Chickpea Cookie Dough – How to Make This Yummy Recipe

Chickpea cookie dough is an edible cookie dough option with a unique and healthy twist. It not only utilizes nutritious chickpeas as the base for the recipe, but it is also incredibly versatile, making it the perfect match for almost any dietary need out there. So, what is it about chickpea cookie dough that makes it so enticing?

Table of Contents

• What’s a Chickpea Cookie Dough?
• How to Make Vegan Chickpea Cookie Dough
• How to Store Vegan Chickpea Cookie Dough
• Chickpea Cookie Dough Recipe Variations
• How to Use Your Edible Chickpea Cookie Dough Recipe
• Is Chickpea Cookie Dough Good for You?
• Chickpea Cookie Dough: Healthy and Versatile!
• FAQs

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What’s a Chickpea Cookie Dough?

Chickpea cookie dough is edible cookie dough that uses chickpeas as the base for the recipe. This means that instead of beating together your butter, sugar, and flour to form the foundation for your dough recipe, you will instead use a food processor to blend your chickpeas along with other ingredients to create a gluten-free and potentially vegan and dairy-free edible cookie dough you can enjoy whenever you want.

How sweet is that?!

Ingredients in Chickpea Cookie Dough

So, what is it exactly that makes chickpea cookie dough a healthy cookie dough recipe? Though chickpea cookie dough recipes can vary, you can expect to see the following ingredients in my specific chickpea cookie dough recipes-

• Canned chickpeas: Some recipes may also call for chickpea flour. Either way, chickpeas (a.k.a. garbanzo beans) are full of fiber and have been known for easing digestion. On top of this, chickpeas have also been shown to potentially protect your mental health and can even aid in lowering your cholesterol. Impressive, right?
• Peanut Butter (or another nut butter): The peanut butter provides the right kind of “sticky” to achieve the perfect cookie dough consistency. It also helps bolster the flavor of the cookie dough and add good healthy fat to the dish. This helps to make it the perfect healthy snack. Just know that using a different type of nut butter may slightly alter the actual cookie dough flavor. Thus, it is important that you just be sure you like the taste of the nut butter you choose as it will contribute to the overall flavor of your dough.
• Almond flour: I’ve opted to use almond flour for this recipe, but know that you could also get away with using oat flour or even a gluten-free flour if you so choose. Just be sure not to use coconut flour for this recipe. It isn’t a 1:1 replacement, and you may not like the results. Also, while we are on the topic of flour, it is important to note that you do not have to heat treat almond or oat flour the way that you do wheat flour. Heat treating is done to kill bacteria off of flour before making edible cookie dough, but it isn’t necessary when using almond or oat flours. 
• Vanilla extract: Using vanilla extract in a cookie dough recipe is a no-brainer. Although it isn’t actually necessary (meaning it won’t change your cookie dough texture if you don’t use it) your cookie dough may not taste as flavorful if you skip it.
• Maple syrup: I use maple syrup in this recipe because it reminds me of the flavor of brown sugar but with more smooth richness to it. Pure maple syrup is also so much better for our bodies than processed granulated sugar, so it only feels right to include it in this healthy easy chickpea cookie dough recipe.
• Salt: Those who don’t bake often commonly see salt in a recipe and inherently think, “Ew…skip!” But before you duck out on me, know that adding a hint of salt to sweet and healthy dessert recipes actually amplifies the sweetness of the dish. Just be sure not to add too much of it; just a dash will do!
• Miniature chocolate chips: You could technically stir in any kind of mix-in here (sprinkles, cookie crumbles, you name it) but because this is a chickpea chocolate chip cookie dough recipe, I will be adding miniature chocolate chips. I’ve chosen to use the miniature kind because it is so much easier to stir and scoop when it comes time to eat. Save the larger chocolate chips for actual chickpea cookies if you like pools of chocolate swirled throughout. YUM!

How to Make Vegan Chickpea Cookie Dough

Ready to learn how to make this healthy and delicious chickpea vegan cookie dough recipe? The ingredients are simple; all you need is a blender or food processor to make it all come together.

Ingredients

• 3 cups canned chickpeas (remove the chickpea skin if desired, but not really necessary)
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 5-6 tablespoons of pure maple syrup (make sure you aren’t using pancake syrup… the two aren’t the same!)
• 1/2 cup high quality miniature chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions

1. Start by blending your canned chickpeas in a blender until they resemble the texture of a smooth paste. Alternatively, you can cream your chickpeas using a food processor if you don’t have a blender on hand.
2. To this mixture, combine your peanut butter, vanilla extract, sea salt, cinnamon (if using), and maple syrup. Blend for a few seconds until combined.
3. Using a rubber spatula, transfer your blender mixture into a large mixing bowl.
4. Sift your almond flour into the mixture and stir until thick and incorporated.
5. Carefully fold in your chocolate chips.
6. Refrigerate the dough until firm if desired, or enjoy it on the spot!

Tips

• Always ensure you rinse your canned peas really, really, REALLY well! If you don’t, they’ll taste like… well… beans! Alternatively, you can cook your chickpeas from dry. Some find the beany flavor to be less strong using this method. However, it also takes longer.
• Remove the skin from the chickpeas only if you wish. It will make the cookie dough much smoother, but this step isn’t really necessary, especially if you’re short on time.
• Feel free to substitute honey instead of maple syrup when making chickpea cookie dough. Both are healthful choices!
• If you use regular salt instead of sea salt, reduce the amount to 1 teaspoon.

How to Store Vegan Chickpea Cookie Dough

To store the cookie dough, place it in an airtight container and keep it in the fridge for 5-7 days. You can also freeze the dough for up to 2 months at the best quality. To do so, place it in a freezer safe airtight container or freezer bag.

When storing this healthy chickpea cookie dough, consider portioning it into balls ahead of time. This way, you won’t have to worry about having to thaw the entire cookie dough batch and having to deal with the hassle of refreezing. If you do choose to freeze the entire batch, be sure to thaw it in the refrigerator before using. If you must thaw it on the counter, do so for no more than 2 hours, and be sure to use the entire batch of dough, as refreezing it under these conditions may prove risky.

Chickpea Cookie Dough Recipe Variations

Peanut-Free Chocolate Chip Chickpea Cookie Dough

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups canned chickpeas
• 1/4 cup almond butter
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• dash of cinnamon (optional)
• 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 3 tablespoon oat flour
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 cup miniature chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Start by blending your canned chickpeas in a blender until they resemble the texture of a smooth paste. Alternatively, you can cream your chickpeas using a food processor if you don’t have a blender on hand.
2. To this mixture, combine your almond butter, vanilla extract, sea salt, cinnamon (if using), and honey. Blend for a few seconds until combined.
3. Using a rubber spatula, transfer your blender mixture into a large mixing bowl.
4. Sift your oat flour into the mixture and stir until thick and incorporated.
5. Carefully fold in your chocolate chips.
6. Refrigerate the dough until firm if desired, or enjoy it on the spot!

Sugar Chickpea Cookie Dough

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups canned chickpeas
• 1/4 cup cashew butter
• 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• dash of cinnamon (optional)
• 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 3 tbsp oat flour
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/4 cup rainbow sprinkles
• 3/4 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions

1. Start by blending your canned chickpeas in a blender until they resemble the texture of a smooth paste. Alternatively, you can cream your chickpeas using a food processor if you don’t have a blender on hand.
2. To this mixture, combine your cashew butter, sea salt, vanilla extract, cinnamon (if using), and maple syrup. Blend for a few seconds until combined.
3. Using a rubber spatula, transfer your blender mixture into a large mixing bowl.
4. Sift your oat flour into the mixture and stir until thick and incorporated.
5. Carefully fold in your sprinkles.
6. Refrigerate the dough until firm if desired, or enjoy it on the spot!

How to Use Your Edible Chickpea Cookie Dough Recipe

Now that you know a few different ways to make edible chickpea cookie dough, it is time to learn how to put it to use!

Use your healthy chickpea cookie dough in a variety of ways, including the following:

• As a healthy cookie dough dip for apple slices, carrots, or celery sticks
• As a fun topper for ice cream
• As a side dish to your favorite salty snack
• Smeared on crackers or bagels
• Crumbled over cake frosting or cupcakes

Is Chickpea Cookie Dough Good for You?

Chickpea cookie dough is potentially be a healthy cookie dough, but, as with any other recipe, you’ll want to take note of the ingredients used in the recipe before you deem it as such.

A recipe that utilizes chickpeas but has a ton of sugar, butter, and other unhealthy additions won’t fare well for your health, even if it is mostly made of chickpeas.

Nevertheless, if your edible chickpea cookie dough contains healthful substituents such as pure maple syrup instead of sugar and nut butters instead of dairy butters, then the chances are more likely that the recipe can be considered a nutritious part of your diet than other recipes out there.

Chickpea Cookie Dough: Healthy and Versatile!

Now you know, chickpea cookie dough is a great way to add a bit of versatility and even a few health benefits to your diet. From lowering cholesterol to boosting your mental health, there are many reasons you might consider using chickpea flour for your next batch of cookie dough. It also helps that chickpeas are naturally gluten free!

I hope you’ve found this post helpful. Let me know how your batch of chickpea cookie dough (or chickpea cookies) turns out! Until next time!

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