ate it with spoons and were fighting over the last spoonful! The recipe I used had peanut butter in it for the necessary oil, but I think I would sub canola oil next time since I don’t care for peanut flavor in my chocolate chip cookies.
Can I please have this recipe!!??!! Would be awesome for my kiddos!
miranda_dwyer@yahoo.com
I found it at this website: http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/05/23/want-to-eat-an-entire-bowl-of-cookie-dough/
Let me know if this doesn’t work or you can’t find it.
I have tried brownies with the dry ingredients (box mix or I suppose you could make your own) and a can of drained and rinsed black beans. Puree the black beans and mix it in with the dry ingredients. Bake as usual. They are delicious and super fudgy! My husband wants to take these to a party sometime to see if anyone notices…I doubt they would
We’re saving up for a VitaMix right now
I have a Vita Mix and I LOVE it. Best blender out there in my opinion. They’re expensive, but an investment that’s been worth its weight in gold.
I get the same eewww reaction with my chocolate avocado pudding when I am blending the avocados up. Then by the time it’s done the girls are licking the bowl
jen
Jen- do you have a link for your chocolate avocado pudding. That sounds amazing.
This is basically the one I make. It’s great if you can’t have dairy. Since I don’t have that limitation, I actually fold in whipped cream if I’m feeling decadent, but it’s great on it’s own. My family actually decided to pass on it when they found me putting avocados in it, but that just means it’s all mine
Here’s the one I use:
http://tnbutterworths.blogspot.com/2010/10/chocolate-satin.html
http://www.frugalfreebiesanddeals.com/2011/08/healthy-chocolate-raspberry-parfaits-top-secret-ingredient.html
so good !!
I just have to chime in!
We’ve discovered the yummiest avocado pudding/fudgesicles
http://www.nourishingmeals.com/2010/06/avocado-fudgesicles.html
My 2 sons HATE avocados, but LOVE the fudgesicles (of course they have no idea what’s in them!)
I hope you all enjoy them as much as we do!
Such a bizarre idea, but I may have to try this! I’m allergic to chocolate so anything brownie-ish that doesn’t have chocolate is a must-try for me. (Obviously, I’ll leave out the chocolate chips!)
Brownie mix with a can of black beans, similar concept. From my understanding, those are the only 2 ingredients.
Looks yummy, I would need to sub out something for the nut butter as my boys are allergic , but I love the beans idea!
I made these http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/05/18/chocolate-chip-blondies-and-theyre-good-for-you/ (similar) and they were delicious!
I’ve heard of using black beans in a traditional brownie recipe (not GF), but not garbanzo beans. I’m going to have share this link with my readers and make them myself! Yum!
I have a black bean cupcake recipe that is delicious.
I just made these brownies last week, and they were very tasty AND easy to make. They’re also free of gluten, refined sugar, and dairy–perfect for the paleo diet. Careful not to overbake as they will dry out pretty quickly. They are a little less sweet than typical brownies, but the texture was amazingly close to the original version! Did I mention these are SUPER easy??
Darn-Near-Paleo-Brownies:
Ingredients:
16 oz almond butter
2 eggs
1 cup honey
1 tbsp pure vanilla
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
Blend almond butter until smooth (microwave a little bit).
Add eggs, honey and vanilla. Blend cocoa, salt, and baking soda into mixture.
Spread mixture into greased 9 x 13 pan.
Bake @325 for 30-40 minutes.
Enjoy!
OH COOL! I am trying 12 new recipes a month and we ended up not being able to do Sushi this month, I’m gonna try this for my GF family! SAWEET!
Oh wow! I am totally trying the brownie recipe. Just wish I had a vitamix! I recently experimented with grass fed beef and organic barley. It was a huge success. I posted about it here:
http://www.goingthrifty.com/2012/01/26/1-lb-grass-fed-beef-organic-barley-12-servings-happy-teens/
I’ve made brownies out of brownie mix and a can of black beans. It wasn’t bad. We also make the EASIEST pumpkin muffins in the world in a pinch, out of 1 box spice cake mix and a can of pumpkin. They are a huge hit at home AND when we take them anywhere.
I’d love to try that. Do you add eggs, oil, etc… that the cake mix calls for or do you only dump the mix and canned pumpkin in the bowl.
Just the box of mix and the 14oz can of pumpkin. Nothin else (you can add 1/8 cup of water if you prefer, but it’s not at all necessary and we don’t add it.) The batter will be VERY thick. We fill 16 muffin tins 2/3 full (spray them or use muffin liners). Bake according to the baking directions on the package. Super simple, quick, and yummy!
These have become a family and potluck favorite of ours too. I add some pumpkin pie spice to taste and they are amazing!
Hmmm, I may have to try these!
I recently made some Bacon Wrapped Keeblers http://swappinspoons.blogspot.com/2011/12/bacon-wrapped-keeblers.html
And Quesadilla Cups
http://swappinspoons.blogspot.com/2011/12/quesadilla-cups.html
Both were easy and hits in our home.
How fun! They look great.
I’ve made something similar….so so so amazing! might give this one a try too. I find them to be a little thicker and heavier then cookies and cakes, which means they last longer by eating smaller portions.
I made garbanzo bean brownies several months ago (different recipe), and I think it might have been okay if I hadn’t called them brownies. The texture was too different for hubby, who deemed them a flop. He said, though, that the primary problem was that he was expecting something similar to brownies. Sounds like I should give the recipe you posted a try and call them “a healthier treat” until he tries them and approves of them.
I’ve made GF black bean brownies several times. They’re so easy–just throw everything into the blender. My girls love them. Here’s a link to the recipe I used:
http://onederrblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/secret-ingredient.html
Hi Crystal,
I was wondering how you had your ‘color season’ done for your clothing, hair, etc. ?? Did you hire a color consultant?
I used the book Color Me Beautiful and a good friend who has studied color seasons extensively helped me figure out which colors look best on me and how to determine that. Once you figure it out, it’s really easy to be able to tell instinctively whether something is your color or not.
I got the book from the library after you recommended it: went through all my clothes and only kept the cutest/right colors *and* I found 3 pairs of different shades of purple earrings at the Dollar General for $3 to compliment my wardrobe — I get compliments all the time, lol! It’s so much easier to shop too; I decided what colors/styles work for me and pretty much stick with that! So glad you recommended it, I think I dress about a million times better with my minimalist closet than I ever did before!
I’m so glad! It truly does make life so much simpler, doesn’t it?
Thanks so much, I’ll have to check out that book from my library!
Your coloring always looks so good; I can tell you know your colors and styles well. ;D
ooooh. i have a thing for chickpeas. in soup, roasted, salads…and now dessert! i have to try this…looks delicious. thanks for sharing!
I LOVE this idea! My cheat is not a recipe per se, but I’ve been using baby food squash instead of butter for years in my kids macaroni and cheese and no one has been the wiser.
http://allthingskaty.blogspot.com/2012/01/applesauce-squash-cake.html
We just made applesauce squash cake and it was delicious! Moist and soft and couldn’t even tell that there was a veggie hidden among the goodness.
I found a recipe once for choc. chip cookies made with Chickpeas and I thought it’d be gross. We decided to make it and they were actually pretty good. To bad I lost the recipe.
Crystal,
I made the homemade chocolate bars the other day found on Chocolate Covered Kaite’s website. I used the Nutiva coconut oil you always post about, some cocoa powder, and a bit of honey. WOW! They are so good. I don’t think I’ll EVER buy a chocolate bar again. You should try them. I’m so glad you had a link to her site in your menu plan, cause I’m a chocoholic, and I really am goin nuts over all the “healthy” dessert recipes!!!!
And I’m seriously going to try adding beans to some desserts. Great idea.
Thanks so much for the recommendation! Must try those!
What size pan please? Going to make these later.
I used a small-ish pan……an 11×7.
Love this blog, first of all. I was going to mentioned Chocolate Covered Katie having some good, unique recipes but I was too late on that idea. I have tried a few of her recipes for desserts and they have been a hit. Jessica Seinfeld (Jerry Seinfeld’s wife) has Deceptively Delicious and Double Delicious for books that are somewhat unique. She wrote them with the interest of getting her kids to eat more fruits/vegs. Rocco DiSpirito with Now Eat This! is another one too, like black beans in brownies and so forth.
My family loves black bean brownies, so when I came across this recipe for black bean avocado brownies, I made them asap! They were amazing! I can’t wait to try make them again. I think they’re even better than my regular black bean brownie recipe!
http://www.carascravings.com/2010/02/a-treat-for-your-sweet-black-bean-avocado-brownies.html
Thanks for the recipe….keep ‘em coming.
Chickpeas definitely add some goodness to this. But BEWARE it makes a small quantity. I divided it into 12 small servings….that’s around 200cal each and 22GRAMS OF SUGAR. It IS still a “sometimes” food, to be sure.
I tried it with half the sugar and no chocolate chips….still tastes good. (This version is 130cal with 9grams of sugar.)
Did anyone’s chickpea blondies turn green and blue overnight? They taste even better now (less like chickpeas), but the middle turned a strange color. They were simply sitting in the microwave overnight, away from the cats.
hey, thanks for the shout out on this!
gluten free is getting easier and easier for us…i think we’re on to dairy free next. ugg.
anyway, thanks.
This recipe is delicious! I’ve never heard of using beans this way, but I’ll be making these again and trying other recipes including beans. I did have a little trouble blending the beans (my blender is old so it may not be powerfull enough). I followed the recipe but added a little bit more oats (I had about 1/2 cup left in the container so I used it all), and a little bit more flax seed. I had my husband try it before I told him what was in it, he really liked it, couldn’t even taste the beans. My kids loved them and still have no idea (and never will)!!!! Thanks!!