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 look yummy and are on my list to make this week! Question, though — semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips? Thank you! :-)
Semi-sweet! Unless you have a crazy sweet tooth. ;) Enjoy!
Erin Hate to go against the rules but Jif worked just fine.I also threw in some coarsely chopped honey roasted peanuts to ramp up the texture. These are OK but would be best for someone with a very restricted diet.
Hi there! The reason why I say not to use Jif and the like is because people who have made it with both types (Jif and natural peanut butter with just nuts and salt in it) have told me that the natural peanut butter version is much, much better. So while these cookies may be okay with Jif, I think you would have maybe liked them a little more with natural peanut butter. :)
Thank you for YOUR recipe Erin, my Grandson will be pleased. Finally a cookie bite snack created for those who cannot enjoy what most of us can. I am wondering if you have an opinion on using the dry beans if they were soaked pryor? I am thinking of making a huge mess of them for Holiday snacking, and impressive sharing, the dry bags would be more economical in larger portion? In the meantime, I shall practice your original version while I await your response. Thank you kindly.
Hi Nicole! I’m happy you enjoy the cookies and I hope your grandson will, too. :) If you use dry beans, you have to soak them and cook them according to the package directions. I don’t think just soaking them will be enough. Thanks for your comment!
Fantastic! Even got my family to eat them!
That’s always a good thing. :D Thanks for your comment!
Okay…I just HAD to tell you that my young siblings (and I!) LOVE these cookies…and we love them cold as well! :) Actually, most of us have only tasted these cold and think they are amazing. Just so y’all know! :)
Well that’s awesome that you and your siblings enjoy them cold! I wish I could, too, so I wouldn’t feel compelled to eat them all straight from the oven. ;) Thanks a bunch for your comment!
Do these freeze well? I am thinking of making a big batch ahead for a party.
I personally only like these straight from the oven but some commenters have said that they freeze the baked cookies and that it works well. I hope you’ll enjoy them! :)
Hi Erin,
Have you experimented with savoury flavours using chickpeas as a base? I friend of mine suggested it would be awesome, considering there are so many recipes using chickpea flour, especially Indian food. I just don’t know where I would start! Hmm maybe I should google.. ????
Hi Megan! I’m sorry but I’m absolutely no help here. I have to admit that I don’t like chickpeas (I do like these cookies, though ;)) or chickpea flour so I never use them. I wish you luck in your googling! :) Sorry again I couldn’t be more helpful.
No prob.. i brainstormed a bit and think i am going to give caraway seed and honey a go.. maybe with tahini instead of peanut butter :-)
Ooh! That sounds interesting. Good luck! :)
DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY CALORIES ARE IN ONE PIECE
Check out the first bullet point in my post. ;)
Hey there, thanks for this recipe. Just made these and it came out great. The only difference is I used regular peanut butter and cooked it for 12 minutes instead of 10. They hold together and taste amazing. Just gave up dairy and eggs and am struggling with desserts- I really appreciate this recipe. Thanks again.
I’m happy they came out well with regular peanut butter! And I’m so happy you found the recipe. It’s definitely not the easiest when you have to give up dairy and eggs! Thanks a bunch for your feedback. :)
are garbanzo beans and chickpeas the same thing?
Yup! :)
I made these last night, and they came out great. Today they are even better. I brought them to work (we are all trying to be healty) and they are gone. =)
That was nice of you to share with your co-workers. I normally inhale them all straight from the oven. ;) Thanks a bunch for your comment!
just finished making these and WOW they are SO NICE! I was very unsure about baking things with no sugar, let alone with chickpeas! But they are gorgeous!
I home made the peanut butter by blending peanuts, but my machine couldnt quite handle it so i ended up with a thick peanut flour. however it doesnt seem to of made a difference.
I will be sharing this with all my friends and family, thank you!!
:)
Yay! So happy that it worked out well. :) But that’s strange about the homemade peanut butter. What kind of food processor did you use? And what amounts of peanut did you use? Sometimes it’s difficult to make nut butter unless you use a larger amount of nuts. Thanks so much for your comment!
I have made these several times exactly as stated and they were a HUGE hit. One time I switched it up and added a cup of roasted peanuts in the food processor for several minutes and then added the rest of the ingredients. It yields about 2/3 cup peanut butter the recipe calls for. I got this idea from your site!
I just mixed up a batch of dough and used 30 liquid Stevia instead of honey. I am concerned about the texture. Not sure if it is too dry… Anyone try this?
I’m so happy that you’ve been enjoying them! I haven’t tried the Stevia version myself but other comments have and it seemed to work. But maybe they didn’t try the original version, so they don’t know how the cookies were intended to be. Did it work out? Thanks so much for your feedback! :)
Yummy!!!
I tried these with homemade cashew butter (so the nut butter flavor wasn’t so over powering) and half 100% cacao chocolate (made into chips), half 60% cacao bittersweet choc chips to make them a bit healthier.
I find that smaller cookies and pressing them into the cookie shape worked better for me.
I also baked them for a few minutes longer than recommended.
I bet these must be delicious with cashew butter! It’s good to know that that works well because I’ve been thinking about trying it. :) Thanks for your tips and feedback!
Someone made these cookied for a party I attended. I liked them so much, I asked for the recipe and was pointed here. Then I made them for my parents and later for a party and they were a big hit both times! I used the vegan versions, once with agave and once with maple syrup, and they turned out great. Thanks for sharing this!
Note: I found it helpful/quick to use a cookie scoop. Also, my taste preference is to use about 1/2 to 3/4 of the chocolate chips called for in the recipe so that I’m sure the chocolate flavor won’t overpower the peanut butter taste. Just a preference thing.
I’m happy that they were such a hit and that the vegan versions came out well for you! Thanks for the tip with the cookie scoop. :) And 1/2 the chocolate chips?! Haha. I wish I could do that. I may (not so secretly) use more than the amount listed in the recipe. ;) Thanks a bunch for your comment!
thanks so much for this recipe. i loved it. i actually liked that it didn’t taste like a typical chocolate chip cookie. I substituted peanut butter with almond butter, honey with the syrup from my left over gulab jamun and i added twice the amount of chocolate chips. i also baked it for 16 minutes. even with all those changes my cookies actually looked like yours and tasted great. i will make sure to check out your other recipes.
Haha. I love your style with adding twice the amount of chocolate chips! :D And I’m so happy that you enjoyed them and they came out well with your changes. Thanks a bunch for your comment (and sorry for my slow reply!).
I made these tonight and they were wonderful! I did make a few changes:
I used PB2 powdered peanut butter (about 1/3 cup), then added a tbs or so of cashew milk, some Hershey’s special dark cocoa powder, a bunch of Truvia packets, sugar-free maple syrup, vanilla extract, cinnamon, pinch of corn starch and mixed with the chickpeas in a food processor. Then I added some chopped pecans and chocolate chips. I baked @ 350 for about 10 minutes. Deeeelicious!!!
I used a pinch of BAKING SODA, not corn starch (doh!), whoops! :^O
I love how you basically created your own recipe! That’s awesome. :) I’m thrilled that they still came out with all your changes! Thanks for your comment and for sharing your subs. I’m sure it’ll be a big help to others who want to use PB2 and make them sugar-free. :)
Hey Erin,
Though I did almost everything wrong, it still turn out great:
1. I don’t have a food possessor, so I used a wooden potato masher to mash the chickpeas and only after that I’ve added all the other ingredients and mixed them with a spoon.
2. I’ve noticed too late that it’s supposed to be natural peanut butter, so I had to use a commercial one I had at home.
3. I don’t have a Silpat, and I forgot to buy parchment paper, so I just had to put them on the baking pan. But I figured that because of the commercial peanut butter they’ll probably be oily enough to not stick to the pan – and I was right :)
Of course, not surprisingly, it didn’t look like on the picture, but it still tested great! Everyone at home liked it and were surprised it was made from chickpeas.
Thank you very much for a good, easy to make and healthy recipe!!
Hi Tesh! That’s awesome that they came out well with your little changes – and you totally did not do everything wrong ;) It’s good to know that a potato masher works! People in this post are getting more and more creative with their chickpea mashing tools. :D Thanks a bunch for your nice comment and for sharing your tips!
I made some this morning for basket lunch, and it all went!!! I used a potato masher, and a commercial peanut paste. really delicious.;) thanks for the recipe.
Yay! So happy that they were a hit and that the potato masher and normal peanut butter worked for you. Thanks for your comment! :)
Hello, thank you for the recipe =) I just used a potato masher and they turned out great. I am so happy to have this healthy, high-protein snack to take to work or on hikes.
That’s a great idea! Thanks for sharing. :) Now I have a good answer for the people who ask if they have to use a food processor. So happy you liked them!
Hi,
My husband is allergic to peanuts. Do you think I could use cashew butter instead?
Also, do you think I could sub dried wild blueberries for the chocolate.. He doesn’t like chocolate :( Or, do you have another suggestion for a substitution?
If I make them for me, peanut butter and chocolate sound heavenly. :)
Thanks
Hello! I haven’t tried it but I think it’d work. Lots of commenters have used different types of nut butter and they all seem to work (though I haven’t tried them myself). Dried blueberries would work fine as long as your husband likes the cashew + blueberry combination. I’m not so sure what would go well with cashews. Does he like white chocolate? Because I think that’d be great!
Hi,
Actually, he does love white chocolate.. Perhaps for a treat.. We are trying to reduce sugar and go as healthy as we can.
You got me to thinking… Perhaps, dried apple or peaches might go better than blueberries :)
Thank you !!!!
You’re welcome! I hope he enjoys whatever version you go with. :)
Hey! These look awesome! I am allergic to nuts (it’s the hardest thing about being vegan!) so many recipes ask for nuts. Was wondering if you think Wowbutter would work? It’s actually very oily thought so probably not I’m guessing? I don’t believe there is a “natural” nut-free “nut butter” lol
Hello! I’ve never used Wowbutter and so have no idea how it’d work. Is it thin and runny like natural peanut butter (the kind with just nuts and salt?) What about SunButter? Some commenters have said that that works fine!
I always use sunflower seed butter in this recipe and it works great! Also, I just tried tahini (from toasted sesame) for the first time – it’s actually really good. The dough was thinner, so the cookies flattened a bit and were soft, but still delicious. Thanks so much for this recipe – I’ve been enjoying it for a good 3 years. :)
Thanks for your tips! Hopefully it’ll help others who have the same question. :) And I’m happy to hear that you’ve been enjoying the recipe. Thanks a bunch for your comment!
Hi Mandy, just wondering how much tahini you used to replace the peanut butter… 1/2 cup + 2 tbs OR 165 grams? Love these but need to make nut free for my niece. Thanks
I’m not Mandy (and am not sure if she’ll see your comment) but if I were you, I’d use 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp. :)