Made with canned chickpeas, peanut butter, pure maple syrup, and chocolate chips, it’s vegan, easy to adapt to different diets (see notes below to make it grain free and nut free), and most importantly of all: It legitimately tastes like cookie dough. It does not taste like beans. Using pureed garbanzo beans to make healthy cookie recipes is one of those tricks I was super into shortly after college, when I asked for this food processor for my birthday (PSA: 13+ years later, it still runs like a dream). Using beans to bake secretly healthy cookies made me feel cool and creative. I loved bringing recipes like this giant chickpea Healthy Peanut Butter Cookie to the office to see if my workmates could guess the secret ingredient (they couldn’t!). Since it’s a cookie-dough-by-the-spoonful moment in our lives right now, I decided to see if I could tweak my original chickpea cookie to make it an edible vegan chickpea cookie dough. I hope you have your spoon ready, because this faux-dough is chocolate-chip-cookie-licious!
Chickpeas for the Best Edible Cookie Dough
I have a few edible cookie dough recipes on my site already, but this chickpea cookie dough stands out for a number of reasons.
It’s Safe to Eat Chickpea Cookie Dough Raw.
My original Edible Cookie Dough is super yummy, but because it contains flour, the ingredients have to be heat-treated first. That’s not the case with chickpea cookie dough. This recipe is flourless, using oats instead. Unlike flour, oats are steamed as a part of their processing before they ever reach the package, so they are safe to eat when you buy them. Don’t want to use oats? You can make this cookie dough grain free by using flaxseed instead.
You Probably Have Everything You Need to Make it Right Now.
The ingredients in this recipe are beyond minimal. You don’t even need eggs! No chickpeas on hand? Swap them for white beans instead.
Instant Gratification
All you need to do is throw the ingredients into your food processor and 5 minutes later, you’re in biz. No heat treating, no waiting to bake!
Legitimately Delicious
Yes, chickpea cookie dough tastes good! The garbanzo flavor is very mild; don’t mention it to those snacking on it, and they are not likely to notice. Still skeptical? You can try these Vegan Cookie Dough Bars, which use dates instead of chickpeas.
How to Make Chickpea Cookie Dough
As mentioned, this chickpea cookie dough uses common pantry ingredients. Here’s what you need to make it, as well as a few substitution ideas.
The Ingredients
Chickpeas. An ultra easy, creamy, and sneakily healthy way to enjoy cookie dough flavor! Chickpeas are high in filling protein and fiber, so this cookie dough can satisfy your hunger and your sweet tooth cravings. If you prefer, you can substitute the chickpeas for canned white beans, like cannellini. Creamy Peanut Butter. Peanut butter adds rich, delicious flavor and creaminess. Any nut butter will work here, and I think an almond chickpea cookie dough with almond butter would be tasty. If you need to make this a no nut butter chickpea cookie dough, see the recipe variations below. Rolled Oats. Using oats instead of flour makes this recipe safe for raw consumption and brings added health benefits. Oats are packed with fiber, protein, iron, and antioxidants. To make the cookie dough without oats, see the recipe variations below. Baking Powder. While you don’t need the baking powder if you aren’t baking the cookies—baking powder helps baked goods rise—I find that adding it does make the recipe taste more like actual cookie dough. If you do bake the cookies (see directions below), you will need it for rising purposes. Cinnamon + Vanilla. A dash of cinnamon livens up the flavor, and the vanilla pairs beautifully with all the other ingredients. Maple Syrup. Perfect for bringing natural sweetness to the chickpea cookie dough and keeping it vegan. Add a little or a lot to reach your desired sweetness. If you don’t need the recipe to be vegan, you can use honey instead. Chocolate Chips. Chocolate chips take this dough to the next level and make it taste even more like chocolate chip cookie dough.
The Directions
How to Bake the Dough to Make Chickpea Cookies
In addition to enjoying this dough right from the bowl, you can also bake it into soft and chewy chickpea cookies. For the best of both worlds, enjoy some of the dough raw, then bake up the rest!
Recipe Variations and Serving Ideas
To Make Nut Free. Swap the nut butter for sunflower seed butter; you also could try swapping it for Greek yogurt or unsweetened applesauce. To Make Without Oats (Grain Free). Use almond flour or ground flaxseed meal in place of the oats. Or, check out my No Bake Protein Balls, which use coconut flour and taste like cookie dough. To Make Gluten Free. Be sure to use certified gluten free rolled oats or use one of the “oat free” substitutions above. To Make Chickpea Cookie Dough Balls. Simply scoop and roll the dough into balls of your desired size. Store in the refrigerator (or freezer!) and munch as desired. Turn It into Healthy Cookie Dough Dip. Add 2 tablespoons almond milk to the food processor with the other ingredients; continue adding milk, a few teaspoons at a time, until the cookie dough reaches a smooth and thick, but “dippable” consistency. Serve with pretzels, graham crackers, apple slices, vanilla wafer cookies, or any of your other favorite dessert dippers.
Storage Tips
To Store. Cover the chickpea cookie dough, and store it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. To Freeze Chickpea Cookie Dough. Thankfully, you can freeze chickpea cookie dough! For ease, I suggest storing it in multiple small freezer-safe storage containers. Then, you can thaw them one at a time as needed. Store the cookie dough in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator, and give it a good stir before serving. To Freeze Unbaked Chickpea Cookies. You can also freeze the unbaked chickpea cookies. Arrange your cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and place it in the freezer until the cookies are frozen solid. Transfer them to an airtight freezer-safe storage container for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen as directed.
Recommended Tools to Make This Recipe
Food Processor. I’ve had this one for years, and it still works great! Mixing Bowls. These are ideal for preparing and storing the chickpea cookie dough. Batter Scoop. If you decide to make these into cookies, this tool is perfect for portioning the dough. If you do not own a food processor. You can experiment with making this chickpea cookie dough in a high-powered blender; I honestly didn’t have great success with this method, but one way you could try to work around it is to blend half of the recipe at time.
What are you baking (or in the case of this recipe no baking) this week? Let me know in the comments below. If you try this recipe, as always, I’d love to hear what you think. Your comments and ratings are so important!
