Who knew garbanzo beans could taste so delicious?! This gluten-free chickpea cookie recipe turns fiber-filled beans into a tasty cookie treat that is sweetened with just honey! When you want a cookie that’s loaded with nourishment too, these bean cookies are it!
Chocolate chip chickpea cookie dough cookies
Here’s a cookie recipe with the main ingredient being a can of chickpeas, and you would never know!
They satisfy a sweet tooth. But are loaded with nourishment!
Traditional cookie dough uses white flour, white sugar, lots of butter, and raw eggs. While there is nothing wrong with enjoying that, sometimes you want a raw cookie dough that is actually good for you – that’s this healthy chickpea cookie dough recipe!
The texture in the center is like warm cookie dough.
Since there’s no egg in them, you don’t have to worry about making sure they bake all the way through. In fact, overbaking is not recommended for these chickpea peanut butter cookies.
Why you should make this healthy chickpea cookie recipe with kids
When my oldest was a little over 1 year old, we made these cookies together.
It was the first time that we baked together and it holds the sweetest memories in my mind.
He was in charge of holding the measuring spoons/cups and pushing the buttons on the food processor.
His favorite job though? Sampling to make sure it was good enough, of course!
And in case you were wondering, the flavor of the cookies was a hit!
Healthy ingredients for chocolate chip chickpea cookies
- canned chickpeas
- natural peanut butter
- honey
- vanilla extract
- baking powder
- sea salt
- dark chocolate chips
How to make peanut butter chickpea cookies
Scroll down to view the recipe card below for the full ingredients list, nutrition facts, and step-by-step instructions.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Combine the drained, rinsed, and dried chickpeas, peanut butter, honey, vanilla extract, baking powder, and sea salt, in a food processor and process until very smooth. Make sure to scrape down the sides to help get everything to mix.
- Add the chocolate chips in and pulse it once or twice. The mixture will be very thick and sticky.
- With wet hands or a cookie scoop, form into 1½” balls. Place onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. If you want them to have a cookie shape, instead of a cookie dough ball look, press down slightly on the balls. They don’t do much rising while they bake.
- Bake for about 10 minutes for the fresh batter (closer to 14-16 straight out of the freezer). The dough balls will still be very soft when you take them out of the oven. Add some flaky sea salt if you’d like. Let them rest on the tray for a few minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack.
- Best eaten when still warm!
Watch me make vegan chickpea chocolate chip cookies
The full how to video can be watched below, or on my YouTube channel!
How to freeze
Since they are best straight out of the oven, you can make the balls, then freeze them for when you need a quick yummy treat.
Make the batter per the instructions and form it into cookie dough balls.
Place on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet and freeze, making sure they don’t touch.
Once fully frozen, transfer to a freezer bag, label, and date and then bake off when you want a healthy cookie!
Doubling or tripling this recipe is a good idea!
How to store
Any leftover cookies should be cooled fully before placing them in an airtight container for storage.
Enjoy at room temperature, or slightly re-warm them to get that soft and melted chocolate center.
Substitutions
Below you’ll find a list of substitutions that will work well in this peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough bites recipe.
If you try something different out, please leave a comment below letting us all know how it turned out!
Chickpeas – Chick peas are the STAR of this recipe, so unfortunately there isn’t an exact replacement. Two legume options that I would suggest trying first would be white beans and cooked brown lentils.
Peanut butter – Cashew butter, almond butter, and sunflower butter are all good options to replace the natural peanut butter in this recipe.
Honey – Maple syrup and agave nectar are good liquid alternatives for this recipe. Coconut sugar would work too!
Chocolate chips – Any type of chocolate, whether it’s a chopped bar or mini chocolate chips will work here! For a lower sugar treat, opt for cacao nibs in place of chocolate chips.
More healthy dessert recipes you’ll love
- Vegan black bean brownies
- No bake chickpea pumpkin protein bites
- Edible funfetti chickpea cookie dough
- Protein chickpea cookie dough
- Almond butter oatmeal cookies
- Peanut butter powder cookies
- Chickpea muffins with chocolate chips
Healthy Chickpea Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.25 cups canned chickpeas 1 can, drained, rinsed and patted dry
- ½ cup natural peanut butter
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ⅛ tsp sea salt
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Combine the drained, rinsed, and dried chickpeas, peanut butter, honey, vanilla extract, baking powder, and sea salt, in a food processor and process until very smooth. Make sure to scrape down the sides to help get everything to mix.
- Add the chocolate chips in and pulse it once or twice. The mixture will be very thick and sticky.
- With wet hands or a cookie scoop, form into 1½” balls. Place onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. If you want them to have a cookie shape, instead of a cookie dough ball look, press down slightly on the balls. They don’t do much rising while they bake.
- Bake for about 10 minutes for the fresh batter (closer to 14-16 straight out of the freezer). The dough balls will still be very soft when you take them out of the oven. Let them rest on the tray for a few minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack.
- Best eaten when still warm!
Nutrition
If you try this peanut butter chickpea cookies recipe, I’d love it if you left a star rating and comment below letting me know how it turned out!
XO
Heather
Originally published November 2013. Updated November 2022.
6 comments
Totally making these! I”ll have to leave the chocolate out of half because…Kaylin doesn’t like chocolate! I know crazy.
What?!?! That’s is crazy!
[…] peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough bites (aka chickpea cookies!) […]
Amazing things! Going to make for a party!
[…] adapted from peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough bites […]
OMG tried this recipe and it was incredibly yummy! The only thing, I didn’t have a food processor so I blended the rinsed chickpeas with a little unsweetened almond milk then added some chickpea flour to get the right batter consistency…so good! Thanks for the recipe 🙂