The Original Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites Recipe (aka 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!
- Nutrient-Rich Ingredients: Packed with protein and fiber from chickpeas and natural peanut butter, these bites are as nourishing as they are delicious.
- Naturally Sweetened: Maple syrup or honey provides a subtle sweetness, eliminating the need for refined sugars.
- Diet-Friendly: These bites are gluten-free, dairy-free, and grain-free, making them suitable for various dietary needs.
- Kid-Approved: Their cookie-dough-like texture and chocolatey goodness make them a hit with both kids and adults.
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 healthy peanut butter balls. They’re also gluten-free and vegan!
Ingredients Notes
These are just notes on select ingredients. Please scroll below for the full recipe!
- Chickpeas: Also known as garbanzo beans, chickpeas provide the creamy base for these bites. Use canned chickpeas for convenience, and make sure to rinse and drain them well to remove any briny flavor.
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! - Peanut Butter: This should be the kind with only peanuts and salt. No added fat or sugar. Be careful because there are some “natural” brands out there that aren’t really natural.
I find that this peanut butter is usually expensive, so I make my own. Here’s how to make peanut butter! All you need is peanuts and a food processor (which you already have to pull out for this chickpea cookie recipe!).
Other nut or seed butters also work great. I use sunflower seed butter for a nut-free version. - Maple Syrup or Honey: make sure to use maple syrup for the vegan version. For a totally sugar free version, some commenters have used 30 drops of Stevia and cacao nibs with success.
- 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.
- 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.
- Do not double the recipe! It might be too much for your machine and could damage it.
- Vegan Peanut Butter Fudge: A creamy, caramel-like fudge made with just four ingredients. It’s vegan, gluten-free, and comes together in minutes.
- Peanut Butter Apple Crumble: A delightful twist on a classic dessert, combining tender apples with a peanut butter oat topping. It’s gluten-free and vegan.
- Peanut Butter Protein Balls: Perfect for on-the-go snacking, these no-bake bites are packed with protein and flavor, and they’re easy to customize.
- Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies: Soft, chewy, and flourless, these cookies are a simple yet satisfying treat that’s naturally gluten-free.
- Healthy Peanut Butter Ice Cream: A rich and creamy no-churn ice cream that’s both vegan and paleo-friendly, offering a guilt-free indulgence.
Chickpea Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups (205 grams) canned chickpeas well-rinsed and patted dry with a paper towel1
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 10 tablespons (160 grams) natural peanut butter SunButter Natural or almond butter, room temperature
- 1/4 cup (80 grams) honey or maple syrup or agave for vegan
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/2 cup (90 grams) chocolate chips use vegan and dairy-free chocolate chips, if needed
Instructions
- 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 of the chickpeas.
- 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.
EEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeee! I LOVE chickpea cookies! these look amazing with the gooeyness! can you say yummmmmmy?!?
Funny because I have almost the exact recipe for the base but for thumbprint cookies! We must be on the same wavelength – nice going with the grain-free goodies :)
Confession: I happen to love the dough but if I am eating it uncooked then I added a couple ingredients to jazz it up (I know, I need to post both).
Love the photos miss Erin!
oh wow, these look awesome. i can't believe that there are chickpeas in there. crazy! i'll definitely have to try making 'em soon!
Natasha – Yay! When? And why? And with whom? And for how long? :) Happy you like the cookie dough thingies!
Shelley – I know it's weird. But they don't taste weird! They don't have the texture of a normal cookie but they're still so yummy when hot!
Becca – They definitely won't work without the nut butter (then they'd just be chickpeas and honey… yucky) but maybe you could try almond butter. I don't really know if they'd taste good but I'm thinking no. I'll experiment in the next few weeks and let you know!
Georgia – Thank you! I never thought of them as being wholesome until now. I like that. Wholesome cookie dough bites. It sounds so heavenly. :)
Dawn – Chickpea flour smells so bad! I have some but I'm a little afraid to use it in anything baked. Do you have any recipes you can recommend? And thanks for your comment!
Heidi – These are totally edible. I think chickpeas and hummus are gross but these are super. I'm not promising them to taste like real buttery full of sugar normal cookies, but they taste like a gooey mess that tastes likes peanut butter and chocolate. They might be a nice goodie for you to keep in the freezer and pop in the oven when your little ones want something sweet. :)
Erin,
I tried these and found that a few tweeks not only make them easier to handle but they taste absolutely as delicious cold as they do warm. I think the problem is that they are too dry and sticky when the dough is raw and when they cool they are even drier and don't taste very good. Try the following changes – the finished product is a super moist cookie warm or cold and super delicious. Reduce the honey to 1/8 cup (still plenty sweet) and add 4 scant teaspoons of water to the dough while it is still in the food processor (just before adding the chips). The resulting dough is very soft and easy to work with and they cookie remain so moist for days. LOVE THESE thanks for sharing. They are my new favorite cookie.
I know what you mean! I don't usually put really weird things into cookies – I mean, I still want to eat them! And I've seen the beans in cookies thing before but I've always brushed it off. These look seriously yummy though! I'm so tempted! I have a tried a sweet hummus before that was really sooo good, so I should just try these :D
I have made cookies with chickpeas/garbonzo bean flour before, and they always surprise me! These look so yummy, especially the melted gooey pic! :)
Wow, what an interesting combination of wholesome ingredients in these cookie dough bites! I would have never known from the look of them that they're not bad for you! Great recipe, Erin.
They look amazing! I'm so intrigued by the chickpeas – I'd love to try these but I hate peanut butter, do you think they would work without it or can you suggest any substitutions?
What about Nutella???
Almond butter? Cashew butter?
You could definitely sub out for any nut butter. I think cashew butter would delicious….very creamy!!
Maybe try another nut butter so you get the protein without anymore added sugar. Cashew nut butter is very good and has a mild sweet flavor to it! I use it to make chocolate frosting and you can't even tell there's a nut butter in it!
there's also natural almond butter :)
Chick peas? Whaaa? So weird it must be good!
Erin! I just saw that first picture up there on my blog reader and died and went to heaven a little. Can I have one in my mouth, like NOW?!
PS. Random, but I might actually be going to berlin this summer, lol!
Prairiesummers – Yeah, do it! They're yummy. And kind of healthy. :)
Katrina – I didn't even think about the protein. Good point!
Kammie – Canned is what I used. I only cooked my own chickpeas once and it was a pain.
Becca – They're also called garbanzo beans if that helps. Most of my grocery stores don't carry them either, but the big ones do. And the health food stores will definitely have them.
I've seen some recipes that call for chickpeas, but I've never seen them in the store. I'm not even really sure that my grocery store even carries them. But these do look good. And yes, you're right about people liking upclose shots of melty things. I want to lick my computer screen to get to that heavenly chocolate pool :P
You can find them in the canned vegetable aisle…by the other peas I think
They would be in the canned beans section and called Garbanzo Beans. :)
Look in the Mexican section for garbanzo beans they are the same thing. You might also find them in with the dried beans.
Would canned chick peas work?
What a neat idea! These would be great after a run! So full of protein :)
I am so curious now that I have to try them!
Cassie – And I wish I could send you some! I'm out of control. It's all the chocolate's fault.
Sara – Yeah, you've got to try them! But don't leave out the chocolate or eat them cold. Lots of chocolate and hot cookies (eh, cookie dough bites) is what we want here. :)
Rachel – Haha, thanks. I like that you said trickery. It makes me feel like a cookie wizard or something.
Caroline – Do it, do it! :D
Miryam – He's kind of dumb and refuses to eat warm baked goods. He said that the room temperature ones were "good, but not yummy" while I said that the room temperature ones were NASTY. I gave some to a friend to take home and heat up in the microwave and she loved them, not even knowing that they were healthy. :)
Give them a try! I really don't think you'll be disappointed. Unless you eat them when not hot. I know I've said it 20 times in this post but it needs repeating.
I'm so happy people are receptive to these little odd looking things. Thanks everyone!
No way…chick peas?? I have never come across such ingredient in cookies. I love chick peas though, but on cookies? They do sure add a lot of healthy properties to the cookie though!! Did your hubby like them?? I need to try this!!
Very cool! I love these. Must try! :D
Looking at these, I'd never know about the trickery you've got going on in there ;) The melted chocolate oozing out is calling to me!
Oh goodness, these look so amazing, Erin! I wish I could reach through the screen and grab a couple!
These look delicious! I love a good 'secret ingredient' recipe!! I'm going to have to try these soon!