Looking for the chickpea cookies from Pinterest or Facebook? Here’s the original recipe! Scroll to the bottom of the post for a how-to recipe video.
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!
I used homemade peanut butter in these cookies but store-bought (the kind with just peanuts and salt) works just as well.
Here’s how to make peanut butter! There’s also a video included. All you need is peanuts and a food processor (which you already have to pull out for this chickpea cookie recipe!).
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.
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!
Please read the following before asking a question! It will probably answer it. :)
- Tons of people have posted the nutritional analysis for these. They’re supposedly anywhere between 80-130 calories, which seems like a huge range to me. Please use a recipe analyzer like on CalorieCount if you need more information.
- You can use almond butter, sun butter, or whatever nut butter you like.
- The peanut butter should be the kind with only peanuts and salt. No added fat or sugar.
Be careful because there are some “natural” brands out there which aren’t really natural. I find that this peanut butter is usually expensive so I make my own.
You can make your own in only 5 minutes with a food processor. Check that out here. - 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!
- 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.
But thanks to the experimenters who left feedback, I’ve been able to update the recipe with alternatives to honey and peanut butter. Thanks everyone!
For my readers who are really sensitive to gluten, you might want to read my post on Is Honey Gluten-free? - For a totally sugar free version, use 30 drops of Stevia and cacao nibs.
- Do not double the recipe! It might be too much for your machine and could damage it.
- For a vegan version, you can’t use honey. Use agave.
- For a dairy-free version, use Enjoy Life chocolate chips. They’re just as delicious as regular chocolate chips. SO good!
And thanks for everyone who has pinned and left feedback. I really appreciate it. :)
Want more gluten-free treats? Here are some of my favorites!
Grain-free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites (gluten-free with vegan and dairy-free options)
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 14 1" cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups canned chickpeas, well-rinsed and patted dry with a paper towel1
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (165 grams) natural peanut butter, SunButter Natural or almond butter - room temperature2
- 1/4 cup (80 grams) honey (agave or maple syrup for vegan)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder3
- a pinch of salt if your peanut butter doesn't have salt in it
- 1/2 cup (90 grams) chocolate chips (use vegan and dairy-free chocolate chips, if needed)
Directions
- 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.
- 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.
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2106 comments on “The Original Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites Recipe (aka Chickpea Cookies)” — Add one!
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Hi Erin, just wanted to thank you for this amazing recipe! I have been dieting for a while, and the problem is trying to deal with sweet cravings! This recipe is amazing and can be used while on a diet too :)
I made my own peanut butter since here in Cyprus I cannot find natural one in the stores, and they tasted so good I could not believe it!! Thanks again!
Homemade peanut butter is best for these, anyway. ;) I never buy natural peanut butter. It doesn’t taste as good as homemade, plus it’s SO expensive! And I’m so happy that you liked these and that they fit your diet! Thanks a ton for the feedback and the rating. :)
I made these cookies yesterday when I was craving a treat, but didn’t want to eat unhealthy. They were perfect! But, I did the following and the consistency was fine. My kids even like them! I used low fat skippy peanut butter ( I didn’t have any of the natural)! I only added about 1 tsp of honey. I didn’t add salt as it was in the peanut butter. I pureed everything up and then added the chocolate chips.. and I did smush them a bit so they would look like regular cookies and perhaps that helped w/the texture. Again, they weren’t oily. Maybe if you add all of the honey it would be oily. Thanks again for sharing this great recipe!! I will definitely be making them often!
I’m so happy that they didn’t come out oily for you! Thanks for the tip on Skippy Natural and using less honey! Awesome that only 1 teaspoon of honey worked. Less sweetener is always better! Thanks a ton for the feedback. :)
Well…I am a pro at making these, now. I make these nearly everyday for lunch — I figure it’s a great amount of protein, and eating them early in the day gives me a chance to work off the fat. LOVE these!!! My family is turned off without ever having tried them, so I get them all to myself! I use sun-butter, stevia drops, and the entire can of chick-peas (instead of less). I also don’t bother rolling them…just scoop them with my 1 inch ice cream scooper. FANTASTIC. I also love to eat a couple prematurely while they are baking — everything has warmed up including the chocolate chips, but they’re more “doughey” than cookie a that point.
Hahaha. Thank you for the awesome comment. :) Every day for lunch?! They’re not exactly the lowest calorie food with all that peanut butter (or okay, sun butter) so be careful with that! ;) Thanks again for the feedback! So happy that you liked them so much. And too bad your family won’t try them. But like you said, more for you! :)
These are SO amazingly good!!! I made them today and had to fight off 2 nine year old boys (my son and his friend) before they devoured the whole darn batch!! I made half a batch with butterscotch chips because my son is allergic to chocolate – they were a huge hit!
I can’t wait to try some of your other gluten free recipes. Maybe the chocolate peanut butter brownies next. mmmmm
Mindy
Hahaha. I love that they ate the entire batch! :D And butterscotch chips?! Oh my gosh. That sounds like the most amazing addition ever! I hope you’ll enjoy my other GF recipes. Thanks for the feedback and the rating! :)
Well, my first batch just came out of the oven. They’re not very pretty, but I used a scoop instead of rolling them. I also used dry roasted peanuts, since the only PB we had in the house was Jif natural, which I knew you said wouldn’t work. I put them in the processor and ground them up as much as possible and added a little water until I felt I had a decent peanut butter consistency. So, they’re not super smooth – more like if someone were to use crunchy PB, I would imagine. Anyway, I and the kids really liked them – hubby, on the other hand, was not fooled. He doesn’t like chick peas and he could still tell they were in there. Oh well – 3/4 isn’t bad. lol
I’m happy they still came out! Check out the link to the homemade peanut butter in the recipe. You can make peanut butter without any water at all and it just takes 2-3 minutes of processing in the food processing. :) It comes out super runny and perfect for these cookies! It’s great that the kids liked them and hey, my husband is the same way about these cookies. ;) Thanks so much for the feedback!
If you don’t have a food processor or Blendtec you can cheat with a Magic Bullet. Blend about 1/4 of the can at once and then mix the dough in a bowl like normal cookie dough.
Thanks for the tip, Christie! :) Happy that that worked for you!
These were hands-down fantastic. Easier and tastier than a regular chocolate chip cookie! I used freshly cooked chickpeas rather than canned, and I WAS eating the ‘batter.’ It was so tasty. I would definitely rather cook dried chickpeas rather than use canned. It’s easy if you just throw them in the crockpot. You don’t even have to pre-soak them! Then you can keep them in the freezer ready to go for hummus OR these awesome cookie bites.
I’m so happy that the freshly cooked chickpeas worked! I have to admit that I’ve only cooked chickpeas once and it was a disaster. Probably because I didn’t know what I was doing! Thanks a bunch for the tip and for the feedback. :)
is it ok to leave out the baking powder? I don’t have any, all I have is baking soda and I don’t want to buy arrowroot or cream of tartar. Not sure why you would need the baking powder anyway. I am trying to cut down on sodium. thanks!
I am so sorry for the slow reply! I haven’t tried these without the baking powder so I can’t say for sure. Did you try it?
Hi! I featured these on my blog today and have linked them here for the recipe & details. I made these on the weekend and were amazed at how tasty they are. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much for featuring them and so happy that you liked them! Thanks for the feedback and the rating. :)
I used my Ninja blender and it worked fine. I was a little leery with all the warnings so, my tip, is to warm up the pb! I popped it in the micro for 30 seconds. These taste awesome and they aren’t even in the oven yet!!
Great idea! Thanks for the tip. :)
Hi Erin,
My son has nut allergies, so I’m trying to figure out what I can use instead of the nut butters to give the cookie the same consistency. Any ideas?
Thanks.
Hi there! You can use SunButter. I’ve linked to it in the ingredients list. :) Would that work?
I made them with sunflower seed butter, my daughter loved them :)
So happy that worked out for you! Thanks for letting me know. :)
I made these tonight and love them. Thanks for the recipe!
So happy that you liked them! Thanks for the feedback. :)
is it ok if we use pb2 ?
Yup! Add the water (or however you make it) and use the same amount. :)
Has anyone tried these with chunky pb? I didn’t know if that changed anything or if we have to get smooth?
TIA!
Chunky should be fine! Your peanuts will get chopped up a little bit but it won’t affect the cookies. :)
These were amazing raw and cooked. Totally ate all 1700 calories in one night! Won’t be making these again with no one to share them with!!!
Hahaha. Oh, man. I’m so sorry. At least you enjoyed them, right? :D Thanks so much for the feedback!
Erin, am I missing something…Did u include the nutritional facts? Thanks YUM,
Hi there! You’re not missing anything. I didn’t include the nutritional facts (I personally just try to focus on healthier eating and not calories ;)) But you can take a look at the first bullet point if you want more info about calories. :)
I am wondering if anyone has used the JIF NATURAL or other brand natural peanut butters? Do they work?
I haven’t tried them but Jif and Skippy Natural have added fat and sugar. I don’t think it’d work. :( Try to find one that’s just peanuts and salt!
I just bought Smuckers Natural and according to the label it has no added fat or sugar…just peanuts and salt.
Awesome! I think it’s just Skippy and Jif Natural that have added fat and sugar. :)
Hi,
My daughter and I love garbanzo bean anything and do not eat flour or sugar, So we love these cookies!! However, I did not have parchment paper or a cooking mat so we used a flat cookie sheet. What’s the difference? Would the texture be different if I did use parchment paper?
Can’t wait to try more of your recipes, so glad we found you!
Thanks, Chaos
Hi there! Don’t worry about the parchment paper. :) The texture wouldn’t be any different. I’m just so used to putting everything on a Silpat that I just write it for every recipe. I’m so happy that you and your daughter liked the cookies! Thanks for the feedback. :)
If I wanted to make the dough and freeze it, should I roll the dough into balls first? Or just freeze the dough? Could I throw the frozen balls into the oven and add a few extra minutes to cooking time or should I defrost first? Thank you so much! My mother is vegan and I just discovered a gluten allergy/trying to live healthier and I am very excited about these (and making them for her)!
I would roll the dough into balls first just because it’d be easier that way. And I would defrost the dough first. It shouldn’t take too long! Maybe 30 minutes? But if you’re in a real rush, I imagine putting the frozen balls in there would work too. They might come out oddly shaped, though. :) I hope you’ll like the cookies!
Hello Erin,
I just made these but I don’t have a food processor so I blended the chickpeas by themselves in the blender with a bit of water, and then mixed everything else by hand in a bowl but the dough looked more like cake batter with the water so I mixed in some flour till it was more dough like and they came out great. Next time I will smash the chickpeas up by hand like the person in a previous comment so I don’t have to add the flour. :) Can’t wait to see if my family likes them!
Hi Melissa! So happy that it worked out for you without the food processor. :) I hope that your family liked them, too! Good luck with smashing the chickpeas next time. :)