These gluten-free chickpea brownies don't have flour of any kind, yet they are totally different from my flourless black bean brownies. Those are a lot lighter, while these are a lot richer and more like fudge, so no matter what type of gluten-free brownie you like, I have you covered!
Happy Monday! I thought we would kick off the week with a little bit of chocolate (since Monday’s usually require some chocolate). These brownies are a rich, dense, and decadent chocolate treat. They are also full of fiber, healthy fats, protein, various micronutrients, are super simple to make, and free of refined sugars…whew – my kind of brownie.
I don’t recommend consuming the entire batch (although it might be hard not to) if you have weight loss goals you are working toward, but they are a great healthy indulgence when a chocolate and/or brownie craving strikes – it happens to all of us! They freeze great as well, a nice added bonus for portion control.
Additional thoughts, tips, and tricks
- I sure hope you don't see the word chickpeas in the recipe and get turned off. Cause plain chickpeas/garbanzo beans are about one of my least favorite foods in the world to me. My mom loves them and I could never understand that. It's the texture. But now I've grown to love them, as long as they are in not whole, in things like hummus, pancakes or these brownies.
- If you have a high-speed blender (i.e. Blendtec * or Vitamix *) you can skip soaking the cashews. How awesome is that? But if you do, you will need to add a little water to the blender to make up for the amount of water the cashews soak up soaking.
- I usually get my raw, unsalted cashews from the bulk section at my local health food store. And I get the cashew pieces if they have them, cause they are always cheaper and you're just going to blend them anyway. But I put a little less than a cup then, since they are denser in the cup, cause I don't want the brownies to get too dry.
- You could totally put your favorite brownie frosting on these if you wanted. I think they are totally fine on their own, and way less messy, but frosting is really good, so that's totally up to you.
- There are several ideas for substitutions in the comments.
I can tell you one substitution NOT to try - OK. This is super-embarrassing. My brother's family only visits like once a year from Texas and they rarely come to our house when they do cause they usually are visiting with my sister-in-law's family that lives close to us. Last summer though my wife invited them over for dinner.
I don't know why she does this, but she tends to experiment on guests and does not plan ahead enough and make sure we have all the ingredients. She was all excited to make these brownies because my nephew can't have gluten or dairy and she just knew he would love these.
So she goes to make them and realizes we don't have enough cocoa powder, but we do have some weird hot cocoa mix that's been in the cupboard for a long time. That's totally close enough, right? Well, um. Wrong! It didn't exactly work out. It makes the brownies end up more like soup, even after we cooked them way longer than we should have.
At least he was a good sport and ate them with a spoon and said they tasted good even though the texture was off, but we did end up throwing a lot of them away. So much for impressing the company. Oh well. At least no one gained weight or got a sugar high that day . . .
I would love to know if you try these and like them. Please comment below and let me know what you think!
Fudgy, Flourless Gluten-Free Chickpea Brownies Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: Gluten-Free
Description
These gluten-free flourless brownies are a rich, dense, and decadent chocolate treat. But I love that they are made from chickpeas and cashews, so they are full of fiber, healthy fats and protein!
Ingredients
- 1 15 ounce can chickpeas (rinsed and drained)
- 1 cup raw, unsalted cashews (soaked for 1 hour in warm water discard the water after done soaking)
- ½ cup cocoa powder *
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup * (agave * or honey can be substituted)
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp Real Salt *
- ⅓ cup dark chocolate chips * (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Combine all ingredients, except chocolate chips, into a blender.
- Blend until a batter forms (the batter will be thick).
- Stir in chocolate chips.
- Pour into a greased 8x8 baking dish.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not overcook or it will dry out the brownies.
- Allow them to cool for 20 minutes before cutting and serving to help them "set."
Notes
If you have a high-speed blender (i.e. Blendtec or Vitamix) you can skip soaking the cashews. But if you do, you will need to add a little water to the blender to make up for the amount of water the cashews soak up soaking.
Keywords: Gluten-Free, flourless, rich, dense, decadent
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Bonnie
I made these brownies today. I have tried a few other recipes for gluten free/cleaner eating brownies and they were, well awful but these are FABULOUS! What a great surprise when we tasted them and were both really excited about a great tasting, gluten free/ cleaner brownie! I have been a baker all my life and having to change course from the traditional recipes has proven challenging for me but this recipe gives me hope. I have subscribed to your site and am anxious to try many of your other recipes since this was so successful. FYI, we wanted to try with some frosting and trying to keep with the healthier program I created a simple chocolate frosting frosting using 1/2 C cashew butter, 1/4 C cocoa powder,3T maple syrup and 5T milk that works as a wonderful complimentary frosting to your wonderful recipe. Thank you for your efforts in helping us all eat a little better and still fun.
Bonnie
★★★★★
Rebecca Baron
Thanks for your sweet comment and the frosting sounds wonderful and, like you said, a perfect compliment to this brownie.
Colette
Yummy
★★★★★
Nancy
Delish, will make again for sure!
★★★★★
Sophie Bolton
We LOVED it - I added icing sugar for presentation for the kids
★★★★★
J Loranne
I used salted caramel chips 😋
★★★★★
Clare O'Connell
Love!
★★★★★
Jen Vickers
I subbed raw pepita's to make this nut-free, and added 2 extra Tbsp of maple syrup to make it sweeter. They were a bit for the whole family, and I felt good letting them take them to school or having extras for snacks!
★★★★★
krystal
If id had chocolate chips it would have been perfect but still .. so good!
★★★★★
Tammy
I found this recipe on Pinterest after going gluten and dairy free recently. These brownies are so decadent and amazing!!! My picky teenage son had NO CLUE these weren't regular brownies! Thank you for the awesome recipe, and I'm glad to have found your blog!
Rebecca
I love your review! Thanks for commenting.
Melissa at Making it Sweet
Thanks for the recipe! It was an interesting texture and flavor, for sure. My husband was expecting something gooey so he was disappointed. But I guess you have to make compromises when you’re trying to live a little healthier!
I added a little almond milk since the ingredients wouldn’t come together in my blender. Maybe next time I’ll use a food processor.
★★★★
Rebecca
Yes, they are a little denser than a typical brownie.
Don
Can I substitute the Nutts?
Rebecca
You could try a half cup of almond butter or natural peanut butter. I don’t think it would work as a nut free recipe.
Jennifer
You really can’t substitute almond or peanut (or any kind of “those” butters), because they ARE NUT butters! They would obviously still be very bad for those allergic to NUTS! I noticed this after 2 similar responses and began to realize they must have been automatic responses!
Rebecca
You never know. I'm allergic to some nuts but not others. . .
bananna with a camera
Holy crap. I need this in my belly RIGHT NOW! Definitely pinning this one!
Rebecca
Yes you do need these asap 🙂
Tiana
I used macadamia nuts instead of cashews and it was so ‘Ono! Mahalo
Rbin
Great! Thanks! That is actually a nut I can have! I am allergic to most nuts
Jackie
Thank you for the recipe! The ingredients are quite flexible, I use whichever beans I have on hand, and it still works out well. I also cut out the maple syrup and added dates (blended into a paste) instead, I add roughly 2/3 of a cup. This increases the fibre content in the brownie. Great healthy alternative to sugar-loaded-fibre-less versions!
★★★★★
Rebecca
Awesome! I am so glad you like them, and I will have to try it with dates.
Mary
Sweetened or unsweetened cocoa?
Rebecca
Unsweetened
Robin
I would really love to try this recipe but I am allergic to cashews. Do you know what a good substitute would be?
Rebecca
You could try 1/2 cup almond butter or 1/2 cup peanut butter. It will alter the taste a little bit…but they should still taste good 🙂
Robin
Thank you!
jessalise
These didn’t turn out very sweet. I put in the listed amounts of ingredients… not sure what happened. I was looking forward to having a sweet treat. Do you know why this might have happened?
Rebecca
Did you use maple syrup? If yes, make sure it is pure maple syrup – it is sweeter than other maple syrups. If that wasn’t it, feel free to increase the sweetener to 1/2 cup to sweeten it up a little bit more.
Deb
Could you replace cashews for pecans?
Rebecca
I have never done it…but it should work. You will probably get a slightly grainy texture (pecans are not as creamy as cashews) but I think it will still taste yummy.
David
Any substitute for the egg!?
Rebecca
I haven’t tried any substitutes. You could try replacing it with 1 Tbsp of ground flaxseed and 2 Tbsp of water, it might work…if you do – let me know how it goes.
lindycrawford29Lindy
I made these in my Blendtec Blender. I did have to add water as they were very thick and I was unable to get the garbanzo beans and cashews pulverized, and everything all blended together. Did you notice this when you made them? Should I have done something different? Asking out of pure curiosity 🙂
Rebecca
The batter is really THICK, so. I always soak my cashews (even though it isn’t necessary with a high speed blender), it just makes the blending process go by faster. Hopefully they still tasted alright :).
Amber Palmer
Any suggestions to substitute out the cashew for a tree nut allergy?
Rebecca
You could try 1/2 cup of sunflower butter or peanut butter (they might alter the flavor slightly), but it should work as a substitute.
lindycrawford29Lindy
I made these for a birthday celebration, I did end up smothering them with chocolate ganache, that I had leftover from the birthday cake (which was delicious) but even without the added topping they were amazing! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!! I am loving your blog!
★★★★★
Laura
These were amazing!
★★★★★
Rebecca
I am so glad you liked them! I keep some in my freezer for emergencies – they are one of my favorites!!!
Donna
Can you use cashew meal, ground raw cashew, instead of whole that you need to soak?
Rebecca
I am not sure about cashew meal, it might make them a little bit dry. You could substitute 1/2 cup of cashew butter if you have that on hand, or almond butter (although that will alter the flavor slightly). If you try the cashew meal, let me know how it turns out for you :).
Riley
Could lentils work as a substitute for chickpeas? I hate to ask, but this sounds wonderful and I cant eat chickpeas.
Rebecca
I haven’t tried, but they might, if you try it let me know how it turns out :). White beans or Navy beans may work as well (if you can eat them).
Bethany
Black beans or black soybeans might work? I make a very good “chocolate fudge” out of black soybeans, and I was thinking of trying them in this recipe, too, to lower the carb count. Anyone tried these with black soybeans before? 🙂
Rebecca
I have never tried it, if you do, let me know how it goes. I am guessing it would work great.
KC
Are the cashews salted or unsalted?
Rebecca
I used raw, unsalted cashews.
Roxy's Kitchen (@roxys_kitchen)
These brownies look amazing, what a great idea to use chickpeas!
Rebecca
They are my favorite!
Rachael@AnAvocadoADay
Oh my gosh I want these now! I love brownies made with beans, actually, I like them better than regular flour brownies! Never tried them with cashews before. Pinning this for later (which will be sooner, rather than later!)
Rebecca
I recommend sooner as well, haha 🙂
Azu
These brownies look so good! Can’t believe the have chickpeas in them. Have to try them! They have been pinned.
Rebecca
I hope you love them as much as I do!
huntfortheverybest
oh i love high protein treats. these look great!
Rebecca
I know, right!
Angie (@angiesrecipess)
These brownies look heavenly!
Rebecca
They are my favorite! I am not exaggerating when I say I keep a stash in my freezer for emergencies :).
Melanie @ Nutritious Eats
Wow, these look amazing, Rebecca! I just started salivating- definitely need to try these out asap! So glad you stopped by my blog.
Rebecca
I just used up my freezer stash, and am going to have to make some more!
EA-The Spicy RD
I wish I could say I haven’t eaten any chocolate today, but I would be lying. Otherwise, I would whip up a batch of these brownies ASAP-they look so yummy and chocolatey! Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today, and sharing your “confession” – glad to be in good company 🙂
Rebecca
Everyone needs some chocolate on a Monday 🙂