appplecheeks...eat.review.repeat.

They say that cooking is an art and baking is a science. I rocked science in high school and university but I consistently mess up every baking attempt without fail if the directions call for more than slicing and baking. Most of my "creations" either end up wrapped in an ugly foil mess in the trash or in the freezer after taking one or two bites (only to end up in the trash 2 weeks later to join other fallen creations of my past. Part of my failure in baking is due to the fact that I like to experiment by throwing in a little extra of this, a dash of that, and a sprinkle of what have you in anticipation that what lovely concoction is born from my oven is exponentially greater than the lovely photo from the food blog that inspired the baking extravaganze in the first place. Anyways, I was inpired by Allie to try out her Chickpea blondie recipe. The only substitutions I made were 4 tbsps of splenda brown sugar instead of the agave nectar, a tbsp of orange zest in addition to 2 tsps of cardamom and 1 tsp of pure almond extract. 
I know what you're thinking. Chickpea + blondie? But you actually do not taste the chickpea at all and the flavor of the almond + orange + cardamom was pretty darn phenomenal. 


The chickpea melds in nicely with the banana to produce a lovely... cake bar. I wouldn't exactly call it a blondie since blondies are usually chewier but these were really soft and light and would pair well with coffee or tea and it is definitely healthy enough for breakfast in the morning. I think I may call this my first baking victory.  I can't wait to experiment with this recipe using other flavour profiles.