CHICKPEA BLONDIES & CHICKPEA ICE POPS. YES, REALLY.

Desserts and sweets are being made with all kinds of new and healthy ingredients lately, and chickpeas are definitely one of them.  I'm not even talking about chickpea flour, I'm talking about straight out of the can or cooked at home, small, round, chickpeas.  Perfect for the gluten free crowd, chickpeas can act as the dough, or the bulk of the dessert, meaning that you can skip over the need for flour, butter, and even an egg if you like.  In addition to that of course, it makes your sweet tooth satisfier a little more filling, and a lot more healthy.

I've recently found and made, two excellent chickpea dessert recipes from two different bloggers.  The recipes are quite similar in regards to ingredients, although one ends in soft, gooey dessert bars, and the other finishes in a cold, creamy creamsicle.

I don't really find that you can taste the chickpeas in these desserts, but they do taste more natural and earthy, and they are definitely denser and gooey than others.  I really like the flavour, and it definitely still serves it's purpose.  Which is of course to deliver sweet, chocolatey goodness.

First up, here is the link to Ambitious Kitchen's Flourless Chocolate Chip Chickpea Blondies.  These sweet little bars are definitely a very gooey brownie type texture.  I had to cook mine double the amount of time that she recommends, in order to be able to cut them apart.  The batter itself is pretty much worth eating, and totally doable since it's egg and flour free.  But if you can wait until after cooked, I actually preferred to keep them in the fridge and eat them cold.  

Next I tried A Life Including Cake's recipe for Cookie Dough Ice Pop's.  As I mentioned, it's very much a similar ingredient list, except here the result is a little bit of a looser dough, which then gets poured into ice pop molds.  Yum.  This is like an ice cream treat, except I feel wayyyy better after eating it because my stomach is not rolling in cream, and I have massive chickpea energy.  Yup, chickpea energy.  It's totally a thing.  I also used cocoa nibs in this recipe as she recommends, instead of chocolate chips.  They are very frozen when they come out, but the result is worth a minute wait to enjoy these little guys.

Two of my girlfriends loved the blondies, while my boyfriend wasn't completely sold.  I'm quickly devouring the ice pops before I have the chance (am forced to) share.  Maybe it's a girl/guy thing?  Either way, I think they are both awesome, and I'm excited to see more recipes, and perhaps a few creations of my own with a can of legumes incorporated into it.  Go beans!