Bready or Not Original: Chickpea Almond Butter Blondies
No one will be able to tell that chickpeas form the base of these healthified blondies, but the truth is right there in the name.
A food processor is necessary for this recipe as the chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans) must be utterly pulverized. Weirdly enough, a lot of health cookbooks and blogs have discovered chickpeas end up eerily like bland cookie dough once they are mashed up.
I know, it sounds crazy, but I’ve tried out a few recipes like this and it’s the truth. And these blondies WORK. They taste good. The sweetness is just right, not hardcore, but it doesn’t taste at all like ‘health food.’
I found the base recipe in an issue of Cooking Light and significantly modified it into something new. The original had tahini (which I do not like, so I subbed almond butter) and dark brown sugar (which I usually don’t have).
The pecans add a wonderful texture to these blondies. If you don’t like pecans, I would suggest still using some kind of nut or seed for a mild crunch.
Bready or Not Original: Chickpea Almond Butter Blondies
Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar packed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 15 oz unsalted chickpeas aka garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
- 3 Tablespoons almond butter
- 2 Tablespoons milk or half & half
- 1/3 cup white whole wheat flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/3 cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line an 8x8 or 9x9 pan with aluminum foil and apply nonstick spray or butter.
- Using a small saucepan, brown the butter, stirring often. Transfer to a bowl to cool for 15 minutes. Whisk in brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
- Place chickpeas, almond butter, and milk in a food processor, and mix until smooth, scraping down the sides often. Stir the chickpea mixture into the butter mixture.
- Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in another bowl and whisk together. Stir dry mix into the chickpeas. Fold in the pecans.
- Pour batter into ready pan. Bake for 25 to 27 minutes, until it passes the toothpick test in the middle.
- Cool in pan for hour or two. Use foil to lift blondies onto cutting board to slice into pieces. Store in a sealed container, with waxed paper between layers, at room temperature or in the fridge for up to 3 days. Bars also can be frozen for later enjoyment.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Chewy Coffee Cookies
Eat your coffee in these Chewy Coffee Cookies, and get your day off to the right start.
These cookies are chewy with a slight crunch, with the outside pleasantly crusted with turbinado sugar and coarsely-ground coffee.
My husband’s work lives on coffee. It probably runs through people’s veins. Needless to say, they liked these cookies.
These are the sorts of cookies that are good for breakfast, snack, or a party spread. Just maybe an event early in the day because, you know, caffeine.
I am told these cookies also taste good with coffee. Who knew?
Modified from Food network Magazine December 2017.
Bready or Not: Chewy Coffee Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 3 Tablespoons coffee beans coarsely ground
- 1/3 cup turbinado sugar
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1 large egg
Glaze
- 1 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
- 3 + teaspoons milk or water
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, combine 1 Tablespoon of ground coffee with the turbinado sugar. Set aside.
- In another bowl, mix the rest of the coffee with the flour, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon.
- In a big bowl, beat together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy; using beaters, about 3 minutes. Add the egg. Gradually stir in the flour mixture.
- Drop a teaspoon of dough into the coffee and raw sugar, and roll to cover. Place on parchment with two inches of space to allow for spread.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until set but still soft. Let cool on pane for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to fully cool.
- Once all of the cookies are baked, make the glaze. Stir together the confectioners' sugar and liquid of choice until the glaze is thick but spreadable. Use the back of a spoon to glaze each cookie. Let set about 15 minutes before packing in sealable containers, wax paper between the stacked layers.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Oat and Toffee Grahams
These Oat and Toffee Grahams are a delicious, unique kind of fast-fix homemade candy bar.
The base consists of graham crackers. (I know, what a shock considering the name of the recipe.)
On top of that you mix up a homemade filling with oats, butter, sugar, and a few other things, and it bakes up into a kind of toffee layer.
Then you add the chocolate chips on top–bake it a minute, long enough to melt the chips–even out the layer and add some almonds. Ta-da!
I expected the end result to be crunchy. To my surprise, the crackers actually softened in the baking process. The end result was delightfully chewy.
These are sweet, sublime, and chewy, with crunchiness only from the almonds. They are just a great combination of flavors and textures.
Modified from Brownies & Bars Magazine.
Bready or Not: Oat and Toffee Grahams
Ingredients
- 12 graham crackers whole rectangles
- 1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar packed
- 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup butter melted
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 sliced almonds or chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a 15x10x1-inch baking pan with foil and apply nonstick spray. Arrange graham crackers in a single layer side by side. They will not cover the entire surface of the pan.
- In a large bowl, stir together the oats, white sugar, brown sugar, and flour. Stir in the melted butter, egg, and vanilla until just mixed. Spoon the oat mixture atop the graham crackers, covering them completely.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until top is bubbly. Sprinkle all of the chocolate on top. Bake for another minute. Use an uneven spatula to smooth the softened chocolate to cover the graham crackers. Sprinkle on the almonds.
- Cool in pan. If slow to set, place in fridge until firm. Use a knife or--recommended--both hands to break the bars into pieces. Store in a sealed container with parchment or waxed paper between the layers.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Praline Snickerdoodles
Snickerdoodles are a regular theme on Bready or Not, and this time I present you with a praline version!
These Praline Snickerdoodles are absolutely divine. Bits of pecan add a soft crunch, and Heath pieces add an entirely different kind of crunch.
These new textures and flavors add a lot to the already-awesome taste of snickerdoodles.
I had a hard time choosing which pictures to feature. These cookies were incredibly photogenic.
Plan ahead when you make these. The dough needs at least a couple hours to chill. I love to make the dough a day in advance so I can start baking at will.
I wish I could say how long these will keep, but my husband takes these to work and the cookies just… vanish.
Bready or Not: Praline Snickerdoodles
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup Heath toffee pieces
- 3/4 cup pecans chopped
Topping
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
Instructions
- In a large bowl, beat the butter until it's soft and creamy. Add the sugar, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Once combined add the eggs and vanilla, followed by the flour. Fold in the Heath pieces and pecans.
- Wrap dough in plastic and chill at least two hours or overnight.
- Preheat oven at 375-degrees. Stir together the topping ingredients. Use a tablespoon scoop to drop dollops of dough into the topping. Roll to coat. Set spaced out on a greased stoneware pan or parchment-lined cookie sheet.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack then store in a sealed container.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Milk Chocolate Toffee Bars
The time for healthy recipes is over. Time to make an entire casserole dish-worth of candy bars with this recipe for Milk Chocolate Toffee Bars.
These things are chewy and downright dreamy. Seriously, HOMEMADE CANDY BAR. FRESH. SO GOOD.
Ahem. Forgive the caps. I get enthusiastic about this sort of thing. But can you blame me?
I mean, these have it all going on. Chocolate. A crunch from the toffee and pecans. A chewy blondie base.
My husband took these to work and had several co-workers dub this a new favorite. Considering the goodies they get from me, that’s saying something.
Make these to share with a crowd. You don’t want to be home alone with them.
Modified from Brownies & Bars Magazine.
Bready or Not: Milk Chocolate Toffee Bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 2/3 cups milk chocolate chips divided
- 1/3 cup chopped pecans
- 1/2 cup toffee bits
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a 13x9 pan with foil and apply nonstick spray or butter.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Add the butter and vanilla. Beat until it resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in 2/3 cup chocolate chips and the pecans. Distribute the crumbs across the bottom of the pan and press down evenly.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden. Immediately sprinkle on the remaining 1 cup of milk chocolate chips. Let sit a minute or two to soften, then use an uneven spatula to spread chocolate across the crust. Sprinkle toffee bits on top.
- Cool in pan on wire rack; if desired, place in fridge to speed the process. Once the pan is cool, use foil to move contents to a cutting board. Slice into bars. Keeps in fridge or at room temperature for up to 2 days.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not Original: Glazed Maple Pecan Shortbread Cookies
We made it three weeks into 2019 before we hit a maple recipe. Glazed Maple Pecan Shortbread Cookies, to be exact.
This is a recipe that involved heavy experimentation for me. The base recipe made maple logs, which were then dipped in chocolate. I found the log-making process awkward. I didn’t want milk chocolate paired with maple, either.
Therefore, I tweaked and twisted things around, and the end result was a cookie that reminds me a lot of Pecan Sandies from the grocery store, just with a necessary oomph of maple.
Instead of making the cookies into logs, I press them flat and used by bench knife to slice them into squares. A drizzle of maple glaze added just the right touch of sweetness after baking.
These are ideal cookies to go along with coffee or tea. They are a little dry and crumbly, but easy to eat in a bite or two.
Plus, you can omit the pecans if necessary! You’ll get fewer cookies, but the texture and maple goodness are still downright scrummy.
Bready or Not Original: Glazed Maple Pecan Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon maple flavor
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup quick oats
- 1/2 cup pecans finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Glaze:
- 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1 Tablespoon + milk or half & half
- 1 teaspoon maple flavor
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 325-degrees. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, shortening, and confectioners' sugar. Beat in the vanilla and maple flavor.
- In another bowl, sift together the flour, oats, pecans bits, and salt. Gradually combine with the wet mixture until it forms a cohesive mix.
- Clean off a space of counter or tear off a large piece of parchment paper. Dump the cookie dough out and form it a roughly 8x8 square. Use a bench knife or a pizza cutter to slice into squares about an inch in diameter.
- Transfer cookies to a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Add a little space between cookies, but they won't spread much.
- Bake for 14-17 minutes, until cookies are set and lightly browned. Transfer to a rack to cool.
- Once all the cookies are baked and at room temperature, set out another piece of parchment paper. Place the cookies there, close together.
- In a small bowl, mix together glaze ingredients, adding enough milk to create a dribbling consistency. Use a fork to dribble glaze or the back of a spoon to coat each one. Leave out for an hour or so to set, then seal in container at room temperature.
- OM NOM NOM!
