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.
Just made them- they are very good! Thanks for the recipe :)
Anon – Flour, water and oil instead of chickpeas? Yikes. Is that some kind of standard sub? Thanks for letting the others know. :)
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER USE FLOUR, WATER AND OIL AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR THE CHICKPEAS!!!!!!!!! ITS NASTY. The taste was off and the texture was odd. I would definitely suggest using the chickpeas.
Alicia – That's great! I'm so happy that you liked them cold. Thanks for leaving feedback. :)
lilldebbi – Oh, those sound good! And thanks for letting us know that low fat Jiffy works and for the feedback. And yay, I'm happy that you want to stick around! I welcome friendly new blog stalkers. :D
I am addicted now, thank you very much. I followed the recipe as written just added a touch of cinnamon and nutmeg and used low fat jiffy peanut butter spread (only because I already had it in the fridge) IT WAS DELICIOUS HOT AND ROOM TEMP. I was scared to try it room temp after reading the description and comments, but was so pleasantly delighted it was a little less gooey so had more of a soft cookie feel to it. Thank you for this… and now I shall stalk your blog for ever!!!
Made these last night! I put the leftover cookies in the fridge and pulled them out tonight. Decided to try one straight from the fridge and actually liked them better cold! Funny, because in your post you said you thought they were better warm. I think when they're cold, they taste like those traditional "no bake" cookies. :)
Anon – I know you said you followed the recipe exactly, but did you use natural peanut butter, the kind with just peanuts and nothing else? There are 150 – 200 positive reviews of these in the comments and this is only the second negative one. I can promise you that I did not fake any of those reviews. Sorry that you didn't like them.
I tried this recipe (and follwed it exactly), but it did not turn out like the ones in the picture. They were really oily and bland. There is no way that your cookies turned out that way and you used the recipe you posted. I am frustrated and angry and will not recommend this recipe. I was left with an unsatisfactory taste in my mouth and a tummy ache.
Amanda – Wow, that's crazy. I think I prefer "normal" cookies but that's awesome that he enjoys them so much! Thanks for telling me. :)
Monica – Yeah, the dough is gross! I love that your boyfriend wants to trick people with these. It's fun when the boys get involved, isn't it? :) I don't have any experience with toaster ovens so I'm happy that these worked. Thanks a bunch for letting me know. That boyfriend thing cracks me up!
Nadea – Yay! So happy that you enjoyed them and thanks a bunch for the confirmation that they are indeed creamy and yummy. :) You could try cooking the next batch for 12 or 13 minutes and see what happens. But there's no egg or anything that needs to be baked here so it's up to you if you want them more done (but I don't think they'll ever get done like normal cookies). Thanks again for the comment!
I was totally seduced by the sight of these cookies so I knew I would have to make them. Folks, these cookies are every bit as good as Erin says and you must do yourself a treat and make them!! Even my husband loved them, which is something because he isn't a cookie lover. I think I need to cook mine longer than 10 minutes though. I wonder if that will ruin the texture. I sure wouldn't want to over-cook them and lose the creaminess of the chocolate and chickpeas. Having said that, they were gorgeous. Loved them and I'm making them again soon! Thanks!
Just made these and they are great! The dough tastes a little like chickpeas but the baked cookies taste like awesome peanut butter-y chocolate cookies! My boyfriend said they were awesome and wants to trick people into eating healthy cookies haha! I ran out of honey so I used 1/8 cup honey and 1/8 cup of regular white sugar, and my natural peanut butter is refrigerated so its really stiff, and not runny at all. The cookies held together just fine, and took exactly 10 minutes to bake in my toaster oven! Thank you for an awesome healthy alternative!
I have made these three times in the past week and they are amazing! My fiancé says he never needs another chocolate chip cookie again. Wahoo!!
Anon – I'm happy that you liked them! Thank you very much for the feedback. :)
Anon – I hope they like them! I hope you did too.
Anon – Out of 150 – 200 reviews, you're the first one to dislike them. We're all entitled to our opinions, but I wonder if something went wrong. :)
not gonna lie, these were pretty gross, very bland, and they smell terrible!
For those who looking for a healthier snake this is good. My grandchildren will get the opportunity to try these.
I just baked these tonight. Very good recipe! My husband and I ate three each. I also thought they tasted really good room temperature or hot. Thanks for the recipe!
Shannon – Yay! So happy that you enjoyed them and thanks for leaving feedback. :)
I just pulled these out of the oven. They are awesome! They are definitely going in my recipe arsenal of non-junky items that fill the need for something sweet.
Anon – I'm sitting on a train and tried to find the recipe you're referring to but didn't find it under her cookie recipes or her January recipe index. Or a Google search. I can't even find something remotely similar. Please post the link because I would love to see it! :D
http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/1/ (her January recipe index)
http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/01/03/chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-truffles/ These were posted in January but I can't say that they're really similar. They do use chickpeas and a little peanut butter, but yeah, they're completely different. They look good, though!
And for everyone else, I ALWAYS list my source if I worked off someone's recipe, even if I changed most of the measurements / ingredients. Always. :)
I loved these cookies the first time I baked them using the chocolate covered katie website recipe she posted in january, very very similiar to your recipe, except you use honey and hers is brown sugar.