Ooey, gooey fudgy Chickpea Brownies complete with a decadent chocolate centre and the perfect crackly top | Gluten Free + Vegan
I don’t know about you but I’ve got a lot of opinions about brownies.
If they don’t so much as look right I won’t even bother eating them because I’d honestly rather not waste the calories. And I don’t even count calories.
That being said – I make a lot of brownies because my husband’s love for chocolate is not unlike that of a PMSing woman. With all of the brownies I’ve made him over the years only a couple have made it on to the blog here because I’m so picky about making them right and I don’t want to share anything less than perfect.
A good brownie must have two key features or I’m out:
🌟A crinkly, paper thin crusted top
🌟A rich, melt-in-your-mouth fudgy centre
Ideally I’d also like a few chocolate chunks thrown in for good measure but I’m not quite as discerning about that.
Well, friends.
These chickpea brownies are my new favourite. They’re everything a brownie should be/have and they just so happen to be vegan, grain free & nut free.
Let’s get to it!
How to Make: Vegan Chickpea Brownies
First things first just start melting your chocolate and coconut oil to get that out of the way. 30 second intervals in the microwave stirring every so often should do it. Once melted just set aside to cool a little bit while you prep the rest of your ingredients.
Aquafaba
What is it?
It literally just means bean water… as in the water that you and I used to pour down the sink when draining a can of chickpeas. This website answers a lot of the questions you might have on aquafaba, but basically what you need to know is that the water from the chickpea cans mimic the proteins in egg whites making it a really great egg substitute in things like:
Instead of eggs, these brownies use a combination of aquafaba and chickpea flour for all our binding needs. Lots of chickpea love going on here.
Aqauafaba Notes
When using aquafaba in baking it’s often important to whip it up well first. Use either a stand mixer and an electrical handheld mixer to beat the aquafaba and sugar on high – after a couple of minutes it will become shiny and increase in volume.
Once that’s happened you can stir in your melted chocolate & coconut oil. Then start mixing in your dry ingredients: chickpea flour, cocoa powder and baking soda followed by any additional chocolate chips you might want.
Your batter will be thick and fudgy looking. Transfer the batter to a prepared baking tin and use a spoon to spread it out to all the edges of the pan – it might be a little tricky spreading it but you’re on the right track.
Then just pop it in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes before testing for doneness.
The end result are fudgy, melt-in-your-mouth, decadent brownies that are seriously delicious.
I’ve been making these brownies on and off for the past month or so trying to get them just right and I can honestly say they’re the best brownies I’ve ever made. No question.
Actually that’s not true I do have one more question for you: Are you a centre piece person or a corner piece person? I’m all about the corner pieces myself. I should really invest in this brownie tin – they’re ALL corner pieces in this!
Vegan Chickpea Brownies
Ooey, gooey fudgy Chickpea Brownies complete with a decadent chocolate centre and the perfect crackly top | Gluten Free + Vegan
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup | 145 g coconut oil
- 180 grams dairy free dark chocolate chopped finely or in chips
- 1/2 cup | 120 ml aquafaba (the watery brine from unsalted cans of chickpeas)
- 3/4 cup | 150 grams sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cup | 150 grams chickpea flour, sifted if lumpy
- 1/4 cup | 22 grams unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup | 90 grams dairy free chocolate chips, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F/160°C. Lightly grease or line an 8x8inch baking tin. Set aside
- Place the coconut oil and chopped chocolate together in a microwave safe bowl. Melt in 30 second increments whisking after each segment until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Once melted set aside to cool.
- In another large mixing bowl beat the aquafaba and the sugar together with an electric mixer until thick and shiny. Mix in the vanilla extract and the melted chocolate mixture.
- Stir in the chickpea flour, cocoa powder and baking soda. Mix until you have a thick, fully mixed batter. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking tin. Bake for 30 minutes and then check for doneness. Insert a knife or tooth pick into the centre of the brownies - if it comes out with a wet batter it needs more time. If only a few moist crumbs remain on the knife/tooth pick it's done. If you need to cook the brownies longer check every 3-4 minutes until it's done and then remove from the oven.
- Let the brownies cool in their tin completely before slicing into.
Notes
- Chickpea flour can also be called garbanzo flour or gram flour
- Feel free to use coconut sugar in place of white sugar but keep in mind that the top might not have that signature crinkly top.
- Updated March 12, 2020 - You can use gluten free all purpose flour in place of chickpea flour but you need to wait for the brownies to cool down to room temperature before slicing and serving. If you cut into the brownies too soon they'll fall apart so be prepared with a spoon and a plate if you run out of patience.
Nutrition Information
Serving Size:
1 brownie (out of 16) Calories: 250Saturated Fat: 12gSodium: 53mgCarbohydrates: 26gFiber: 2gSugar: 17gProtein: 4gA few more gluten free brownies you might like:
Sue says
I’ve just made these and they taste great! I wasn’t sure before they went into the oven because the batter tasted pretty bad 🤮 The test will be when my family try them..I don’t think they will be able to tell these contain chickpea flour🤞I’ve tried making them with tinned chickpeas before and they were ok, but not as scrummy as these! Thanks for the recipe 😁
Sarah says
Ha! I know what you mean about the batter – chickpea flour tastes AWFUL before being cooked. It’s a good & a bad thing for me as I love eating batter/cookie dough 😀 So glad you liked them – thanks for coming back to let me know what you thought!
Kaylie | Healthy Hacks says
Is it weird if I start licking my screen where the pictures are?? 😉
Sarah says
If that’s wrong then I don’t want to be right! 😉
Emily Wing says
Can I leave out the aquafaba?
Sarah says
Hi Emily! I haven’t tried this without the aquafaba so I can’t really say how it would turn out. The aquafaba here acts kind like an egg – so it does helps with binding/moisture which makes me think that these might not come out well without it
Emily L says
Instead of chickpea flour, could I use mashed up chickpeas out of the can?
Sarah says
Hi Emily! I think swapping out the flour for mashed chickpeas would need more changes to accommodate the different textures and amounts so I wouldn’t recommend it here. If you’re looking for chickpea brownies using canned chickpeas you might prefer this recipe instead https://www.theroastedroot.net/dark-chocolate-chickpea-brownies/
Karen says
These are delicious!!! My first time using aquafaba and did not beat it long enough so did not get papery crust, took about 39 minutes in my oven. Probably will not make again because I can’t stop eating them. Will definitely connect friends that need gluten/ egg/ dairy free to this recipe.
Sarah says
Ha! I totally get that – I don’t think I can let myself makes these anymore unless I KNOW there are going to be other people around to eat them all with me 😀 Thanks so much for coming back to let me know what you thought!
Shelia says
Used almond flour instead of chickpea. We’re very crumbly and didn’t have the crackly tips. Good flavor especially since I used cacao. Very familiar with aquafaba but was disappointed about the non crackly tops.
Sarah says
Hi Shelia! Good to know about the almond flour! I’m not too surprised it was more crumbly – chickpea flour is naturally very binding which would have made it less crumbly
Karen says
Making now. Is “thick and shiny” stiff like egg whites?
Sarah says
Yes, it will look very similar to that! Hope you love them!
Diane says
Question: how many calories per brownie serving?
Sarah says
Hi Diane! This cuts into 16 brownies at 250 calories each
MacleanN says
These look delicious!
Would another type of flour work? Coconut, GF Flour? And, if so, do you know if it would be a 1-1 ratio?
Thanks so much!
Sarah says
Thank you! I’m not too sure about what other flours will work. The only one I’ve tested so far was almond flour – it worked to an extent but was very oily. The thing with chickpea flour is that it’s very binding which makes it great for egg free baking in a way that most other gluten free flours aren’t so it might be a little tricky subbing anything in a 1:1 ratio. If I try any more flours that work though I’ll make sure to update the recipe! Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful here!
Casey the College Celiac says
These look absolutely UNREAL! No one would guess that chickpeas are the secret ingredient!
Natalie says
These brownies look amazing! So rich and chocolatey! I have to try this recipe with the chickpeas – sounds interesting!
Sarah says
Thanks Natalie!