Wait.
What?
Cannellini blondies.
I get it. It’s weird. Stay with me.
These blondies were never on my radar. I never thought about them nor did I ever dream about them. They just kind of happened.
What I originally wanted to do was make black bean brownies. You have heard of those before, right? The surprisingly delicious and healthy little faux brownies made with black beans and cocoa powder (among a few other things). That was my plan.
But when I went to go grab a can of black beans from my cupboard, I *GASP* didn’t have any. My inventory (which I manually track in my memory) must have been off. Whoops.
(insert nerdy supply chain joke about inventory discrepancies)
I spotted a can of cannellini beans, shrugged my shoulders, and switched directions. If brownies can be made with black beans, then blondies could be made with cannellini beans, right?!
Well…
Sure.
These cannellini blondies aren’t made with butter, flour, egg, or lots of sugar. Instead there is coconut oil, cannellini beans, flax meal, maple syrup, and only two tablespoons of brown sugar. They also have some almond butter, walnuts, and dark chocolate chips, because those things just seem to be involved in everything that I do.
The texture is a lot softer and resembles more of a moist quick bread than a regular blondie (like these brown butter bourbon blondies or these brown butter ginger peach blondies). The taste is, well, different. No, they don’t taste like beans. They taste like a tasty sweet treat that I don’t have to feel guilty about. Not even if I stress eat two in the same sitting.
But who even stress eats? I DO.
I’m running a marathon TOMORROW and kind of have been nonchalantly internally freaking out about it all week. I think I’m in denial that it’s even happening. After doing a bulk of my runs solo and struggling a lot with my performance this training season, it just doesn’t feel like I’ve worked hard enough for the marathon to actually be here. Plus, my recently diagnosed arrhythmia hasn’t helped the situation. I guess my heart beats to it’s own awkward drum?
The Cardiologist gave me a Zio patch (like this) and told me I could run it. I am thankful that none of my other muscles or bones are injured and that my whole family is driving up to Duluth to cheer me on and that everyone else in the Calhoun Beach Run Club is totally going to kill it and that the experience as a whole will be really fun and rewarding.
Annddddd…. Back to the blondies. I am thankful for these too. Did I mention they are gluten-free and vegan (if you use vegan-friendly chocolate chips)? Neat!
I guess I really shouldn’t even call them blondies, but I’m going to anyways. What’s done is done.
Have cherry walnut butterscotch blondies when you ate healthy salads all week and want to delight yourself by eating something sweet and sinful. Have these almond butter cannellini blondies when you want a healthy little treat during the week so that you can save your big indulgence for Friday night pizza.
Different situations, but both are great ideas.
So yeah, cannellini blondies are real and I like them… for regular healthy enjoyment and for stress eating.
Now I’m headed up to Duluth to get ready for a 26.2 mile run tomorrow. Wish me luck??
- 2 ½ tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon flax meal
- 15 oz cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ almond butter
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips (use vegan chocolate chips if needed)
- Pre-heat the oven to 350° F. Take two pieces of parchment paper and place them perpendicularly in an 8x8” baking pan. Leave some overhang so that the blondies can easily be lifted out of the pan. Lightly grease with butter or oil.
- In a small bowl, stir together the water and flax meal. Let sit for about 5 minutes. This is your flax egg.
- Add all the ingredients into the bowl of a food processor excluding the walnuts and chocolate chips. Process until smooth, 3-4 minutes.
- Add the walnuts and chocolate chips, reserving a little bit of each to sprinkle on top. Process a few times so that they get mixed into the batter and break up a little bit.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Top with the remaining nuts and chocolate.
- Bake for 26-32 minutes. It will be will difficult to tell when these are done.
- Let these cool completely in the pan before removing and cutting.
- Leftovers will keep in an airtight container for a few days. I personally like them stored in the refrigerator and I bet they would hold up well in the freezer.
These sound delicious. I do love black bean brownies so I cannot wait to give these a try.
Thanks so much! If you try them, please let me know what you think!
I am a huge fan of blondies. This healthy version looks incredible! I can’t believe there are cannellini beans in there!
Thanks, Anna! It is a little hard to believe. I had to warn people before eating them that they weren’t regular blondies. They were surprised that they were made with cannellini beans and still tasted good!
Wow, these look gorgeous! I’m definitely going to share this with my gluten-free sister and have pinned for later, thanks!
Thanks so much, Emily! I hope you and your sister enjoy them!
I think this is so smart! And they look really tasty too!
Thanks!
I have to admit – not a big fan of black bean brownies, but even so, these blondies are calling my name! May be worth the risk as they look amazing.
Thanks! If you do try them out, please let me know your thoughts!
Where does the almond butter come in?