Chickpea Cookie Dough (2024)

If you're sneaking raw cookie dough off the spatula as much as me, you need this recipe! I'm using my favorite bean to make chickpea cookie dough today, and I think life will never be the same!

It's really not fair that I'm giving you permission to eat as much raw cookie dough has you like. However, we can rest a little easier because this version is loaded with high-protein chickpeas. Oh, chickpeas--is there anything they cannot do?

There are days when I absolutely need a sweet snack, so I love having desserts made with beans. Afterall, why can't we work beans into every meal of the day and designate bean desserts as the most important one?

This raw, edible chickpea cookie dough recipe comes together in just minutes in a food processor, and it uses ingredients you probably already have on hand!

Ingredients

The simplest way to make this recipe is to grab a can of chickpeas from the pantry. However, if you make my homemade instant pot chickpeas, be sure to save 1 ¾ cups from the batch to make this chickpea cookie dough. You really won't regret it!

• Chickpeas. One 15-ounce can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed, or 1 ¾ cup of freshly cooked chickpeas.
• Nut Butter. You can technically use any nut butter for this recipe, but I have found that cashew butter gives the best flavor. For a peanut butter cookie dough twist, use peanut butter instead of cashew butter. If you're nut-free, try sunflower seed butter!
• Vanilla Extract. Two teaspoons might seem like too much vanilla, but truly, it isn't! Two full teaspoons of real, pure vanilla extract.
• Maple Syrup. My liquid sweetener of choice is maple syrup for the moisture it provides and the ease with which it incorporates into the dough.
• Flour. We need one or two tablespoons of flour to make this dough come together. I reach for oat flour, almond flour or any type of gluten free flour. If you want to use regular all-purpose flour, be sure to heat treat it to make it safe. Check out this guide for how to heat treat flour so that it can be consumed raw.
• Salt. I normally don't include salt in an ingredient list because it is so obvious, but I want to mention it here because it is so critical in this recipe. Just ¼ teaspoon of salt balances the sweet flavors in this chickpea cookie dough.
• Dark Chocolate. You can use your favorite chocolate chips here, or you can chop up a dark chocolate bar. We only need ½ cup of chocolate chunks, so one bar of chocolate is plenty.

How to Make Chickpea Cookie Dough

If you have a small food processor or a blender, this recipe will work for you! It is entirely no-cook, so follow the instructions exactly and enjoy this bean dessert.

Recipe Variations

• Gluten Free - If you want to make this recipe gluten-free, you can use oat flour (which is simply oats ground up in a coffee mill or high-speed blender), or a gluten-free flour blend. The only gluten-free flour I wouldn't use is coconut flour because it absorbs too much moisture. If you want to omit all flour in this chickpea cookie dough recipe, you can chill the mixture until it comes together into a dough-like consistency. If you want to roll it into dough balls, the chilling is necessary, but if you're content to eat it from a spoon, it's not necessary.
• Vegan - Upon first reading the ingredient list, this recipe appears vegan, but please note that sometimes maple syrup isn't vegan due to ingredients added during processing.
• Beans - You can use canned white beans in this recipe instead of chickpeas, if you have them. In that case, there's no need to remove the skin from the white beans. Another white bean dessert you might like is my white bean blondies.

Storage

Personally, I've never had this recipe last long in my house, because it's just so delicious! However, please store all leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for optimum results. Plus, chickpea cookie dough is best served cold. You can technically make this ahead of time and freeze it. I have made a double batch and rolled half into balls to be frozen for later consumption successfully.

Frequently Asked Questions about Chickpea Cookie Dough:

Chickpea Cookie Dough

Yield: 1.5 cups

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 minute

Total Time: 1 minute

Edible, easy raw chickpea cookie dough for dipping, eating with a spoon or rolling into balls.

Ingredients

• 1 15-ounce can of chickpeas (1 ¾ cup), drained and rinsed
• ½ cup smooth nut butter*
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1-2 tablespoons flour*
• ½ cup dark chocolate chunks or chocolate chips

Instructions

1. First, place the drained and rinsed chickpeas on a dish towel. Cover with another dish towel, and gently rub the chickpeas between the two towels to remove most of the skins of the chickpeas. You don’t have to do this on every single chickpea, but removing a good portion of the chickpea skins results in a smoother cookie dough.
2. Next, place the chickpeas in the bowl of a food processor or high-speed blender. Puree for about 1 minute, just to start breaking them up.
3. Next, add the nut butter, vanilla extract, maple syrup and salt in the food processor with the chickpeas.
4. Puree the mixture together until smooth. Add one tablespoon of the flour and blend. If it seems overly wet, add another tablespoon.
5. Scrape the mixture into a bowl, and stir in the chocolate chips by hand. Serve immediately or chill and roll into balls.
   

Notes

Nut Butter: You can technically use any nut butter for this recipe, like cashew, almond, or peanut butter. Cashew butter gives the most neutral flavor. If you're nut-free, try sunflower seed butter.
Flour: We need one or two tablespoons of flour to make this dough come together. I reach for oat flour, almond flour or any type of gluten free flour. If you want to use regular all-purpose flour, be sure to heat treat it to make it safe.

Storage: Keep all leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for optimum results. You can make this ahead of time and freeze it. I have made a double batch and rolled half into balls to be frozen for later consumption successfully.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 6Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 386Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 7mgSodium: 439mgCarbohydrates: 49gFiber: 8gSugar: 25gProtein: 10g

More Chickpeas