Are you in the loop?
Have you heard all the buzz about making desserts using BEANS!?!?
Yuuuup, BEANS! (Said like Dave Hester from Storage Wars)
Black beans, garbanzo beans, etc.
After reading tons of recipes and coments on how the taste of the beans in the sweet treats were completely masked by the other ingredients, I finally gave in and made my first attempt at the whole bean brownie thing.
I’ll be perfectly honest, I went into this totally skeptical (especially since I was the one actually adding the pureed chick peas into my blondies!), but kinda curious about all the hype at the same time.
So, on my birthday I decided to give them a go.
Yes, on my birthday.
I know, a healthy dessert on my 30th?
I guess I was trying to make my birthday a little less…gluttonous! So sue me.
There’s a logical explanation as to why, I promise.
Let me explain:
My birthday is on December 29th, you see, that’s a mere 4 days after Christmas, meaning I had already indulged in my fair share (and by indulge I’m referring to cream cheese squares, biscotti, cookies and yes, more cookies) of delicious foods and baked goods during my holiday celebrations.
I was trying to lighten things up.
The button on my jeans thanked me profusely for my wise decision to opt for a lighter dessert treat.
My plan was to find the perfect bean brownie recipe (is that an oxymoron or what?), bake the beantastic item, package them in an unmarked container, transport said beanerrific treat to my mother’s house (where the festivities would be held), and advertise them as a “healthier” dessert WITHOUT revealing the secret ingredient.
That’s not technically LYING right?
Holy cow they disappeared!
They were a hit!
I was shocked. Even my dad had seconds.
Seriously, they were going fast! I had to save one for my mom on the DL to make sure she had the chance to sample one.
There was absolutely no trace of chick pea flavor in the blondies.
It was the perfect combination of cinnamon and applesauce flavors melded together in a moist bite-size treat.
As you probably noticed, I decided to bake my Snickerdoodle blondies in a greased mini-muffin tin as opposed to an 8×8 baking pan, and found that they baked up beautifully. They were extremely moist, fluffy, sweet, and best of all…did not require any slicing!
It’s all about simplicity…and less dishes to wash! :)
I now understand why these bean-based desserts have become so popular. They are satisfying, extremely healthy, and a great way to fool your family (evil laugh)!
Did I mention how amusing it is to watch their reaction as you reveal they’re scarfing down beans for dessert mid-bite?
Head on over to Chocolate Covered Katie’s blog to find the recipe for Snickerdoodle Blondies; bean style. She also has tons of additional healthy dessert recipes.
I highly recommend trying these out.
Note: I subbed 1 of the tablespoons of peanut butter for additional applesauce and use Stevia drops in place of some of the sugar. These substitutions worked out really well. In hindsight, cinnamon chips would have also been a tasty addition.
Maybe next time!
For more recipes CLICK HERE.
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