Try this Healthy Pumpkin Blondies recipe or contribute your own.
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 tsp salt
- cooking spray (i use misto)
- 1 tsp baking powder aluminum free
- 14 oz can chickpeas drained & rinsed (i cook my own beans)
- 10 medjool dates pitted
- 15 oz can (1 3/4 cups) pumpkin puree
- 1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)
- 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips or chunks
- Carbohydrate 60.5370766615568 g
- Cholesterol 3.26666666003912 mg
- Fat 6.32225333238935 g
- Fiber 8.56723364779139 g
- Protein 13.5051966614174 g
- Saturated Fat 1.51347499935845 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (165g)
- Sodium 91.9506664948151 mg
- Sugar 51.9698430137654 g
- Trans Fat 1.05889066676298 g
- Calories 348 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line 8 x 8 square baking dish with unbleached parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.
- Add oats to a powerful blender or food processor and process until finely ground.
- Add remaining ingredients, except chocolate chips, and process until smooth.
- Add chocolate chips and stir to mix.
- Pour batter into baking dish, level with spatula and bake for 25 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let blondies cool for 10 minutes.
- Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely before slicing.
- Drizzle with chocolate drizzle if you wish.
- Cut into 16 squares.
Undermixing the wet ingredients in a bean-based batter leaves behind fibrous pockets that ruin the final structure. Achieving a uniform crumb without a traditional flour base requires a powerful food processor to break down fibrous ingredients completely. When working with legumes and whole oats, processing them thoroughly before folding in solid mix-ins prevents gritty textures from forming.
Texture Mechanics in Legume Baking
Chickpeas provide dense starch and moisture that mimic traditional flours only when emulsified correctly with fats and purees. Grinding the rolled oats into a fine flour first establishes a structural matrix. Then, incorporating the pumpkin puree and melted coconut oil while the motor runs creates a smooth suspension that holds air from the baking powder. Bake this batter in an 8x8 square dish at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes until the edges pull away slightly from the parchment paper. Allow the squares to cool completely on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before slicing, because starches in bean-heavy goods continue to set as they lose residual heat.
- Process the oats into a powder prior to adding canned beans to avoid stubborn grit.
- Cool the blondies fully to prevent them from crumbling apart under the knife.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days.
