Today I have a recipe that I’m pretty pumped to share with all of you. It’s a combination of a few recipes and any similarities to other recipes are coincidence as I promise I whipped it up on my own. After reading about Chocolate Covered Katie’s usage of chickpeas in baked goods, I was determined to create a winning recipe using the nutrient dense beans.
One serving of this dessert has just 100 calories, 1 g of fiber and 3 g of protein!
There are many variations which I’ll list below the recipe but let me preface the recipe by saying if you bring this to a Thanksgiving dinner, your guests will have NO IDEA you used chickpeas instead of flour. Also, I had most of the ingredients on hand. The only purchases I needed to make for this recipe were the garbanzo beans, graham cracker, chocolate chips and canned pumpkin.
Sarah Fit Pumpkin Pie Bars
- Makes: 16 bars
- Total Time: Prep 15-minutes, Cooking 35-minutes
Ingredients:
Filling:
- 1 cup Garbanzo Beans aka Chickpeas
- 3/4 cup of Pumpkin Puree
- 1/2 cup of Almond Milk, Unsweetened Vanilla (or milk of choice)
- 1 heaping tbsp Peanut Butter
- 1 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder optional
- 1/2 cup of packed Brown Sugar
- 1 Egg White (or flaxseed egg)
- 1 tsp of Pumpkin Pie spice (may substitute with cinnamon)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
Topping:
- 1 Egg White
- 2 wedges The Laughing Cow Light Swiss
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- 2 tbsp Chocolate Chips
Bottom:
- Graham Crackers (enough sheets to cover bottom of pan)
Directions:
Pre-heat oven at 350 degrees. Line a 9×13 baking dish with enough graham crackers to cover the bottom. It’s OK if the crackers overlap or if there are spaces. You can also use a ready-made pie crust if you prefer, or create your own graham cracker bottom by crushing up 4 sheets of graham crackers and adding 1 tbsp of melted butter. Press firmly into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 10 minutes before adding additional ingredients. I wanted a simple recipe so I just used the graham crackers as sheets.
Next, combine in a food processor all filling ingredients. Blend until it is a smooth like consistency that is uniform throughout. If you are using a mini processor. You may need to do this in batches. Note: The garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas) will need some liquid to blend well. Pour on top of graham crackers.
Combine topping ingredients except chocolate chips in a food processor and blend well until it is a smooth like consistency. Drizzle on top for a marble appearance. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.
Bake for 30-40 minutes depending on size of baking dish and oven. The larger the dish the less time it will take to cook since the wet layers are not as thick. Let cool for 10-15 minute before serving. Cut into bars or serving like pumpkin pie if you used a graham cracker pie crust.
These tasted best after they sat for a few hours and cooled down to room temperature.
The cheesecake topping and chocolate chips are optional as they are not used in a traditional pumpkin pie recipe but gave the bars a sweet surprise since there is not too much sugar used in this recipe. It also added color and made it more appealing.
You may omit the graham cracker bottom all together if you wish. Just remember to spray the bottom of the pan. You can also add more or omit completely the protein powder. I wanted to add some nutritional value to the dessert but it’s not entirely necessary. Nutrition information will change depending on how you make this recipe but here are mine below. If you make this recipe, take a picture and upload it to my Facebook fan page! Don’t forget your pre-Thanksgiving exercise this week so you can have seconds š
This recipe can also easily be made gluten-free by omitting the crust, and vegan by omitting the cheesecake topping.
Nutrition for one serving: 105 calories, 2 g fat, 23 g Carbs, 1.2 g Dietary Fiber, 3 g Protein, 16.9 g Sugar (many is naturally occurring).