FIRST AND HOPEFULLY NOT LAST

This is to be my first and hopefully not my last blog post. I have been reading blogs for over a year and yesterday decided to join the ever-increasing blogging community and start my own. So give it up for my first post. Let's get started!

With every blog, you need a hook-line-and-sinker, and this blog will be no different. So, what's the catch of the day?

A chocolate chip blondie recipe!

Oh, and did I mention that this is to be a healthy food blog? (Well... now I did)

This blondie is a sweet and healthy score with only 68 calories per piece.

Revised from: Chocolate-Covered Katie and Bake n' Beebz

Chocolate "Chick" Blondies

Ingredients: (Check below for vegan and low fat/sugar substitutes)

• 1 can chickpeas drained (trust me, you can't even tell!)
• 1 large banana
• 2 egg whites
• 1 Tbsp Honey
• 1/4 cup granulated sweetener (like sugar or fructose)
• 2 Tbsp natural creamy peanut butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

Directions: (Heat oven to 350 degrees)

1. Place drained chickpeas, banana and egg whites in a food processor and blend until smooth (will take several minutes)
2. Measure out and add the honey, sugar, peanut butter and vanilla. Combine.
3. Add the baking powder, baking soda and mix in.
4. Saving the best for last, add the chocolate chips and combine with a fork or whisk. Do not attempt to use the food processor or even minier (is that even a word??) chocolate chips will ensue.
5. Spray a 13x9 pan with nonstick cooking spray and spread the batter evenly into the pan.
6. Place in the preheated oven and bake for approximately 30 to 40 minutes. You will want the blondies to still be somewhat soft as they harden a lot when cooling.

Nutrition Facts: (per serving- makes 18 squares)
68 calories
11g carbohydrates
2g fat
2g protein

Vegan substitutions: 

• You can substitute vegan chocolate chips for the mini chocolate chips.
• You could also try a vegan egg replacer for the egg whites, but I am not sure how that would turn out. I would instead try increasing the banana.

Low sugar/fat substitutions:

• To lower the already low sugar counts, you could remove the chocolate chips completely, replace them with sugar free chocolate chips, or replace them with an equal amount of nuts
• Agave would work fine in place of the honey and granulated splenda should work for the sugar
• To make these blondies virtually fat free (save for the chocolate chips) the peanut butter could be replaced with equal amounts of applesauce. Bake n' Beebz tried this with success.

So, I will end my first post with a few pictures of the gorgeous, moist chickpea blondies... Enjoy and please comment!