The “I Dare You” Chickpeanutbutter-and-Honey Bars

Once upon a time, there was a piece of straw, a piece of coal, and darling little bean who escaped from an old lady who wanted to kill them. They banded together and set off on an adventure. When they came upon a brook, only the bean stayed behind. The straw and the coal tried to help one another across, and they both “died”, and then their pal, the bean, watching from the shore, laughed so hard he exploded. But then a wandering tailor saved him! Whaaat? The moral of the story is that beans are crazy.

This is the bar version of my I Dare You chickpea cookies. I’ve been making them almost every week this summer, and they’re so good, I almost feel like I should apologize for not sharing this recipe sooner. Like the I Dare You cookies, the chickpeanutbutter forms a glorious dough. The addition of eggs and more chickpeas gives them a hefty protein boost. They’re less crumbly than the cookies, but the dough has that same nutty-sweet taste and texture, and instead of chocolate chips, these have a raspberry jam and a nuts-and-oats layer. Fresh out of the oven, ohhhh, and they’re just so pretty, too, and filling, and perfect for breakfast, though I confess to an alarming tendency to snack on them all day.

Somewhere, a crazy little bean is laughing. Just not in my house.

Ingredients

1 ½ cups chickpeas

½ cup peanut butter

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

¼ cup honey

1 tsp baking powder

Topping

3 tbs raspberry jam, or a few dollops more, if you want the bars thoroughly covered

¼ cup chopped nuts (I used a combination of hazelnuts, walnuts and peanuts)

½ cup oats, optional

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°. Line a 9x9” brownie pan with parchment paper & spray it with olive oil.

2. Measure out your chickpeas. (Don’t worry about taking the peel off of them, or drying them off first. Do drain them if you’re using canned.)

3. Puree in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Scrape down the edges, and pulse until the dough is completely smooth.

4. Add the peanut butter, eggs, vanilla, honey and baking powder, and pulse until it’s well mixed.

5. Pour the dough into the prepared pan.

6. Drop the dollops of jam on top. It won’t look totally smooth and pretty, but that’s just fine for now.

7. If you have whole nuts, toss them and the oats into the food processor, and pulse til they’re in pieces.

8. Spread the nuts/oat mixture on top of the jam. Use both hands. Seriously, this is the best part. Well, the second-best part.

9. Bake for 20–25 minutes. Eat them warm, eat them cold; either way, these have become one of my favorite things to eat. I hope you love them.

Previously: The Blueberry-Banana-Coconut Muffins

Natalie Eve Garrett is an artist who likes disgustingly good food. You can follow her on Twitter, here, and on Pinterest, here. Prints of her art are for sale here.