I am always playing around with beans and lentils in desserts 🙂 And the successful results show up on the blog! You all have been loving my lentil brownies and this Chickpea Cookie Pie. In this version, I use chickpeas for a fudgy delicious brownie!
1/2 cup chocolate chips melted with 1/3 cup non dairy milk and 3 tbsp maple syrup. This makes the chocolatey wet of the brownie mixture. It adds a chewyness to the otherwise easily crumbly or dense brownie. The melted chocolate is also a good binder. You can use more non dairy milk instead of maple.
15 oz can cooked chickpeas or 1.5 cups cooked chickpeas make the base of these brownies. You can also use white beans such as navy or northern.
3/4 cup nut butter such as peanut almond or cashew, or use sunbutter to make nut-free. This helps keep the brownie more brownie like and less cakey or beany.
5 tbsp Coconut sugar or other sugar, you can use less or more to preference.
3 tbsp cocoa powder, adds additional layer of chocolate.
1/4 cup almond flour To help offset some of the moisture. I use almond flour to keep these brownies grain-free.Feel free to use a different flour if you like(all purpose or gf flour like oat or rice).
2 tsp vanilla extract. You need extra vanilla in this recipe so the chickpeas can absorb the flavor and the chickpea flavor does not peak through.
Assemble the ingredients for the brownies. Heat the non dairy milk and maple until just about boiling. Add the chocolate chips and mix to melt until smooth.
Add the chickpeas, nut butter, sugar, salt, vanilla, cocoa and baking powder to a food processor. Process for half a minute to combine. The nut butter might not incorporate depending on the nut butter used. It will mix in after adding the melted chocolate.
Add the melted chocolate and process again until well mixed and smooth(1-2 mins). Immediately transfer the mixture to a parchment lined baking dish. The mixture can start to stiffen as it sits, so you want to spread it out soon. Stiffer mixture will just take longer to spread. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top and bake.
Try to let it cool for atleast 10 mins, then slice and serve. The flavor improves on sitting, so they will be more chocolatey the next day. Warm and serve.
Mix 3 tbsp peanut butter with 1 tbsp maple syrup and swirl on top for peanut butter swirl brownies.
Add 1 tbsp oil for chewier and 2 tbsp more non dairy milk for softer brownies.
Make individual bites in muffin pan. Bake for 20 mins.
Add cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice for spiced up brownies. Add mint extract for mint chocolate brownies.
Use cooked black beans instead of chickpeas to make Black bean brownies. Make sure to process long enough so the beans get smooth.
– Batter too stiff, add 2 tbsp non dairy milk or milk + oil and process.
Heat the non dairy milk and maple syrup in a skillet or microwave until just about boiling. Take off heat. Add the chocolate chips. Mix until melted and smooth and set aside. Line a brownie pan with parchment. Preheat the oven to 350 deg F (180 C).
Fold in 2 tbsp chocolate chips into the batter. Transfer the batter immediately to the parchment lined brownie pan. Spread using a spatula. to even out the top as much as possible. (This batter doesnt melt like regular brownie, so the uneven top will bake uneven. and not even out during baking). Sprinkle some chocolate chips on top.
Nut-free: Use sunbutter instead of nut butter.
Use all purpose or wheat flour instead of almond flour or oat flour for gluten-free.
OMG this looks awesome!!! I'm actually not a chocolate fan (crazy isn't it!) but this recipe is too good to pass on…and I have to share it! Just out of curiousity if I was to try this without the chocolate what spices would you suggest?
try the chickpea cookie pie instead. https://www.veganricha.com/2017/05/peanut-butter-chickpea-cookie-pie.html some cinnamon always does well.
Yikes I have all the ingredients except I don't have a food processor 🙁 I have a Vitamix but not much practice with that yet. Can I make it by hand or if not…can I use Vitamix as a food processor by just pulsing it?
hmm it should work in the vitamix. warm the nut butter before adding. You will need to add more non dairy milk (2-4 tbsp is ok to add) to get things moving. Then trasnfer tothe pan. it will be a mess to clean it up 🙂 or you can just blend the chickpeas inthe vitamix and then mix the rest with it in a bowl.
I love your recipes and cookbooks do you think you will do another cookbook?
I'm definitely going to try these! Thanks for making such flexible recipes. My husband and I were at a an Indian street food restaurant and I wished you could have been there whispering in my ear what's what and what is vegan. We ended up with a tasty meal, but weren't exactly sure what it was 🙂 It's the same when I go to the Indian market. There are so many beans that I don't know!
Thanks Richa, I like idli and we usually try to get thali where are there are choices. Language is the barrier, they can tell us if it's vegan, but don't always know what ingredients are called in English. 😂 In the store I like to walk down the aisles and look at everything, just wonder what I'm looking at sometimes. 🤣 You know, not that I would buy, just wonder what it is.
it says to add melted chocolate but where is that step in the ingredients/ what type of chocolate? how much?
from step 1 where we melted the 1/2 cup chocolate in the non dairy milk and maple syrup. i'll update to be clearer.
I have made the chickpea cookie pie on several occasions; which is surprisingly quite tasty! So naturally I am very excited to try these~! They look very fudgy. As a vegan myself, I have tried many of Richa's recipes. Some better than others; but I find myself really digging the curry flavors. Thanks for the variety!
Trying these out this weekend! Thanks a ton for sharing the recipe!
Best legume brownies I've had! A little soft in the middle when cooking 40 minutes, so I let mine go a little longer. Also would recommend a longer pan. I used a brownie one and they were really thick!
awesome! Probably the chickpeas or nut butter were more voluminous? Use a bigger pan for sure.
No one at Easter picnic will know there are beans in this.
Important to smooth the top of the batter prettily, as they don't liquify, spread or puff up like most baked goods. How you put it into the oven, is how it comes out.
awesome! yes i should add that tip to smooth it out nicely.
Best legume vegan brownie we've ever had!! Best of all – kids devoured it!! Thank you so much for sharing it!!!