Chocolatey Peanut Butter Blondies (Gluten-Free, Vegan)

I bleached my hair blonde once. I certainly can't vouch for the saying, "blondes have more fun," because I was only blonde for three months or so before I returned to my natural brown.

Change can be a liberating feeling. I don't regret smothering my black hair in bleach because it gave me exactly what I was looking for: a cheerful, light, energizing like the sun kind of feeling.

Forget everything you know about black bean brownies. Forget the cocoa powder and forget the black beans, because we're talking about an alternate universe here.

Blondies are the new Brownies. Or might I say, chickpea blondies are the new black bean brownies!

I'd like to note that I can't be expected to clean up my chocolate act all at once, so the blondies contain a pretty nice dosage of ~the good stuff~ to prevent chocolate withdrawal. 

While change is good, and so are blondies, here's the link to my black bean brownies, just incase you've soaked in enough light for the time being and are ready to return to the dark side.

Chocolatey Peanut Butter Blondies (Gluten-free, Vegan)

Yield: 24 bite-size blondies

Adapted from: betterwithcake

Ingredients:

- 1 can chickpeas, rinsed 

- 1/2 cup natural peanut butter or other nut butter

- 1/3 cup honey, maple syrup, or coconut nectar

- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 

- 1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted 

- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

- 1 teaspoon baking powder

- 1 teaspoon baking soda

- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt 

- 1/2 cup non-dairy milk 

- 1/2 cup chocolate chips 

- 1/4 cup chocolate chips 

- 2 teaspoons coconut oil 

Method: 

1. Grease a mini cupcake pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Peel the chickpeas. That's right, one by one. Though this step is not technically "required," but it makes a huge difference in the batter's texture (smooth vs fibrous). 
3. In a food processor, combine the peeled chickpeas, peanut butter, liquid sugar, vanilla, coconut oil, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Pulse until a thick dough-like batter is achieved. Then, slowly pour the milk into the food processor while it is pulsing until it forms a thick, but slightly runny batter. Add more milk if the batter does not run off a spoon with ease (milk amounts will vary depending on how oily your peanut butter was). 
4. Stir in chocolate chips and pour into the greased pan. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the top of the blondies are golden. Let cool slightly before removing the blondies and placing them on a wire rack.
5. Once the blondies are cooled, melt chocolate chips and coconut oil in the microwave at 50% power, stirring after each set of 20 seconds. Drizzle the melted chocolate over the blondies and serve. Store refrigerated for up to 5 days. 

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I'd like to give full credit to my partners in the kitchen today. They really motivated me to make these blondies the best blondies they could be. They definitely approved of the addition of peanut butter, but the chocolate was my idea (against their good judgment). Thank you so much for your love and support...Kava & Karma!