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.
These are in the oven right now. I'm nervous.
I tried these tonight – amazing! I made my mini food processor smoke….so I might have to invest in a heavy duty model just so I can keep making these! ;) Thanks so much for posting!! This is sure to be a new family favorite.
Just came across this recipe in Pinterest. These cookies have no dairy?–Just what I need for my vegan boss and coworkers. Thank you.
Have you made these with Zylitol? I try not to do honey or agave or sugar. I assume you would need a little more zylitol because honey is a bit sweeter, what about additional liquid to make up for the water in honey?
Love them, just made a batch. I have to disagree with you on one point though, I LOVE the dough! However I have made lots of recipes with chickpeas so I am used to the taste.
Thanks for posting this recipe!!
Just took these out of the oven! Love them!!! Even my little brother, who hates all thing healthy said they were good! If an 18 year old boy likes them, they must be good! Totally satisfies the craving for chocolate, and so much better than eating a normal cookie! THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH FOR THESE WONDERS!!!!
can't seem to find the calorie count for the grain-free peanut butter chocolate chip cookies dough balls. Can u help me?
Thanks for the great recipe! I made these over the weekend, and I loved them. My family, however, did not like them and they teased me about my garbanzo cookies. But, thats okay – it meant more for me! I even liked them cold. I will definitely made them again.
I made these cookies with a friend yesterday. We did one batch with maple syrup and one with honey. We did one batch that had chocolate chips and peanut butter chips and another bath that had some that where plain, chocolate chip only and peanut butter chips only! They all came out tasting great, hot, room temp or cold!
Hi Texanerin I am so excited to try these tonight. I just can't seem to find the nutritional information by using the load more button. If there another way that i could find this?
Thanks:)
Kids and husband loved these! (me too!) Thanks for a great healthy recipe!
Erin,
I had to go gluten free about a year ago. My sister sent me this recipe this week. I wasn't to sure about the beans, but decided to give it a go. They are simply FABULOUS! I tag you in my blog post this morning about them! I am going to poke around your site to see what other treasures I may find! Thank you.
Renee
I'm so happy that you liked them! I do have some other gluten-free recipes under the recipe index. I hope you find something you like! Thanks for the feedback and I'm going to go check out your post now. :)
I made these!!! OMG YUMMMMMM
I put some walnuts in a few of them and those worked great, added a crunch factor!
And I used a blender… that worked to! It was a little hard to mix, but i don't have a food processor so i did with what I could
Has anyone tried using semi-sweet chips instead of chocolate chips? I ask because my fiance is also going dairy-free in addition to gluten-free. Yes, it's a baker's nightmare :)
Do you mean these?
http://www.sunspire.com/products/dairy-free-chocolate-dream-semi-sweet-baking-chips
I don't see why they wouldn't work! Good luck. :)
I made these on Sunday delicious warm and I must say I love them right out of the freezer.!
Thanks,
Jeannette
Made these today and they were not bad for a first try. I opted to use the whole can of chickpeas and a little more peanut butter with half SF choc chips and half 50% cacao Ghiradelli chips and SF honey. You definitely have to use the food processor but I think all in all, they were very good and I agree, the batter tastes great too. FYI – Mine came to about 80 calories per cookie and I got 18 out of the recipe using the entire can of chickpeas.
I'm having the hardest time leaving comments on this recipe. I just wanted to say thanks everyone! I'm happy you all like the recipe and thank you very much for all the feedback. :)
I made these today and am so thankful to you for this recipe. I changed nothing. These are to die for. I just took my kids off wheat a few weeks ago so have been feeling like the bad guy but to be able to make these for them today was awesome. My son was devouring them. He kept saying "these aren't bad for me?" It was adorable. The only thing I would do different next time is leave them in ball form as they were very crumbly in flattened form. (Small price to pay for such delicousness). Also I still thought they were fabulous cold and I also liked the dough. :)
I made these today and I just want to say thank you so much for this recipe. I made exactly as the recipe went. They are FABULOUS!! I just took my kids off of wheat so I felt like a hero making these today! My son kept asking me if they were good for him. I said yes and he was thrilled to think something so yummy wasn't bad for him (sugar and wheat). Anyway, amazing recipe! I do wish I had left them as balls instead of flattening them as they fall apart very easily that way . Also, I loved the dough raw and also loved them cold just as I did warm.
Can you use almond butter?