Looking for the chickpea cookies from Pinterest or Facebook? Here’s the original recipe! Scroll to the bottom of the post for a how-to recipe video.
Chickpea cookies! Chickpea cookies with no flour, no oil, no white sugar. These are just full of chickpeas. And they’re my very favorite healthy cookie so far!* I don’t know if they really classify as cookies so I’ll go with cookie dough bites.
And as a bonus, they’re grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan. Just in case that matters to anyone out there! And if you’re worried about the chickpeas, don’t be. I don’t like chickpeas and won’t eat them but that didn’t prevent me from inhaling these.
* 2017 update: this post is 5 years old and I have a new favorite. :D You HAVE to try these paleo chocolate chip cookies if you haven’t already! There’s also a vegan option. And for hot summer days, these no-bake oatmeal cookies (naturally gluten-free + vegan) are my favorite!
I used homemade peanut butter in these cookies but store-bought (the kind with just peanuts and salt) works just as well.
Here’s how to make peanut butter! There’s also a video included. All you need is peanuts and a food processor (which you already have to pull out for this chickpea cookie recipe!).
These need the chocolate. Don’t go making them without the chocolate and then tell me that they weren’t sweet or gooey enough! These would be incredibly boring without the chocolate.
And for some weird reason, these cookie dough bites do not taste yummy in dough form. Baking them somehow brings out the sweetness and peanut butter flavor. Or maybe it’s just all that melted chocolate.
One thing I’ve learned since starting this blog is that people really love closeups of melted stuff. So there you go. :)
These aren’t the most beautiful cookie dough bites, but fresh out of the oven, with all that gooey chocolate, I bet you can’t tell that these are made with chickpeas. Or are grain-free. But cold? Yuck. These need to be warm!
You can either freeze the balls and pop a few in the oven whenever it’s on, or simply put them in the microwave until they’re warm and gooey again.
By the way, if you’re a peanut butter lover like I am, you have to try these peanut butter balls. They’re also gluten-free and have a vegan option!
Please read the following before asking a question! It will probably answer it. :)
- Tons of people have posted the nutritional analysis for these. They’re supposedly anywhere between 80-130 calories, which seems like a huge range to me. Please use a recipe analyzer like on CalorieCount if you need more information.
- You can use almond butter, sun butter, or whatever nut butter you like.
- The peanut butter should be the kind with only peanuts and salt. No added fat or sugar. Be careful because there are some “natural” brands out there which aren’t really natural. I find that this peanut butter is usually expensive so I make my own. You can make your own in only 5 minutes with a food processor. Check that out here.
- Chickpea flour won’t work. I don’t think plain hummus will either.
- I haven’t tried anything other than chickpeas but others have used butter beans, navy beans, red kidney beans, great northern beans, and lentils with success. I generally don’t like goodies made with those types of beans but I love these cookies made with chickpeas. Please use chickpeas unless you have an allergy!
- Doing this in a blender won’t work and might kill the blender. Making these in a Blendtec blender or something equally powerful might work but I haven’t tried it.
- Adding random stuff like eggs… probably won’t work either. ;) Experimenting is great but I think this is a bad recipe to experiment with. But thanks to the experimenters who left feedback, I’ve been able to update the recipe with alternatives to honey and peanut butter. Thanks everyone!
- For a totally sugar free version, use 30 drops of Stevia and cacao nibs.
- Do not double the recipe! It might be too much for your machine and could damage it.
- For a vegan version, you can’t use honey. Use agave.
- For a dairy-free version, use Enjoy Life chocolate chips. They’re just as delicious as regular chocolate chips. SO good!
And thanks for everyone who has pinned and left feedback. I really appreciate it. :)
Want more gluten-free treats? Here are some of my favorites!
Grain-free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites (gluten-free with vegan and dairy-free options)
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 14 1" cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups canned chickpeas, well-rinsed and patted dry with a paper towel1
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (165 grams) natural peanut butter, SunButter Natural or almond butter - room temperature2
- 1/4 cup (80 grams) honey (agave or maple syrup for vegan)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder3
- a pinch of salt if your peanut butter doesn't have salt in it
- 1/2 cup (90 grams) chocolate chips (use vegan and dairy-free chocolate chips, if needed)
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F / 175°C. Combine all the ingredients, except for the chocolate chips, in a food processor and process until very smooth. Make sure to scrape the sides and the top to get the little chunks of chickpeas and process again until they're combined.
- Put in the chocolate chips and stir it if you can, or pulse it once or twice. The mixture will be very thick and sticky.
- With wet hands, form into 1 1/2" balls. Place onto a Silpat or a piece of parchment paper. If you want them to look more like normal cookies, press down slightly on the balls. They don't do much rising.
- Bake for about 10 minutes. The dough balls will still be very soft when you take them out of the oven. They will not set like normal cookies.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature (or in the fridge) for up to 1 week.
Notes
- My can of chickpeas was 400 grams, 240 grams without the water, and I used all but a few tablespoons.
- Don't even try with regular peanut butter! They'll come out oily. You MUST use natural peanut butter. :)
- If you need grain-free baking powder, you can use 1 part cream of tartar + 1 part baking soda + 2 parts arrowroot.
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2048 comments on “The Original Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites Recipe (aka Chickpea Cookies)” — Add one!
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You are a genius! I seriously want to nominate you for a Nobel peace prize for creating this recipe! I eat no grains and no sugar but I really miss chocolate chip cookies. These are perfect. To make them with no sugar/ honey I created a honey substitute out of 3/4 C Lakanto Monkfruit sweetener boiled together with 1/2 cup water to which I added 1/2 tsp xanthan gum to thicken and stabilize it. I ended up adding just a bit of powdered pure stevia to it to sweeten it a little more. I used Lily’s Stevia Sweetened Dark Chocolate Baking chips (and added walnuts to the dough because I love walnuts in my cookies). Yours look like they got a nice crisp on the outside. Mine don’t look like that. any tips on how to get the outside to brown/crisp?
Aww, thank you! I will gladly accept your prize! :D Haha. You made my day! I’m so glad that your lower-carb version worked. Thanks for sharing how you did it! I wouldn’t say that the tops are crisp. They’re still kind of soft. If yours look a lot different than the photos, then it’s likely because of the sweetener change. You could maybe try the broiler for a minute? But it also might burn. I’ve never tried that with cookies. Thanks again for your comment!
Wow these are such yuuuumy morsels. Thanks for sharing!
I’m so glad that you liked them! Thanks for your comment. :)
Just made these – they’re amazing! OMG.
Yay! So glad you liked them! Thanks for your comment. :)
Hi, just thought I’d share, I don’t have a food processor. First time I tried blender and yes almost broke it I think. Second time I just used a good potato masher and worker like a charm! Everything is soft enough so it’s easy to mash. Also, easily can double or triple the recipe! Thank you for the great recipe!!
You’re welcome! I’m glad you found a method that works better. :) Normal blenders definitely don’t work! Thanks for your tip and comment. :)
I didn’t have any natural PB or peanuts to make any so I took my chances making with regular peanut butter… it was a little oily but definitely can still do it! It was a hit with my fam, even the cookie dough was yummy to eat.
Yay! I’m glad to hear that it still worked out okay. :) Thanks for your feedback!
Sorry, I know you have over 2000 reviews so I can’t get through all of them. Do you know if anyone has substituted peanut butter for sunflower seed butter to make them school friendly?
Hello! I’m so sorry for just now replying to your question. I was on vacation and just got back. Hopefully you found the answer in the post! Sunflower seed butter is listed in the recipe. :)
Tried these last night and they are excellent. I always remove the shells from my chickpeas before working with them to get the batter a little smoother. If we leave them in the oven another 2 minutes or so, would that help getting them to firm up a little more? Mine were crumbling apart as I’d take a bite.
Hello! I’m so sorry for just now replying to your question. I was on vacation and just got back. Did they still crumble after they cooled? If so, you can try baking for another 2 minutes to see if that works! Thanks for your feedback. :)
Have you tried these with carob chips? I am allergic to chocolate… I think they would work the same way.
Hello and sorry for just now seeing your question! I haven’t tried it but some of the commenters have with success. I hope you’ll enjoy them!
Thank you so much. Kids loved them!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy that they liked them. :)
Hi Erin, It’s Tamara and Nicole in Mexico… Friday night is our dessert night. I actually made garbanzo flour from beans we cooked, sun dried, and then powdered. Can I use that instead of cooked beans? I could soak it first. Thanks for making our lives sweet.
Hello! I don’t think that would work. It might but I’m really not sure. Sorry I can’t give you a better answer! If you try it out anyway, I’d love to hear how it goes. :)
And it’s great to hear from you. :)
Has anyone tried freezing the batter or already cooked cookies? Trying to prepare these a couple weeks ahead.
You can freeze both but since I think they’re best straight from the oven, I prefer freezing the dough.
Made these today first time. DELICIOUS!! Iam diabetic and substituted honey/maple syrup for golden monk fruit sweetener and used Lily’s dark chocolate chips. They turned out perfect! Filling and delicious. Shared this recipe with everyone I know.
Thanks so much for sharing the recipe with everyone! I’m so glad that they worked out well with your subs. :) What sweetener did you use exactly? Lakanto Golden? And did you use the same amount? Thanks for the tip and for your feedback!
Well I am 100% drooling looking at these! I love how allergy-friendly your recipe is. I’m a sucker for anything with chickpeas :) Can’t wait to try it!
I hope you’ll enjoy them! :)
hi, erin! i made these using cashew butter since i had just made some at home, and they turned out fabulously!!! no detectable bean taste haha. i then adapted the recipe to make some no-bake cookie truffles! just wanted to say thanks for the creative idea :~)
You’re welcome! I’m glad that you liked them with cashew butter. :) And no-bake truffles sound amazing! What a great idea. Thanks for your comment!
Amazing cookies. My kids love them and want to eat the whole batch which is ok considering how healthy they are.
I’m so happy that your kids enjoyed them so much! Thanks for your comment. :)
Hi I could not find the video to the recipe. I feel dumb asking this :(
Hi there! It’s at the top of the page. If you have an adblocker on, you might not see it.
I made these for a summer pool party. Kids were devouring them. Their moms were telling them to not eat so many . . . until I told them that these cookies were mostly healthy. I should have made a triple batch instead of just a double.
I’m so glad that the kids were devouring them and that their moms were okay with it. :) Thanks for your comment! I hope we have summer soon, too. ;)
Sorry, I know you have over 2000 reviews so I can’t get through all of them. Do you know if anyone has substituted peanut butter for sunflower seed butter to make them school friendly?
Yes, it’s listed in the recipe. :)
Oh my goodness, I don’t know how I missed this. I blame mom brain. Sorry for that!!
Absolutely no worries! Hope you and your kid will like them. :)
YUMMY!!!!! And so easy!!! My hubby also HATES chickpeas and he had no idea they were in the mix. :)
I forgot to mention– I didn’t have honey or maple syrup on hand, so I used regular sugar + 3Tbl almond milk, (suggested below). Turned out perfectly!
my mother had made these a while back, I loved them so much, to be honest, more then normal chocolate chips cookies! I made them and brought them to work. Told the gluten free girls they can have, and no one else anything. Everyone loved them, one even said yum so buttery! Haha I said well they’re chicpea, no butter! Everyone was shocked and loved, and asked for the recipe:)
Haha. I’m glad that they thought that the cookies were buttery! And better than normal chocolate chip cookies?! I think you like these better than I do. ;) Thanks for your nice comment!
Tried these last night and they are excellent. I always remove the shells from my chickpeas before working with them to get the batter a little smoother. If we leave them in the oven another 2 minutes or so, would that help getting them to firm up a little more? Mine were crumbling apart as I’d take a bite.
Did they fall apart even after they had cooled? Because after they cool, they should hold together better. If they still fell apart, then you can definitely bake them 2 minutes more and that ought to help.
These cookies have been a staple for my 2 diabetic pregnancies,thanks for getting me through some desperate times!
Could you use reconstituted PB2 powder instead of all natural peanut butter? It’s lower calorie and lower fat than even the all natural stuff.
I’m so happy that they’ve gotten you through some tough times! I’ve never used PB2 but lots of commenters have used it with success. :)
Hi Michelle, How did these work using PB2, and what measurements did you use? Thanks!
Can you use chickpeas cooked from scratch vs canned chickpeas?
Yes, you can. :)
I make these all the time and seem to get 19 cookies with the ingredients mentioned above. Any idea how many calories in each one? Thanks
Hi! I don’t have that info but you could use this recipe analyzer if you’d like for the nutritional profile. :)
I loved these! I made them with maple syrup and they were delicious!
Thanks for the recipe!
You’re welcome! I’m happy that you liked them with maple. Peanut butter and maple is always a good thing. :D Thanks for your feedback!
LOL. You may consider putting the “”do not double “ in the recipe notes…LOL. I read it after the fact. Oh, and YUM!
I’m happy you liked them! And Unfortunately there are too many notes to include in the recipe. Hopefully people will read the post. :)
Hi😃
First… thank you for the super yummy recipe. I have an unnamed autoimmune disease and removing gluten/dairy/sugar from my diet has helped me feel better. These cookies were my first treat since my diet change. Just one question… I have a sugar substitute that’s a stevia/erythritol blend. The package states that it is twice as sweet as sugar so I would use 1/2 cup if a recipe called for one cup of sugar. Do you think I could use this in your recipe in place of the honey? If so, any idea how much? Thank you!
Hi there! Sorry for just now seeing your question. I’ve never used a granulated sweetener in these cookies but I know a few commenters have with success. So according to the bag’s instructions, I’d use 2 tablespoons. You might have to add a little bit of liquid if it’s much thicker than when you made it with the honey. I’d love to hear how it comes out!
I just made these and they are DELICIOUS! The batter was equally amazing. I didn’t have honey/agave or vanilla, so I subbed 1/3C raw organic cane sugar and added 3T of almond milk and 1tsp of allspice and it turned out wonderfully. Thanks so much for the great recipe!
You’re welcome! That’s great that they came out well with your subs. :) Thanks for sharing them with us and for your comment!
Do the 1/2 + 2tbsp of peanut all go into the batter? Just wondering if the 2tbsp is for something else?
It all goes in together! It’s 14 tablespoons all together.
Just made these – they’re amazing! OMG. Best treat I’ve made all summer. I’m printing this recipe – it’s a keeper!
Yay! I’m so happy to hear that. :) Thanks for your comment!
Can’t wait to try these! Thank you so much for sharing. I’m always in need of new gluten free treats ❤️
You’re welcome! Thanks again for your comment. :)