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 amazing! I’ve made them twice. First time as written. Second time I didn’t have chick peas, so I used a can of butter beans. Yumm!!
Hi Veronica! I’m sorry for the slow reply. I’ve been on vacation for the past few weeks and have been neglecting the comments. :(
Anyway, thanks a bunch for the feedback and the rating! And butter beans?! Interesting!
Can you use PB2 (powdered peanut butter) instead of natural peanut butter?
I haven’t tried it but others have and they said it worked. Good luck! :)
OMG…heaven (at least the batter is….cookies still in oven). Thank-you!
Yay! So happy that you liked the dough. I hope the baked cookies were even more delicious! :)
Can somebody Please tell me the caloric value per cookie? Thank-You
I used the entire can of chickpeas and agave instead of honey and came up with 61 calories each. I made 15 cookies from the recipe.
I just found your blog via this recipe on Pinterest. I’m having a blast looking through all your recipes!
Pinning this one now and going back to explore some more… :)
Sorry for the slow reply, Kelly! I’ve been on vacation for the past few weeks and my replying to commenting has just been pathetic. Anyway, I’m happy that you found me! I hope you found something you like. :)
Leilanie:
I have alleries to peanuts.. will pea butter work in this recipe.. I favor all the rest of the ingredients. Thanks MEW
I hadn’t heard of pea butter until now so I’m afraid I can’t say. But I have listed alternatives to peanut butter in the recipe. :)
I’m not able to open the link to the no-sugar option for this recipe.
Thanks for letting me know! I’ve fixed it but this is what the person said: “I just made these and used cacao nibs instead of chocolate chips and 30 drops of Stevia instead of honey.” Hope you like them. :)
I didn’t have chick peas so I used red kidney beans. I added about 1-2 T of cocoa powder and YUM!
That sounds interesting! Happy that it worked for you. :)
Are you tired of praise yet?!? Followed recipe to a T, using agave nectar, and loved them. They definitely have a “cookie dough” like texture as opposed to a baked cookie texture. Very rich!
A few notes: Could have been a tad sweeter, but I think I under-measured the agave. Also I was afraid to add more salt because my canned chickpeas were already salted but the peanut butter wasn’t. Next time, I will add the dash of salt. Maybe next time I will try coconut sugar instead and add a little coconut &/or peanuts, but these were fantastic. My sis-in-law couldn’t believe they were made w/chickpeas.
Also, I was a little scared the batter would be sticky but was surprised how nicely the balls come together. I will definitely make these again!
Haha. Nope. Definitely never tired of praise. ;)
If you add some coconut sugar, please come back and let us know how that worked out! I know some other people were interested in that. So that’d be really helpful. Thanks a bunch for the feedback and the rating! Happy that you enjoyed them. :)
I saw this exact recipe in The Wheat Belly Cookbook. So, you might want to check that out, since it’s for sale on Amazon. Just FYI.
Thanks, Lael! If anyone has the book, can you email me? I looked online but I can’t find any mention of the recipe in there. Thanks. :)
Sorry. I have been sick, but I just got your email and replied today. Also, I wanted to add that I noticed the publication date was May 2, 2013, so she definitely published after you. I’d email Amazon or her or something. I sent you the info that I hope will help. Best wishes! – Lael
Just took a few of these out of the oven and tasted one! Love them!! Only difference was that I added flax seed and baked for 13 min. Question: Can I freeze or refrigerate the dough??? I’m afraid I’ll eat them all today if not!
Happy that you liked them! I haven’t tried freezing the dough myself but I think someone in the comments has and it worked. Good luck! Let us know if they come out just as well post-frozen. :) Oh and I’m not sure about refrigerating. I’d stick with the freezer!
I haven’t frozen the dough, but I have frozen the cookies, and they stay just as yummy!
I used great northern beans instead of chickpeas since chocolatecoveredkatie says they can be subbed in her chickpea cookie recipes and I am out of chickpeas. I used natural pb from trader joes and a combo of mini chips and ghirardelli 60% cocoa chips. The dough tastes good but when forming the balls they are soooo greasy. I find it interesting that you say regular pb makes them more oily because natural is much more oily in my experience and whenever baking with natural the results are much greaser. They’re in the oven now ill update when they’re done. I also used coconut secret coconut nectar instead of honey, same consistency.
I hope they came out! I’ve spoken to several people who have made them with natural and with commercial peanut butter and that’s what they say. I guess it doesn’t make sense but they all claim they’re less greasy with natural peanut butter. :) I hope you enjoyed them!
Awesome…i’ve experimented your recipe with Almond butter….best gluten free chocolat chip cookies…thank you! !
Really?! These work with that? I think I tried with some plain almond butter, added a bunch of cinnamon to the dough, and they were *awful.* I’ll have to try again with the cinnamon almond butter! I must have messed them up somehow. Thanks for the feedback and the rating! :)
I also used almond butter, they turned out amazing!! I didn’t use any cinnamon though. I have used agave and honey, both are good.
Happy that you liked them! Thanks for the rating and feedback. :)
I made these with homemade almond butter, carob chips and used agave instead of honey. It was fabulous! I have to make myself quit eating them. I put in freezer and take them out when needed to cook. I keep taking them out of the freezer! Thanks for this recipe.
So sorry for the slow reply! I’ve been on vacation and just got back to my laptop. :) I’m so happy to hear that agave worked out for you! Are they just as good out of the freezer? I’m guessing not but thought I’d ask anyway. Thank you for your feedback and sorry again for the slow reply!
Hi Erin,
I just re-read the other posts and, apparently, I was supposed to bake the cookies and then freeze them? Well, I froze the dough and, yes, they were delicious when I took them out and baked them. I actually swore I wouldn’t make them anymore because they are wreaking havoc on my diet! :) But, since they are so good, I will try again with chocolate chips and honey next time! Thanks!!
Oh no. I didn’t see this comment until now. Sorry, Laurie! I’m so happy that freezing the dough and then baking them worked out. I think tomorrow I’ll add all these great tips to the post. And I’m happy to hear that you liked them! Thanks so much for the feedback. :)
such a healthy twist to a cookie recipe. i am loving your recipes.
Thanks! I hope you get a chance to try these. :)
:)
Haha. Thanks, Sarah! :)
These are SO GOOD! I’m usually a warm cookies type of girl, and while they were quite tasty right out of the oven, they are DIVINE right out of the refrigerator! Thanks for this marvelous recipe!
Out of the fridge?! Oh goodness. So happy that you liked them that way! Thanks for the review and feedback. :)
I love love love these cookies!!! I just made them for the second time since I found this recipe a couple weeks ago. I put them on the tray to cool. When I came back in the kitchen ten minutes later my husband had rearranged the cookies in the rack so I wouldn’t know he’d already eaten THREE of them!!! These are awesome because they’re yummy like a cookie but without the sugar crash. And they’re substantial enough so it feels like I’m eating a snack and not just a cookie… Or 2 or 3 ;). Thank u sooo much for this recipe. Ill have to check out your other stuff as well!!
Hahaha. Your husband is awesome. I do that kind of stuff, too! :) I’m happy to hear that you and your husband enjoyed the cookies. Thanks so much for the feedback and review and I hope you find some other recipes that you like! And seriously, I can’t stop giggling about your husband. ;)
Ha ha ha! I made these wonderful choc chip cookies bites, and forgot to put the choc chips in!
This is the second time I made them. The first time I did put choc chips in, but this time I thought I would tinker around with the recipe and I had seen someone’s suggestion of adding coconut. So I did, add coconut, but forgot the chocolate!
Well, they are goood to!
Can’t wait to try them with both now.
Thanks for the yummy recipe I can make for my gluten free friends.
Haha. I do stuff like that all the time. Forget the blueberries in blueberry muffins, chocolate in the chocolate cookies. It’s kind of what I do. ;) I seriously do it every week. It’s awful. Even after double checking the recipe… I always mess something up. Anyway, so happy that you liked the cookies despite their lack of chocolate! Thanks so much for the review and feedback. :)
The most important part is left out…the calorie and fat content.
A coworker of mine recently gave me this recipe and I thought I’d give it a try. It turned out quite good, but even though I used natural peanut butter it still turned out much too oily. I’m going to try again with some PB2 (Is that what it’s called? I’ve never used it before) and if that fails, I’ll try a combination of that and the natural peanut butter I used before. If it’s not too much trouble to ask, what’s the fat/calorie information on your peanut butter? It might help me figure out a better proportion to use.
Regardless, I fed them to my brother, who, while realizing they weren’t flour, definitely didn’t suspect they were chickpeas until I told him! (He then proceeded to eat several more.)
The peanut butter I used was just ground up peanuts and a little salt.
https://www.texanerin.com/2012/01/how-to-make-homemade-peanut-butter.html
I just checked my peanuts and there’s 52 grams of fat + 629 calories per 100 grams. I hope that helps!
And I’ve never used PB2. I hope it works for you! Awesome that your brother ate these despite knowing about the chickpeas. :) Good luck with the next version and thanks for the feedback!
The peanut butter I’d used said it was 100% peanuts and only listed roasted peanuts on the back, but it looks like your peanuts are a little lower in fat and calories than what I used, which would certainly explain it.
PB2 worked just fine on my sample cookie.
Hmm. How strange. I always assumed peanuts were peanuts but I guess that they’re not! Happy that the PB2 worked. :)