If you're looking for a healthy sweet treat, that is also gluten-free, with no refined sugar and vegan, and with chocolate chips on it, you can trust this delicious recipe packed with protein due to its main and unlikely ingredient - chickpeas.  

Chickpea is not a foreign ingredient to our diet, just like other legumes, and the ones we use least in our meals are lentils. As for most people, chickpeas were reserved only for savory dishes, with the exception of one or another convent-type dessert.

However, more and more sweet recipes are seen that include beans, chickpeas or other vegetables in their preparation. Since I usually buy dried beans and chickpeas which I then cook, I decided to try these flourless cake, filled with healthy ingredients (and vegan, if you decide to omit the egg).

Difference between brownies and blondies

There are several online recipes similar to this one, usually called blondies because of their appearance, but I decided not to give them that name, since they are not really blondies.

Brownies and blondies have a few things in common: they are both prepared with eggs, flour, sugar and butter. The two also have a moist texture and are usually cut into a bar or square shape. Sometimes other ingredients are also added to them, such as nuts, vanilla or almond extracts, chocolate chips, or even coconut.

As for the differences, these are revealed in color and on the remaining ingredients:

• for brownies it's always necessary to add chocolate or cocoa (and for this reason its color is dark), refined white sugar is generally used; sometimes the brownie is served with a creamy topping.
• for the blondies it's not common to use chocolate (except for decorative chips), but vanilla and brown sugar, thus presenting a caramel color.

The ingredients

Chickpeas - is the main ingredient of this recipe, rich in protein and fibers; anyone who wants can (and should) take advantage of the liquid that comes in the can resulting from the cooking of this legume known as aquafaba, to prepare other desserts.

Almond butter - also rich in protein, is the healthy fat present; it can be replaced by peanut butter or cashew butter.

Maple syrup - will be the sweetening element of these cakes; can be replaced by agave or even honey.

Egg - it is an optional ingredient, as it only gives a more cake-like texture to the squares, unlike that which can be found in the original version of the recipe, which is a little more compact.

Baking powder and baking soda - since the main elements are somewhat "heavy" and the recipe requires no flour, these two ingredients provide some lightness to the texture of the dough in these squares.

Vanilla - is also optional, but it gives that extra flavor in almost all desserts.

Chocolate chips - although it is an optional decorative element in many recipes, in this case, it isn't, because the chocolate flavor will complement all other flavors; you can also use a mix of chocolate chips with some white chocolate chips, but if you don't have chips in the pantry you can always roughly chop some tablet chocolate instead.

How to make

• Start by separating the chickpeas (cooked) from the liquid where they were preserved, or if they have been soaked and cooked at home, separate from the cooking water and allow to cool completely. In any case, you should also rinse the chickpeas with water and drain well.
• Put in a food processor, and puree them.
• Almond butter, egg, vanilla, maple syrup, baking soda, and baking powder are added, continuing to grind until a thick and homogeneous cream is obtained.
• With the help of a spatula or spoon, wrap the chocolate chips into the preparation.
• A rectangular pan (mine was 26x19cm) is lined with parchment paper, and the mixture is poured into it, smoothing the surface with the spatula.
• Sprinkle with the remaining chocolate chips.
• Place in the oven at 180ºC for 20 to 25 minutes.
• Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before you can unmold and cut, but it is preferable to cool completely.

Chickpea and chocolate chips squares