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.
AH perfect! i cant wait to give them a try! thanks so much!
Anon – Thanks! I imagine they'd be even better with brown sugar. :) Let me know how they turn out!
these look awesome! but do you have to use honey? im not a honey fan (odd i know!) can i use sugar instead??
Carrie – I'm so happy that you enjoyed them! And that you're hooked to my blog. That just makes my day. Thank you and thank you for leaving feedback! :)
Aimee – Ooh… a bit naughty! I like it. I hope you like them. :)
Wow! its not everyday you come across a great healthy recipe as well as being a little bit naughty, recipes look great, i will definitely have a go at making these :) thanks
I love these! I had a few spare moments while my daughter was still asleep so quickly headed to the kitchen and whipped these up! They are sooo delicious! Thank you and I am now officially hooked to your blog! :D
Ali – YAY! I'm so happy you all liked them! And that you liked them cold. Thanks for leaving feedback. I really, really appreciate it! :)
my whole family loved the cookies :) we even liked them cold a day later. I like that the batch only makes about 14 cookies for me!
Jennifer – You ate all of them?! Haha. You're awesome! You could have microwaved them to get them warm again. Just in case you want to make them again and not eat them all at once. :) Thanks for letting me that you liked them!
I saw this this morning and couldn't wait to try it out. They were great! We took your advice and ate them all while they were hot. We had to stuff ourselves but we got the job finished before they could cool :)
Anon – Yay! I'm so happy that your husband finally got a cookie and then you also liked them! Thanks for leaving feedback. It's a great way to wake up. :D
I just made these and words can't describe how awesome they are! You can charge for these babies! Thanks for the recipe, first time my husband was able to have a cookie in years!!
Bake-A-Holic – Yup! But remember, fresh from the oven! Then the texture is just gooey. :D
Wow! Chickpeas?? I must try this recipe just to see what the texture and taste of these are like. Very intriguing.
E. – Thanks for the tip! When I got it from the store, it was already kind of smelly, but I have to say, the Asian food stores around here aren't so great with freshness. I was there the other day and they were selling soy sauce that had expired three months ago. I hope you like the cookies. :)
I'm a longtime whole foods plant-based eater and am very familiar with all those alternative flours. Chickpea flour, like ALL bean flours will not go rancid. It's not a grain flour; there is no fat in them to GO rancid. If you've had the flour for, say, 1,000 years it might be stale :) but not rancid.
That smell is just it's natural odor. All bean flours have that aroma; they're naturally bitter, even when soaked. I love all beans in cooked form in any method of preparation, but the flours are just blech! And while I love chickpea flour in socca (an Italian garbanzo bean pancake-like flatbread), it is absolutely dreadful in ANY sweet creation and even most other savory applications so you are NOT alone in despising this flour. :) But, I highly suggest trying it out in socca form. Check google for a recipe; it took me two tries to be sold on it and fall in love so give it a shot.
If your chick pea flour smells bad it has probably turned rancid .it is a whole grain so keep it in the fridge next time.Indian food uses chick pea a lot and the flour is called besan .sprouted chick peas are too yummy just soak over night and eat as is or use in recipe.I got to try these cookies ,looks awesome.thanks for it.
You said she's allergic to nuts but can eat Nutella so I guess she can eat hazelnuts, right? How about adding some hazelnut meal? I have no idea how much. But natural peanut butter, at least mine, is really liquidy. So I don't think we want to make the Nutella thicker. Hmm. If I were you, I'd just try with the Nutella and if it's too gooey, add hazelnut meal. It's just an idea, though. Good luck!
Yeah, natural peanut butter is a lot less gooey, my fear is that with Nutella, it'll just become one big gooey mess that doesn't even slightly resemble a baked good, hahaha! I wonder if there's some way to kind of thicken up the Nutella?
Caitlin – That's a tough one. The texture of Nutella and natural peanut butter is really different. I'm thinking they would be even better with Nutella, but then again, I'm not really sure. Please let me know if you try it! I might even try. :)
These look amazing! Unfortunately, my roommate's not only allergic to wheat, but also allergic to nuts… do you think Nutella would be an OK substitute? She can eat Nutella…
Have you tried Sunbutter? I am paleo and we do not eat peanuts or legumes. I have found sunbutter is closer to peanut butter than almond butter. It is delicious and most brands are completely nut free.
Try Sunflower seed butter, it's the same consistency as pb!