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.
This is my new favorite snack! I didn’t have a food processor, so I used my electric hand mixer which still worked nicely.
The third time I made them, I used a mix of almond butter and peanut butter, and some local, raw, wildflower honey that I got from the Farmers Market ????
I also made a larger batch this last time with two cans of chickpeas, and just adding the other ingredients to taste.
Thanks for sharing this recipe, and I look forward to trying your others too!
You’re welcome! I’m happy to hear that the mix of nut butters worked well. And local raw honey! Yum. :) Thanks for your comment and I hope you’ll enjoy the other recipes just as much!
H followed recipe exactly and they were delicious ????! Feel less guilty eating these LOL whole family loves them!
Haha. That’s always a good thing. :D Thanks for your comment!
Just made these. Used my Vitamix and blended chickpeas, vanilla and maple syrup until they were smooth, then transferred to a bowl, and was able to mix in the other ingredients without a problem. Worked like a charm.
Awesome! Thanks for the tip on how to make these with a Vitamix. :) So happy it worked well for you!
I just made these, & they smell wonderful! The unbaked batter was delicious. I had to use Great Northern beans because we were out of chickpeas. I added raisins, sunflower seeds, crushed pistachios, & dried blueberries + lemon almonds instead of chocolate to make trail mix cookies. ???? Thank you for the recipe!
Oh, wow. You added a whole bunch of goodness to the cookies and it sounds delicious. :) Thanks for the tip and for your feedback!
Made these for the second time. I substitute peanut butter using almond butter and they are so delicious! Everyone loves them even the kids! The first time I made them with dark chocolate chips and I’ll tell you they are so much better with semi-sweet chips vs dark chocolate.
Yay! So happy that even the kids liked them! Thanks for your comment. :)
Anyone know how many WW freestyle points these are?
I just calculated it with the Lily’s dark chocolate chips (6 servings of them/84 grams) and it came to 3sp a cookie
Thanks a bunch for sharing your calculation. :)
So I made them cut the recipe in a half and they came out so good I put them in the freezer and there amazing. So now that I ate one and had a thought after there frozen for about 2 days to dunk them in chocolate and freeze again and might be pretty amazing. Will keep u all posted thanks for sharing the recipe. ????????????
Oooh! I like how you think. Dunking cookies in chocolate is always a good idea. :D Thanks for your comment!
I noticed this post of yours shared by one of my FB friends. Yes, the melting chocolate pics make everything look yummy! I’m out of work tomorrow for a snow/icy day, so, I’ll bake a little bit. Can’t wait to try them! Thanks for posting!
I’m in the same boat. I made them today, they’re actually very good! Yay snow/ice days.
Yay! So happy you liked them. And I also hope you had a nice snow day. :)
You’re welcome! I hope you’ll enjoy them and that you’re having a nice snow day. :) Thanks for your comment!
What’s the nutritional value of these?
Please read the first bullet point at the end of the post. :)
I’m so excited to try this now that I have a food processor! Does the chickpea come through at all?
Not at all! And I hate chickpeas. I’d love to hear how they come out for you!
Wow this is so unusual, but I can’t wait to try it!
These are delicious! Not too sweet, super easy to make and will cure your chocolate/peanut butter craving. I am so happy I came across this recipe.
My daughter doesn’t think they are sweet enough so next time, I will add some stevia root extract powder to give them just a bit more sweetness without adding calories.
Bravo on a fantastic recipe!!
That sounds like a great addition! I’ve been meaning to try stevia in these. I’m so happy you enjoyed them. :) Thanks a bunch for your feedback!
I used 1 tbs Splenda naturals instead of honey or maple syrup and Lilly’s chocolate chips. Yummy!
Lilly’s and Splenda Naturals are stevia based.
So happy that a Stevia version worked out for you! Thanks for the tip. :)
Do you think they’ll be okay without the chocolate chips? I don’t want cane sugar and don’t have access to ones without it.
Sorry for just now seeing your comment! Hopefully you found the answer in the post. I personally feel like they need the chocolate!
Me too! Found the recipe about a month back and have made them 3 times. Such a simple and delicious cookie. Thanks for the recipe, and Happy New Year!!
You’re welcome! So happy you liked them enough to remake so many times already. :) Thanks for your comment!
I’ve been making these for at least 3 years and still my absolute most favorite treat! Thank you so much these are amazing and save me when my sweet tooth is out of control. Love, love, love :)
Aww, yay! So happy you’ve been enjoying them the last few years! Thanks a bunch for your comment. :)
I love the comment, in your years of blogging you learned people like close-ups of melted stuff. Hah! That’s why I came by when I saw this on FB this morning. It looked too good! I am printing, and will make with my kiddos today- school is closed. This will keep them busy for a bit! Thanks my friend.
Oh, hi there! And yeah, I had only been blogging for a few months and Pinterest had just taken off and I got that figured out quickly with the melty shots. :D I hope you’ll all enjoy the cookies!
Just made these cookies using natural crunchy PB, maple syrup, and Pascha organic chocolate baking chips (chocolate with rice milk). They’re a tiny bit crumbly and are starting to turn dark while still warm. They’re very delicious, and I’m not sure any of them are going to stick around long enough to make it to the freezer!
Could your oven be running hot? It sounds like that’d explain them being crumbly and turning dark! Or did your peanut butter have added fat or sugar? I know you said you used natural peanut butter, but sometimes it’s labeled as natural and still has added stuff in it! Thanks for your comment. :)
I’ve made these a few times now and I had oats and ground flax seeds. So good and they don’t stick around long ????
Oats sounds like a yummy addition! I’ll have to try that. :) Thanks for your tip!
Can i use regular peanut butter
I just used Skippy Chunky and added a bit (2tbsp) of unflavored protein powder to balance out the extra oil… they were not at all greasy.
Awesome! Thanks so much for the tip. :)
I haven’t even baked them n I’m already in love i can’t stop eating the dough!! I was gonna just keep them to eat as dough but I’m gonna try half baked n half for my cookie dough craving haha! Thank u so much!
Haha. I hope you liked the baked version, too! Thanks for your comment. :)
May I use regular peanut butter
I don’t recommend it. See note #2 at the bottom of the recipe or the third bullet point at the end of the post. :)