Garbanzo Bean Brownies are gluten-free, grain-free and refined sugar-free. This healthy brownie recipe is moist, fudgy and amazing!
Let’s go to brownieville!
I love making treat recipes out of whole foods. Creating something decadent out of something healthful to achieve an outcome that is both mouth-wateringly delicious and nutritious sounds almost too good to be true!
You know what else sounds almost too good to be true?
Brownies made out of beans.
I know, crazy, right? Who would have thought something that is meant to be eaten alongside a plate of tacos could metamophosize into a brownie?
As it turns out, the bean you love to put in your chili makes a fantastic treat when blended up with chocolate. The main ingredient of hummus? Sure, let’s make brownies out of it!
If you are trying to find alternatives to wheat-based recipes, and prefer keeping treats on the nutritious side, this recipe may cater to your needs too. Garbanzo beans are very high in fiber (two cups of the bean give you all the fiber you need for the day) and the type of fiber fuels the cells in your intestinal wall and promotes colon health.
Plus all the antioxidants from the dark chocolate chips and cocoa powder? Smooooooth move!
The consistency of this treat comes out somewhere along the lines of fudge, brownie and holy mother of yum. It’s thick, smooth, and dense and you have no clue, not even a smidge of an idea that you’re eating mooshed up beans.
Not a bean person, you say? That don’t matter none…you can’t taste them, I promise!
Also: mega trick alert – want to fool your friends? Feed them these, and see if they can tell what they’re made out of!
They’ll love the fact that they’re gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free and decadent as can be!
More Healthy Brownies Recipes:
- Espresso Keto Brownies
- Flourless Avocado Brownies (Paleo)
- Paleo Sweet Potato Fudge Brownies
- Black Bean Brownies
Garbanzo Bean Brownies
Ingredients
- 1-1/4 cups dark chocolate chips
- 1 can garbanzo beans rinsed and drained
- 2 eggs
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons raw cacao powder
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract see note
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Confectioner’s sugar for garnish optional
Instructions
- Add the chocolate chips to a small sauce pan and heat over medium low. When the chips begin to melt on the bottom, slowly stir with a spoon until chips are completely melted. Although this may take a couple of minutes, I prefer melting chocolate over the stove as opposed to the microwave to ensure it does not overcook or get burned. Set melted chocolate aside.
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Add all ingredients (except chocolate) to a blender and blend until completely smooth.
- Add the melted chocolate and blend until combined. The batter will be very thick – this is marvelous.
- Line an 8” x 8” baking dish with parchment paper (or lightly oil it with olive/grapeseed oil). Pour the brownie batter into the parchment-lined dish and smooth with a knife. The batter will not change form very much (it won’t rise much or spread out), so make sure it appears the way you want it to.
- Bake brownies for 28 to 30 minutes (28 was the magic number for me) and test the center with a toothpick to be sure they’re cooked all the way through.
- Allow brownies to cool a few minutes then pull the edges of the parchment paper to remove the whole brownie block and set it on a cutting board. Use a sharp knife to cut brownies and garnish with powdered sugar if desired.
- Serve fresh out of the oven and refrigerate any leftovers
Yum! I actually substituted the chickpeas for a can of kidney beans. I followed the rest of your recipe and it was sooo good. Kids loved them. Thanks!
Oh I tried to make black bean brownies today and they were an epic fail… all I could taste was beans. But I am determined to make this bean brownie things work so this recipe is next on my list! Wish me luck.
The same thing happened to me> I made them before from a different recipe and they were great. I’m not sure what happened
Ah bummer! Have you tried this recipe for black bean brownies?: https://www.theroastedroot.net/black-bean-brownies/ Let me know if you give bean brownies another shot!
Can you replace sugar with coconut sugar or raw honey? Thanks
Hi Louiza! You could try replacing the sugar with coconut sugar, but you may need to add a little extra liquid because coconut sugar can absorb more moisture than regular cane sugar. I’d test it out and see if the batter consistency looks the way it should..if it seems too thick/dry before going in the oven, simply add some coconut milk. I’d honestly avoid using honey because it will drastically change the consistency and flavor of the recipe. Let me know how the brownies turn out!
Am I blind or is there no recipe on this page? I can’t find it anywhere and these look amazing….thanks for the help/
Michael
Hi Michael, it’s totally not you…it’s me 😉 I just disabled my recipe plugin momentarily in order to do some website maintenance, but it’s up and running again 🙂 Go ahead and refresh the page, and you should be able to see the recipe. Hope you enjoy the brownies!
When you put “1 can garbanzo beans”, is this a large can, a medium can, or a small can? My local green grocer has several different sizes.
Or would it be possible for you to give the drained weight/amount? That would be so very helpful, since I can just soak and cook dried chickpeas as usual.
Hi Camilla, my apologies. I used a 14-ounce can of chickpeas, which is just under 2 cups. I wish I had a scale, but I don’t 🙁 This is a perfect investment for my kitchen. Hope you try them and let me know how they turn out 🙂
Just found your blog; it’s great! I’m new to baking and wondering if the garbanzo beans could be replaced with garbanzo flour? Either way I’m definitely trying this recipe!
Hi Suzanne! So glad you like the idea of the brownies. I’m sure it’s possible to make brownies using garbanzo flour instead of beans, but the portion of the wet mixture would need to change based on the amount of flour used, so you would need to do some experimenting. Let me know if you try the brownies!
I did bake the brownies and they came out delicious! Even my husband was surprised that a garbanzo bean brownie could be so tasty. I cooked up a batch of garbanzos; I didn’t use canned. I eat these beans a lot so I always have dried ones available. The only thing I found was my bake time was longer; 48 minutes to be exact. No big deal, they were still yummy!
Yaaaaaaaay! I’m so glad! When I make bean-filled brownies, I never alert the people who are eating them what they’re made out of…always wait until after they’ve tried a bite, because I love to see the shock and amazement. Thanks so much for your feedback – I’ll have to make another batch and test the cook time (i.e. gorge myself on brownies and use the cook time change as an excuse 😉
I used garbanzo beans I had cooked up myself also, and found I had to increase the cooking time as well. they wre delicious.
light or dark brown sugar? 🙂
What is the calorie amount of one of these brownies?
I was going to make black bean brownies as I have before, but only had chickpeas and white beans. Looked up chickpeas and found this great recipe. I added a teaspoon of instant coffee as that boosts the chocolate flavor and used coconut sugar. They were awesome! Moist and fudge like. The black bean brownies are cake like and are very good too. Next time I will add some pecans for added protien. My daughter and I have Celiac s and these recipes let us enjoy a full range of delicious foods! Thank you for your recipe.
Oooh, I love the idea of adding pecans. Thanks for the idea, Lynn! xo
Is there a substitute for coconut oil? Can I use any oil? Please help!
Hi Kadee! You can absolutely use a different oil. Canola, olive, or grapeseed oil would work wonderfully. Thanks and hope you enjoy! 🙂
Do you suppose egg substitute would work with these.
I’m competing in our church eat different food festival
in the category of gluten free/vegan brownies.
We have several awesome bakers, and I’ve tried a bunch,
but this looks like it could be a show stopper if it goes vegan.
What size can of chick peas do I use?
Love your statement about brownieville.
Can I quote that?
Nice blog. Jill
Hi Jill, I’ve never used egg substitute before, so I couldn’t say if it would work or how much to use. My assumption would be that an egg substitute would work just fine as long as it works in other baked goods (which I hear it does). Use a 15-ounce can of chick peas 🙂 Thanks for your interest and best of luck!!
You’re funny–your writing voice reminds me a little of Joy the Baker! Except I love how your recipes have a more nutrition-packed focus to them 🙂 These look gorgeous!
Thanks for posting this recipe.
These sound awesome! (And congrats on making the DailyBuzz Food Top 9 with them!) I just soaked and boiled a pot of chickpeas this past weekend, so I have more than a can’s worth in my fridge…
What a great recipe – so easy, too. I just cooked up a pot of dried garbanzo beans (better than canned) and am adding them to the cheesy sauce for mac’s and cheese. I should have enough leftover to make your brownies. Thanks for sharing!!
Yes yes! I want to go to brownieville with you! I’ve tried many variations but garbanzo bean brownies?!?! I am dying to try this! I’ll let you know how it turns out ;). Thank you for sharing! I’m so excited about this
Min, I’m so excited that you’re anxious to try the recipe! I adore using black beans and garbanzo beans in brownies and I think you’ll love them. It’s pretty amazing what you can do without wheat! I look forward to hearing how they turn out!
The texture of those bars looks incredible! I’m all for fudge brownies. I love that you created them with beans! They look delicious!
Oh Annie, you’ve got to try them! I know you’d be able to naturally sweeten the crap out of them and make them the healthiest brownie on the planet! Let me know if you try them!