CHICKPEA BLONDIES!!

Hello, hello there friendly friends!!

Happiest of Mondays to you all!! I know it's Monday. Oh my goodness, the worst possible day of the week, like, ever! Ok, sarcastic face off- I'm actually with all of you- Monday's aren't my favourite day of the week. Or second favourite. Or third...

But you know what makes Monday's that much more... sweeter? ;P

It's square.

Fudgey.

Delicious.

Brownie's best friend.

Oh yes.

I made blondies. For breakfast. Things got wild this Monday morning!!

The thing about these bad boys is that they're- surprise, surprise- extremely nutritious and make an awesome breakfast option! They're also vegan. BOOM.

High protein (from the vanilla protein powder, nut butter and sneaky, sneaky ingredient), low-GI slow-releasing energy from rolled oats, healthy fats from peanut butter and overall deliciousness from every ingredient thrown into that blender!!

And what made these blondies so extra fudgey and delicious? Why, a good old friend of mine; the humble chickpea! :D

I know what you're thinking; 'Chickpeas in a blondie? Well, this girl has finally lost it now.' Well, no, I haven't. I lost it when I put silken tofu in my smoothies over 2 years ago (still, such a great idea!!). Chickpeas bring so much to this recipe (not to mention a great nutritional boost- looking at you added fiber and protein!!) and offer such a mouthwatering, appealing texture. And you can't even taste them!

Ok, ok I'll stop going on and on about these blondies because my mind is starting to drift back to eating them and my mouth is watering (which is saying something because I only finished eating them about 20 minutes ago :). so for both your and my benefit... here is the recipe!!

Nutty Vanilla Chickpea Protein Blondies:

Ingredients:
1/4 cup drained, rinsed chickpeas
1/3 heaped cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons peanut butter (or any nut butter of choice)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 tablespoon oat bran (optional, or just add another sprinkle of rolled oats)
3 dates, pitted
3 tablespoons water (add more after blending if still crumbly and dry)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius and line a tray with baking paper
2. Place all the ingredients in a food processor/ blender
3. Blend until smooth and combined (I still had some oats throughout for texture
4. Spoon out however big you want your blondies to be and shape into squares. Place on baking tray

Ensuring there's a good few bites left over for you to taste test of course! :P

5. Bake for 10-15 minutes until lightly golden brown and fragrant

 6. Remove from oven and leave to cool slightly (but only slightly because there's nothing better than a warm blondie!!)
7. Enjoy!!!

 I enjoyed mine with a side of strawberry fro-yo (1 big handful frozen strawberries with 3 big scoops greek yoghurt- whazzed together until smooth)

 Which was the perfect refreshing partner to my rich, fudgey, delicious chickpea blondies!

 And as for the blondies...

 Warm, chewy, marvelous and delicious.

 Not to mention such a great breakfast idea to ensure a great, powerful nutritous kickstart first thing in the morning!

 That tastes like a tempting, rich treat and yet you can enjoy six big blondie bites for breakfast with no guilt at all, instead a sense of loving your body with good, good food!!

 Now, if that doesn't make you want to go whip up a batch of these for yourself right now, I don't know what will!

 More a fan of brownies? No fear, I very recently created a delicious raw avocado brownie which is just as fudgey and extremellyyyyy chocolatey (plus healthy to boot... so yes, I also made it for breakfast!!) You can find the recipe here.

 Either way you go; blondie or brownie, you'll be in a very, very happy place :).

Nom.

Your turn:
Blondies or brownies- which would you choose for the rest of your days? This would be so hard for me because I alternate between which one I really feel like at a time! I think I might go with blondies though!?!
Favourite sneaky ingredient to add to baking?
Favourite way to use chickpeas? I love roasting them, whazzing them up in hommus, veggies patties- gosh they're good for so much!! And now I know how good they are in baked goods.. well there's no going back now, I'm going to be a chickpea eating machine!

Well, I hope you all have a loveley rest of your Monday, do something you enjoy, be with those you love and as always; eat something delicious!! Bye for now friendly friends! :D