Flourless chickpea brownies are fudgy, chocolatey, decadent, naturally sweetened, and wholesome! They’re made with just 5 ingredients for the perfect any-time snack.
This recipe was originally published in November 2018. It has been updated for content, photos, and video.
If you’ve been following along the blog for a while, you know I just LOVE sneaking nutrients into all of my dishes, including dessert.
BUT!
Just like my chickpea cookies, no one will guess that the main ingredient in this decadent treat is chickpeas!
The taste is out of this world amazing, and the texture is rich and fudgy, all without the guilt.
Who knew chocolate and chickpeas would marry so well together?? OH! Don’t forget to try my chocolate covered chickpeas next.
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Reader Feedback:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I made these today for the first time! I’m trying to eliminate flours and sugar and was craving something sweet! This was soooo yummy! I will definitely make it again and again! My very picky kids also loved it! My daughter who doesn’t like chocolate, hummus or peanut butter, absolutely loved them!! So funny! Yummm! Thank you for always providing tasty and healthy recipes!! ❤ – Michelle
Why you’ll love these!
- Wholesome!! Feel good about the vitamins and minerals these chickpea brownies bring to the dessert table!
- Great flavour! Lightly sweetened, with a rich chocolatey flavour, but not overwhelmingly sweet. It’s just right. 😉
- Naturally sweetened. Dates sweeten these delicious, fudgy bites which keeps them free from refined sugar! No artificial sweeteners are needed.
- Easy to make. These chickpea brownies are so simple to prepare and come together in your food processor with minimal prep needed.
- Allergen friendly. These incredible treats are vegan, dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free, and flour-free. PLUS, they’re also oil-free, making them suitable for my WFPB eaters. Lastly, with a simple swap, these can be made nut-free by skipping the optional walnuts and using sun butter instead of nut butter.
Ingredients
Here’s everything you’ll need to make these incredible chickpea brownies.
- Dates: Use pitted dates for convenience or Medjool dates for extra sweetness and remove their pits. If your dates appear very dry, soak them first in hot water for 10-15 minutes and then drain them.
- Chickpeas: Use canned or cooked chickpeas. Also known as garbanzo beans.
- Aquafaba: The liquid remaining from a can of chickpeas, or the liquid remaining after cooking dried chickpeas. This acts as the egg replacer and helps bind the ingredients, so don’t skip it.
- Peanut Butter: Use natural peanut butter without oil or sugar added. (The kind that is JUST peanuts.) Or try these with cashew butter, almond butter, or another nut butter of your choice.
- Fill-ins: Walnuts and dark chocolate chips are optional fill-ins, but recommended for added flavour and texture.
Instructions
(This is a summary with step by step photos, full recipe measurements and instructions are in the recipe card below.)
Drain your chickpeas in a bowl to reserve the chickpea liquid. (AKA aquafaba.)
Add the dates and water to your food processor and process until mostly smooth. (photo 1)
Then add the chickpeas, cacao powder, peanut butter, aquafaba, and blend. (photo 2)
NOTE: Process until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides, as needed. Once smooth, add the optional chocolate chips and walnut pieces, if using.
Spread the mixture into your baking dish, press it down, and smooth out the top. Sprinkle extra chocolate chips and walnuts if you’d like. (photo 3)
Bake the chickpea brownies for 25-30 minutes, remove them from the oven, and let them rest before slicing them into squares. (photo 4)
NOTE: The brownies will look under-done, but do not overcook. They will set as they cool and the longer you wait to cut them, the firmer they will be.
If you want to take this dessert up a notch, serve it with a scoop of vegan no churn ice cream on top.
Storage
Once completely cooled, store the chickpea brownies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days.
Refrigerate them to keep for up to 1 week. Or freeze them in an airtight container to keep up to 2 months.
Make sure to separate any layers with parchment paper before freezing.
Substitutions + Variations
- For nut-free: Swap the peanut butter with sunflower seed butter, tahini, or soy butter and omit the optional walnuts.
- Sub the chocolate chips and/or walnuts for other fill-ins like raisins, pecans, or dried cranberries.
- Skip the optional chocolate chips to keep these chickpea brownies refined sugar-free.
- For sweeter brownies, add 2-3 tablespoons of maple syrup to the mix after processing the dates, and/or use up to ½ cup of chocolate chips.
- For salty/sweet chickpea brownies spinkle the top with sea salt flakes.
Expert Tips
- Use parchment paper to line your pan. Although greasing will do the trick for nonstick, it will be a lot easier to remove the brownies using the paper to lift them out. (And they’ll cool faster this way!)
- Do not overbake! Overbaking will result in drier, less fudgy-tasting brownies. They will look underdone when you take them out of the oven, but they will set as they cool. The longer you wait, the firmer they will get.
- Wet your knife in between cuts when slicing your chickpea brownies, for smoother, nicer-looking edges and to prevent sticking.
More secretly healthy desserts
If you tried this recipe, please let me know in the comments below. I always love hearing from you! Don’t forget to Subscribe to This Healthy Kitchen to be among the first to get my new recipes! You can also FOLLOW ME on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube to see more delicious food.
Buon appetito
Rosa
📖 Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup pitted dates packed
- ¼ cup water
- 15 ounce can chickpeas drained but liquid reserved
- 3 tablespoons aquafaba from the chickpea liquid reserved above
- ½ cup natural peanut butter smooth or chunky
- ⅓ cup raw unsweetened cocoa powder
Optional Fill Ins
- ⅓ cup vegan chocolate chips
- ½ cup walnut pieces
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350℉/176℃ and line a square 8 inch baking pan with parchment paper.
- Add the dates and water to your food processor and process until you have a smooth paste. Then add the chickpeas, aquafaba, peanut butter, cocoa, and process until well combined.
- Next, add the optional fill-ins, if using, and pulse a few times to mix them through without overprocessing.
- Scoop the brownie batter into your dish and smooth out the top with a silicone spatula. The batter will be very thick, so press it down to ensure there are no gaps. Sprinkle more chocolate chips and walnuts on top if you'd like and bake for 25-30 minutes.
- Let it cool in the pan for 5 minutes, and then lift the brownies out, using the parchment paper, and transfer to a cutting board. Let cool for AT LEAST 20 minutes before slicing.
Deborah
I made these this week as a birthday treat for myself. Had them with banana nice cream (frozen banana + soy milk in blender)–delicious! Thanks so much for giving me a way to celebrate without falling off the WFPB wagon!
Rosa
Happy birthday Deborah! So thrilled you enjoyed the brownies. Thanks so much for the review. 🙂
Ivana
Amazing, loved the simplicity of the making. And the flavours really come through, good balance between the cacao, peanut butter and dates! Definitely one of the healthy chocolate favourites now!
Rosa
Thanks very much Ivana! Thrilled you enjoyed these. 🙂
Cindi
Just made these and whilst they are delicious, they really didnt firm up enough even after resting for more than an hour.
Les
That was my experience also. I ended “rebaking” the tray longer and they came out really well that way. I’m now making a fresh batch with a quarter cup of oat flour added (for a slightly more cakey feel) and subbing soaked cashews for peanut butter (bc I ran out of the latter). Let’s see how funky they come out 😀
marge201
Would love to see a response to Cindi’s question. Also to Les’s experience.
Sarah
I have prunes but not dates…. Would that work as a substitute?
Rosa
Hi Sarah, it should work but it will alter the flavour of the brownies. They won’t be as sweet, but if you’re okay with that, give it a try! Let me know how it goes. 🙂
Alison Irving
These brownies are off the charts amazing….so decadent and so delicious!
They’re very easy to make, such simple ingredients and the results are fantastic! I thought I might have to use the optional maple syrup, as I have a very bad sweet tooth, but no! Not at all. Craving satisfied! 🙂 Thank you, Rosa!!
Rosa
Thanks for the review Alison. I’m so happy you enjoyed these!
Michelle
I made these today for the first time! I’m trying to eliminate flours and sugar and was craving something sweet! This was soooo yummy! I will definitely make it again and again! My very picky kids also loved it! My daughter who doesnt like chocolate, hummus or peanut butter, absolutely loved them!! So funny!
Yummm! Thank you for always providing tasty and healthy recipes!! ❤
Rosa
Thanks so much for the review Michelle. Thrilled you all enjoyed the brownies. 🙂
May
OH MY GOD ROSA these are so FREAKING GOOD
…
mmmmmmmmmm
I know you said the longer I wait the easier they’ll be to cut, but I definitely sliced through them the second that 20 minute timer went off. They were fudgy heaven. I used pecans instead of walnuts because that’s what we had. Yummmmmm. And I used a silicone loaf mold with no greasing and no parchment paper, it slid out perfectly.
Rosa
Thanks so much for the glowing review May! I’m thrilled you loved these so much. 🙂
Carina
They were delicious thanks!
Rosa
Thrilled you enjoyed Carina!
Lorie
They look delish. I don’t have dates but do you think packed cranberries would work? I just bought a big bag from Costco. I know it would change the taste a bit
Rosa
Hi Lorie, it may work, but there won’t be any sweetness since the dates are sweetening these. If you’re okay with a very tart brownie, then it may work. Let me know if you try it! Enjoy.
Jessica Fitzgerald
I made them tonight and they turned out delicious!
Rosa
Amazing, so glad to hear it! Thanks Jessica. 🙂