Jan. 22 is National Blonde Brownie Day. Technically it means that it’s like a brownie except that it uses brown sugar instead of regular sugar and vanilla instead of cocoa. But we used garbanzo beans.

When I was looking for a blonde brownie recipe, I just couldn’t get past the stick of butter and large amounts of sugar listed in the ingredients (I previously was more of a cake mix baker if I baked at all). I realized that if we’re going to be doing a lot of baking and cooking during this Every Day is a Holiday campaign, then I better be careful with the ingredients  I select.

So I found this recipe on the Ambitious Kitchen blog: Flourless Chocolate Chip Chickpea Blondies

Our Medley Moment

I wasn’t sure how the kids would react to a brownie recipe with garbanzo beans so I got started with it while the kids were in the other room. But they knew I was making the brownies so of course they came into the kitchen to check it out. “What?! Why are there garbanzo beans in there?!” they asked incredulously when they saw the garbanzo beans in the food processor. Then I added the almond butter and gave them a little sample of the agave nectar (this was the first time I’ve tried that) and they felt a little better about it.

Once I mixed all the ingredients together and gave them a taste of the batter, they changed their tune completely and probably would have finished  the batter right there, spoonful after spoonful, if I hadn’t reminded them that we needed to bake them. I sprinkled half with chocolate chips and 20 minutes later, they were ready.

I had left the room for a few minutes and my husband was making dinner – spaghetti with veggie meatballs and garlic toast – and he decided to toast the bread at the same time the blondies were baking, which is why the chocolate chips look a little darker than they should. The recipe says that they are really chewy and ours came out a little drier, which I think may be a result of them being baked and toasted at the same time. They still tasted really good, but I’d like to try this recipe again without the toasting.

Next time my kids walk in the kitchen and see the garbanzo beans in the food processor, I think they may react differently.

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