I was skeptical when I came across this recipe for a “lighter” blondie, but after reading through the intro and ingredients list, I was intrigued enough to give it a try! The only change I made to the original recipe was the type of brown sugar used; it calls for dark brown sugar but I only had a stevia based light brown sugar on hand so I used that instead! These blondies are nutty, almost savory, richly sweet and dense.  Basically, they’re delicious and I highly recommend giving them a try!

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1, 15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 3 tbsp tahini
• 2 tbsp low fat milk
• 1/3 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup pecans, chopped
• cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Melt butter over medium heat until light brown. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool.
3. Meanwhile, blend chickpeas, tahini and milk in a food processor until smooth.
4. In a operate bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt together.
5. Stir chickpea mixture into butter mixture and mix well.
6. Fold in flour mixture, then add the pecans. Stir until incorporated.
7. Pour batter into a greased 8×8 baking pan.
8. Bake 25 – 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
9. Cool before removing from pan to slice and serve.

*Adapted from Cooking Light