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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Anon – Don't apologize for a long comment. I love them! :) Thanks so much for taking the time to write some feedback. You should try again using the kind of peanut butter that's just peanuts and salt. Nothing else! I'll add a link in the recipe to my homemade peanut butter recipe. I'm happy that your mother liked them too and enjoyed them cool. And wow, thanks for following. I love having new readers. :) Thanks again!
Thank you so much for this recipe !! I couldn't go to sleep and I wasnt hungry for dinner so I decided to make these at 10 pm hahaha probably not a good idea but because these are healthier than normal cookies, I decided it was okay (excuses, excuses) and they came out great! A little darker than the ones in your picture but maybe it's because I didn't use all natural peanut butter (even though the jar claimed it was). And best part is my mother loved them! She usually hates sweets but she ate half the batch. She said they are yummier when they're cool because I only had mini chocolate chips so they were still melted. Anyway, will make this again tomorrow ! Sorry for such a long post but just wanted to thank you! Your food blog is the only one I read now:)
Sami – Well if they're gooier, isn't that a good thing? :) So happy that you still liked them! If you're not sure of your peanut butter, just dump some peanuts in a food processor and process until there's peanut butter!
Die Groblers – Thanks for your tip! I wonder if I have a really good processor because this recipe has always been super easy for it. Or maybe the chickpeas I have are just softer? :) I'm also going to try different flavors. I have one planned for today! So happy that you enjoyed them. Thanks for the feedback.
Re: Posts about it food processors burning out… I figured a way to save on the amount on processing time is to put the chickpeas (and the nuts) through a fine setting on the meat mincer first.
I tried this yesterday. My concern was that it was going to taste like chickpeas. It doesn't. It's divine. Hot or cold, it's nice. I use these as fillers between meals and after gym. I will definitely try them with different flavors also. Coffee, chocolate and cinnamon comes to mind… And of course different nut butters. ;)
I'm a diabetic and always on the lookout for healthier recipes (If I'm going to eat carbs, I at least want them to be more wholesome than sugar). Just made these with coconut nectar instead of honey. Very good! Funny thing is… they look nothing like the picture, haha. I didn't have the greatest of natural p-butter on hand, so mine ended up much more gooey. Oh well. Still taste great, thanks for sharing!
hansismyhoney – So happy that you all enjoyed them! Thanks for leaving feedback. And you know what? I've never tried hummus… it always kind of scared me.
Meredith – So happy that they worked with your substitutions! I hope that you're able to make some more chickpea cookies soon. I'd be interested to see what you do. :)
Hannah – I'm happy that you tried a second time with natural peanut butter! Thanks for the tip. Hopefully that'll save some other readers from messing up their cookies. :)
Anon – Several people have left the nutritional profiles but I think 130 or 140 was the average. Happy you liked them! :)
Anon – Unfortunately not. The people who have tried with normal peanut butter have all said that they come out oily. These shouldn't be oily at all, so I'm afraid it won't work. :(
Is there a way to make these with normal peanut butter?
These are great about how many calories? I did make them and then I told people what was in them :)
I just made these and they are YUMMY! to say the least. I actually had to make two batches because, warning to you and all your subscribers…..DO NOT USE BETTER N' PEANUTBUTTER. It makes them extremely runny and taste weird. I had never tried it before so I didn't know it didn't have the same consistency of regular natural peanut butter. Thanks for the amazing recipe!
I made these low-carb by using a rounded quarter-cup of granulated Splenda instead of the honey, and 3-4 tablespoons of extra liquid to compensate for the liquid from the honey. And, of course, sugar-free chocolate chips (made from cocoa, sugar substitute, and butter).
They weren't that sweet, so I will probably up the sweetener next time. And trust me, there WILL be a next time! The flavors and textures are great. I can't wait to try making all sorts of cookies with chickpeas! It's a brilliant grain-free solution.
just made these with my 5 year old, love how fast they were to put together, and yes, all 3 of my girls and I inhaled them in 2 seconds!!! Can't believe there were chick-peas in there–way to give hummus a run for it's money!
Liberty – Haha. They are! I hope your tweaks work out. :)
Anon – It was the regular peanut butter. Someone else mentioned using regular peanut butter and having them be oily so I'll add a note to make it clear that one should definitely not use normal peanut butter. I hope the natural peanut butter ones will come out better for you. :)
Just made these yesterday. They were really good but a little to oily not sure if it was cause I used regular peanut butter. I will definately be making more with correct ingredients.
These look sehr lekker! – cannot wait to tweak this a little bit to make them breakfast quality – like these http://bit.ly/O1mA7P
BLessings!!
Anon – Aww, too bad. But at least they seemed to really like them! And that you were able to trick them. That's a nice feeling, isn't it? :) Thanks for letting me know!
Thank you. They are quick to make and taste heavenly. Unfortunately, my husband and buddies eat almost all of them. They had no idea what was in the sneaky treat. My celiac son and all family members thank you.
Kelseu – Yay! I'm happy you liked them. Thanks for telling me. :)
Anon – Hmm. I have no idea. I think there seems to be some differences with the chikpeas, but do you think that your oven temperature could be off? I've put an oven thermometer several times, only to find out that the temperature was off! But the thing is, these don't really need to look done. There's no egg so you just want them to get a little baked. I hope you can give it another try. Just take them out sooner! :)
I had to go to the store and buy chickpeas immediately after finding this on Pinterest. They look so good!!
After watching them bake in the oven for almost 10 minutes at 350, I noticed that they didn't exactly look like they were ready just yet so I kept them in a little longer. How do you make yours look lighter? Of course mine turned out darker because I baked them for about 20 mins and even turned out a little toasty at the bottom, but even at 10 mins they didn't look as ready as yours in those photos <3
Thanks in advance!
Love the cookies! They taste so yummy! Mine don't look as pretty as yours, but they taste wonderful! Thanks for the recipe!
Anon – I'm happy that you'll try again! Thanks for letting us know that adding nuts does not work. :)
I just finished making these. They didn't quite turn out perfect. BUT this was my fault. I decided to add hazel nuts. I added them to the items to be blended without thought. This left my cookies gritty. Opps! I will try again following the recipe next time!
Christine – Yay! But I have a question for you. What in the world are you doing with all these baked goods? :) You seem to be baking more than I am. It's great!
Dani – Good! Cold is definitely more convenient. :) So happy that you all like them. Thanks for letting me know!
I've made these three times already in the past four days….(kind of addicted)…my boyfriend and his friends actually liked them BETTER cold. I've also been using dark chocolate. YUM.
I've made these several times now just as the recipe is. They're brilliant! My husband and I love love love them. We enjoy them either still warm or cold. They don't last long once they're made!!!
Anon – Yay! So happy that you liked them! :)
Rachel – Someone said that they used kidney beans in these and that they worked but I wouldn't risk it. There's not really a good substitute for chickpeas. Sorry! I hope your mom goes to the store soon. :)
Anon – I'm afraid not. The texture of chickpeas and chickpea flour is totally different. I'm pretty sure that they'd come out a dry and crumbly mess if you tried. I hope you can find some chickpeas. :)
Is it possible to substitute chickpeas for chickpea flour?
Um these look soooo yummy!! But I have a problem..I don't have any chick peas right now (quite surprising) and my mom doesn't really want to go to the store soooo I was wondering if there is any substitute. I'm not allergic to anything so anything could work for me :)
I just made these… YUMMY!!!! Omg so good.. and I feel so good knowing that theres no egg sugar butter flour! thanks!
Dani – Wow, that's great that you liked the dough and the chocolate free versions! Thanks for letting me know. I'm thankful that people are still leaving feedback even after all the other comments. :)
Just made these and they were delicious! I did the agave version and they came out great.
Several points of contention though –
The dough was so good!! Maybe it's just because I don't mind chickpeas, but judging by the amount of cookie dough it was great uncooked.
I also made them with and without chocolate chips and thought they were great without the chocolate too, tasted just like a peanut butter cookie. I didn't feel like I was missing out on a 'real' cookie at all.
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!
I can't believe how amazing these are! I could eat the whole batch!
Heather – So happy that you and your daughter enjoyed them! Thanks for letting us know that almond butter works. :)
oh yes, and I made mine with almond butter.
I absolutely LOVED these! Finally a cookie i was happy to make for my 3 year old and she loved them too. Thank you!
Anon – So happy that it worked with a blender! And great that you liked them better the day after. It's definitely more practical to not have to eat them all at once! Thanks a lot for letting me know. :)
I saw these on pinterest and I had to make them. As a college student, I don't have a food processor so I used a blender. It was a bit tedious as I expected lol, but totally worth it. I love them! I actually liked them better a day later! I feel like the flavors had more time to mesh. Thanks so much for the awesome recipe!
autumnphoenix2 – And thank you for leaving feedback! Happy you enjoyed them. :)
Amanda – Nope! No refrigeration required. And I'm super happy that you and your toddler enjoyed these! It's wonderful that (s)he likes chickpeas. I still don't like them, except in these! Thanks for the feedback. :)
Oh my word, delicious! Will be hard not to eat all of them today. Found out my toddler loves them and regular old chickpeas, too. ;) will definitely make again! Do they need to be refrigerated?
Just made them- they are very good! Thanks for the recipe :)
Anon – Flour, water and oil instead of chickpeas? Yikes. Is that some kind of standard sub? Thanks for letting the others know. :)
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER USE FLOUR, WATER AND OIL AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR THE CHICKPEAS!!!!!!!!! ITS NASTY. The taste was off and the texture was odd. I would definitely suggest using the chickpeas.
Alicia – That's great! I'm so happy that you liked them cold. Thanks for leaving feedback. :)
lilldebbi – Oh, those sound good! And thanks for letting us know that low fat Jiffy works and for the feedback. And yay, I'm happy that you want to stick around! I welcome friendly new blog stalkers. :D
I am addicted now, thank you very much. I followed the recipe as written just added a touch of cinnamon and nutmeg and used low fat jiffy peanut butter spread (only because I already had it in the fridge) IT WAS DELICIOUS HOT AND ROOM TEMP. I was scared to try it room temp after reading the description and comments, but was so pleasantly delighted it was a little less gooey so had more of a soft cookie feel to it. Thank you for this… and now I shall stalk your blog for ever!!!
Made these last night! I put the leftover cookies in the fridge and pulled them out tonight. Decided to try one straight from the fridge and actually liked them better cold! Funny, because in your post you said you thought they were better warm. I think when they're cold, they taste like those traditional "no bake" cookies. :)
Anon – I know you said you followed the recipe exactly, but did you use natural peanut butter, the kind with just peanuts and nothing else? There are 150 – 200 positive reviews of these in the comments and this is only the second negative one. I can promise you that I did not fake any of those reviews. Sorry that you didn't like them.
I tried this recipe (and follwed it exactly), but it did not turn out like the ones in the picture. They were really oily and bland. There is no way that your cookies turned out that way and you used the recipe you posted. I am frustrated and angry and will not recommend this recipe. I was left with an unsatisfactory taste in my mouth and a tummy ache.
Amanda – Wow, that's crazy. I think I prefer "normal" cookies but that's awesome that he enjoys them so much! Thanks for telling me. :)
Monica – Yeah, the dough is gross! I love that your boyfriend wants to trick people with these. It's fun when the boys get involved, isn't it? :) I don't have any experience with toaster ovens so I'm happy that these worked. Thanks a bunch for letting me know. That boyfriend thing cracks me up!
Nadea – Yay! So happy that you enjoyed them and thanks a bunch for the confirmation that they are indeed creamy and yummy. :) You could try cooking the next batch for 12 or 13 minutes and see what happens. But there's no egg or anything that needs to be baked here so it's up to you if you want them more done (but I don't think they'll ever get done like normal cookies). Thanks again for the comment!
I was totally seduced by the sight of these cookies so I knew I would have to make them. Folks, these cookies are every bit as good as Erin says and you must do yourself a treat and make them!! Even my husband loved them, which is something because he isn't a cookie lover. I think I need to cook mine longer than 10 minutes though. I wonder if that will ruin the texture. I sure wouldn't want to over-cook them and lose the creaminess of the chocolate and chickpeas. Having said that, they were gorgeous. Loved them and I'm making them again soon! Thanks!