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.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. For more info, see my disclosure.
Join over 12,400 readers and sweeten up
your inbox with new posts for free!
This subscription is free of charge and can be canceled at any time.
2106 comments on “The Original Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites Recipe (aka Chickpea Cookies)” — Add one!
37 comments are awaiting moderation!
This is not vegan!! They have chocolate in them! Milk? Duh?
You may want to do a quick google (like “is chocolate vegan”) before leaving a less-than-friendly comment like that in the future. ;) Lots of brands of chocolate are indeed vegan and you can read about that here. Now if you choose milk chocolate, that’s obviously not vegan. That’s why I directly link to a brand of vegan chocolate in the ingredients list.
I didn’t get very far: I read chickpeas, peanut butter (pb2, water, avocado oil) and vanilla, threw it in the blender and ate it all…
Next time I will make them completely.
Awesome!!!
Thank you :)
Haha. One of my favorite comments ever. :D I hope you’ll get to the baking step next time! I think they’re even better when baked. Thanks a bunch for your comment. :)
Tried these and was very pleased with the results. Getting out and cleaning my food processor is a beast. Would be nice if I could make up a bunch at once and freeze the dough. Has anyone tried this with any success?
A few commenters have done that with success but I haven’t tried it myself. I’m happy you enjoyed the cookies! Thanks for your feedback. :)
I’ll admit I was a little skeptical of these cookies, but they were awesome! I almost felt like I was eating guilt-free cookie dough because they were so soft. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
I’d have been skeptical, too. ;) So happy you liked them! Thanks a bunch for your feedback.
I hope to make these today! I have a question, can you make the dough and store it in the fridge to bake a few hours later? I wanted to make the dough ahead of time if possible. Thanks!
I haven’t tried it myself but several of the commenters have with success! I hope you’ll enjoy the cookies. :)
Have you try this using navy beans? Have you ever seen a recipe for making cookies that are grain free, sugar free using navy beans?
I haven’t tried this or any other cookie recipes using navy beans. Sorry about that!
Thanks Erin! These are awesome! My toddlers and I just made them and they are gobbling them up. Even my hubby loves them. :)
Aww, yay! That’s awesome that the entire family likes them. :) Thanks for your feedback!
i was wondering if substituting the chick peas for black or kidney beans would be tasty or not?
In my opinion it wouldn’t be tasty at all but I guess that’s a subjective thing!
I don’t have a food processor, would a ninja blender work?
I wouldn’t risk it but some commenters have done it with success!
Oh my! Just made these and followed recipe to the letter…..delicious!!! Thanks Erin ??
Awesome! I’m so happy you liked them. Thanks for your feedback! :)
These are spectacular! Thank you so much for posting!!
Thanks! And thanks so much for your feedback. :)
I just made these again tonight. For whatever reason (maybe it was the Kirkland brand natural peanut butter?) I really had problems getting a uniform batter without chickpea chunks. The batter combined into a thick mass in my processor, preventing the blades from being effective. Any ideas for getting the batter to be chunk-free? Have you experimented with processing the chickpeas alone, first? Is there a particular brand of peanut butter that you find to work the best? Thanks so much!!
I haven’t processed the chickpeas alone first so I have no idea how that’d work. My guess is that it may be difficult to do that. Does the Kirkland brand of peanut butter have added sugar and fat? I know that some brands say natural but are thick like Skippy and actually have added sugar and fat. That could be it! If the only ingredients are peanuts and salt, then I have no idea what the problem could be. I use homemade peanut butter (I just process roasted and salted peanuts in a food processor until quite liquid). Did you by any chance use canned chickpeas last time and fresh this time?
These ‘cookies’ were absolutely amazing! Instead of peanut butter, I used natural ABC (almond, brazil, cashew) butter, and they tasted just like delicious chocolate chip cookies… with secret chickpeas (yay). Thank you for an amazing recipe (I’ve already recommended it to my sister), as well as this fantastic site. I’ve actually just finished making your cinnamon apple muffins and they smell so good…can’t wait for after dinner :D
Thanks again!!
ABC butter sounds interesting! I’ll have to look for that. I’m so happy that you enjoyed the cookies and the muffins! Thanks a bunch for the nut butter tip and for your feedback. :)
can you make links to print just the recipe and pictures kind of compactly? thatd be AWEAOME!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Erin :) I tried to print this recipe but the link isn’t working… Please let me know if it’s up & running again- I’d love to direct my clients to your site! thank you
Hi, Krista! It works for me. Are you using Chrome? If so, the print page will come up blank but when you click cancel or escape, you should see a nicely formatted recipe page that you can print (I hope that makes sense!) If you don’t see that, let me know and I’ll send you a pdf! Thanks for wanting to send your clients this way. :)
I feel really ridiculous asking this question because the cookies are supposed to be healthy but I don’t like honey and I don’t have stevia or agave so…..would they work if I just use brown sugar or must it be a liquid sweetener?
It’s not ridiculous. :) Other commenters used brown sugar with success but I don’t know if and how much added liquid they used. Maybe add a tablespoon of milk? It’s just a guess, though!
I am going to make these cookie bites but do not know how many grams of chick peas to use the recipe says 1 1/4 cups so how many grams is that please
See the first note in the recipe. :) I’m guessing that’d be about 210-220 grams.
thank you so much for your reply I going to try them later wish me luck x
Good luck! I hope you’ll enjoy them. :)
Just made these to use up some chickpeas from my newly discovered aquafaba addiction.Had to make my own peanut butter (I will never buy again) I made them vegan and I’m going to make some aquafaba and coconut cream marshmallow topping.Thank you for the recipe-now I can eat chickpeas too!
I had to look up what aquafaba is. It’s so funny that you had to find something to use up the chickpeas on. :D I’m so happy these were able to solve your chickpea usage problem! I love the topping idea. Sounds delicious! Thanks so much for the feedback. :)
Made with carob chips instead of chocolate and I learned that carob just doesn’t melt the way chocolate does! Bites are still good though, but next time I’ll either use real chocolate chips for sweetness or add some stevia to the dough along with the honey/agave.
Bummer that the carob chips didn’t melt! I hope you’ll enjoy them more next time using real chocolate chips. :)
Oh. My. Gosh. Just made these and OBSESSED! Truly the definition of a guilt-free cookie. Thank you for sharing!!
I’m so happy that you enjoyed them! Hooray for guilt-free cookies, right? Thanks for your feedback. :)
Wow these look great! Pinning to try soon :)
Thanks, Megan! I hope you’ll enjoy them. :)