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.
AAAAAH! I made these tonight! On a whim, I decided to add about 1/4 c. crunchy almond butter, and approx. 1 tbsp. coconut manna… for no other reason other than the fact that I'm currently in love with BOTH products. The verdict: These things are sinfully good! I think I messed up the texture with the added ingredients as they came out a little too soft on the inside. But no worries! I ate them on a plate with a fork!
P.S. I may or may not have had 3. ;)
Also, I just used my electric mixer and it worked great. Although, this also could explain the texture change. Not sure. Either way, I'll be making these again and again! Thanks for sharing! :)
I just made these!! My brain was having a hard time figuring out how this was going to taste good, but my taste buds were quite delighted!! They are very good for a healthy cookie option!! Thank you for the recipe!
Ok now, after reading all of the wonderful reviews I have to make these cookies/bites ASAP!! I am dying to taste the flavor and texture. Definitely getting some chickpeas tomorrow!! :-)
Found these on Pinterest about an hour ago and they are already in my tummy! So good! Very moist and gooey. The next time I make them I may add a little more honey as I like things pretty sweet. As Erin said though, the chocolate chips make this creation and I wouldn't try it without them. Overall, YUM! Thanks for posting Erin! :)
I beg to differ with you, Erin — these DO taste yummy in dough form! Oh my, I can hardly wait until they come out of the oven! Thanks for such a fun recipe!
i haven't read all nearly 100 comments, so this may be a repeat. i am going to make these with sun butter {sunflower seed substitute for peanut butter} and dairy free chocolate chips. i hope they turn out just as delicious as your photos look! i will post an update after i've made them {it'll be a few days}. thanks for sharing!!
I just made these and there were delicious!!! My only recommendation would be to possibly blend the chickpeas first because its difficult to get them smooth.
I found that it helps to shell the chickpeas first. Just pinch them and the outer shell comes off and then they blend much more smoothly.
I just found this recipe on Pinterest. They look and sound amazing. I will defiantly be making them this week. Thanks for sharing!
Do u know how many calories are in the cookies?
Did anyone ever try these with almond butter?
Anon – Thanks again for the peanut flour peanut butter tip! I'll have to see if I can find peanut flour online somewhere because I'm pretty much positive I can't find it here. Good luck again with the cookie dough bites. :)
chickenvirgin – I don't have a working oven at the moment so it might be a while. I hope you like both versions! Thanks for the reply. :)
anon – Well, I can't wait to get back to the US or Canada. Maybe big cities just aren't for me. I hope you like the cookie dough bites!
Unknown – Yay! I'm so happy that you all liked them. And fooling health food phobes is always fun, isn't it? :) Thanks for letting me know how they turned out!
I brought this recipe to work (hospital kitchen) and made them . . . lets just say I fooled even the biggest "health food" phobe. Fantastic recipe especially because I could never ever deny the most amazing combination on this planet, peanut butter and chocolate. Cheers!
I was stationed in Germany 3 yrs. we loved it(well most of it) Cant wait to try these!
Thanks for the reply, Erin. I have a very personal relationship with chocolate and peanut butter. :) I just know my daughter (grown) will want to opt for the almond butter. If I make them before you do, I'll let you know how they turn out. :)
I will definately let you know how they work out with the homemade peanut spread. Just so you know, what I do is buy peanut flour (I have to order it online because it is a nut flour that's hard to find in stores), and each time I want "peanut butter" I spoon out the amount of flour I need and add just a pinch of salt & enough water to make it the consistancy I need for my spread. It tastes very much like peanut butter. It is much lower in fat because 85% of the fat was removed when the peanuts were made into the flour, so also much lower in calories compared to peanut butter (about 1.5 grams fat and 45 cals per 2 tablespoon serving). Hopefully this will help you create some more healthy recipes that are begging for peanut butter!
Anon – Please let me know how it turns out so that others can try it too! I've never heard about this peanut flour spread. Sounds interesting. :) And you want it runny like the natural type. Good luck!
Ok, I am so happy to find this on Pinterest! I am going to try this recipe with my own peanut spread that I make from peanut flour. Peanut flour peanut spread has 85% less fat than peanut butter, yet is still natural amd can be made as thick or as thin as you need, so this just might work! Thanks for sharing your brilliance with the rest of the world ;)
Anon – I don't but I can tell you that they're not low calorie because of the peanut butter. But on the other hand, you have lots of protein and healthy fats and not so much sugar, all of which comes from honey. Okay, and the chocolate chips. Those aren't healthy at all, but the rest of it is. :)
Chickenvirgin – Whoops, I still haven't made plain almond butter to try these out! I only have maple cinnamon almond butter which I think sounds terrible with chocolate. I just can't imagine the taste being anywhere as good. Peanut butter just belongs with chocolate, you know? :) (although I understand certain people can't have peanuts)
Just wondering if you've had a chance to make these with almond butter yet? I'm excited to try them…either way. :)
Do you happen to have a calorie count and nutritional info for these–they look amazing
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but go to http://www.calorieking.com and put in the ingredients and you'll find these are super high in calories and fat… It's great having the protein from the chickpeas but they have fat also, the chocolate & peanut butter. Just a 1/2 cup of all natural peanut butter has 1680cals & 128gms fat! It would be better just to add protein powder to a regular chocolate chip cookie mix… btw calories become fat if you consume too much. My estimate is over 20gm fat per serving, 211cals per cookie… that's 2,954cals for the whole batch :( Almost 1 pound of fat in one batch…(3500cals = 1#fat)
There was a comment here, but I think the author deleted it. They said that there were 211 calories in them. I was writing my reply, and now that comment is gone. Here's my reply anyway!
I'm no recipe analysis expert, but most people who have run these through different programs have said that they have 125 – 160 calories. 211 calories is quite a bit higher than the others. And as far as the fat goes, this is *healthy* fat. I think you have to make a different between fat that is good for you and bad fat. These aren't a "diet cookie" and should be eaten in moderation, just like all cookies. :)
I keep replying to this comment and weird stuff keeps happening. This is my last try!