Our delicious Chocolate Peanut Butter Chickpea Cookie Dough Balls are portable, protein-packed energy balls that will give you a boost when you’re on the go and will satisfy your afternoon cravings. Dip them in chocolate and serve them for dessert and everyone will devour them!
This Chickpea Cookie Dough is a healthier version of everyone’s guilty pleasure! It’s a vegan and gluten-free chocolate chip cookie dough that tastes like an absolute treat and no one will notice they are made with fiber-rich chickpeas.
Whether it’s the morning rush to work, carpool, or a day of household errands, it seems like our to-do lists never end. Having healthy snacks on hand really helps us eat well and keep our energy up during the rush of it all! We created these delicious Peanut Butter Balls that are easy to prepare with ingredients you already have in your pantry. They freeze well and can be made in 20 minutes or less. It’s everything you could want in a snack...and trust us, it doesn’t taste like chickpeas AT ALL! Make a double batch they are that good!
Can You Eat Raw Cookie Dough?
If it’s traditional cookie dough, the answer is a resounding NO! Since most cookie dough contains raw egg and flour, there's a risk to raw cookie dough can cause food poisoning due to the harmful bacteria that may live in those ingredients. However, this edible cookie dough recipe is made without eggs or flour, so you get all the flavor and satisfying texture of cookie dough without the risk!
Healthy Cookie Dough Recipe
At just 62 calories, each of these cookie dough balls deliver 2 grams of protein and 4.5 grams of sugar. Chickpeas are a great source of plant-based protein as well as folic acid and fiber. Peanuts are another source of protein in addition to healthful fats and minerals! Oats help you feel full longer thanks to their soluble fiber, and they’re higher in protein than other whole grains. This is a snack that you can feel great about.
Ingredients in Chickpea Cookie Dough
The ingredient list is very short and made entirely of pantry ingredients, so it’s very easy to have everything you need to whip up a batch of eggless edible cookie dough!
- Chickpeas - Use one can of chickpeas (also called garbanzo beans), drained, rinsed, and with the skins removed. We’ve found that rubbing the chickpeas while rinsing them in a colander causes the skins to easily separate from the beans. You don't have to remove the skins, but it helps create a smoother cookie dough.
- Peanut butter - Almond or cashew butter would also be delicious, and if you’re nut-free, try sunflower seed butter or tahini. There’s no wrong way to make this vegan cookie dough!
- Brown sugar - This can be swapped with coconut sugar or even date paste for alternative sweetening options.
- Vanilla - A must-have for that classic and delicious chocolate chip cookie dough flavor!
- Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats - These add substance as well as nutrition and bind all the ingredients together. Double-check that your oats are gluten-free if you’re sensitive to wheat.
- Mini chocolate chips - For a less-sweet cookie dough ball, use cocoa nibs.
Cookie Dough Truffles
We turned these cookie dough balls into truffles with one quick extra step. Coating them in dark chocolate turns these energy balls into a decadent chocolate dessert that’s good enough to give as a gift...but so delicious you’ll want to keep them all for yourself! Melt chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler, then dip each cookie dough ball in the chocolate until it’s completely covered. Transfer the balls onto a sheet of parchment paper, and before the chocolate dries and hardens sprinkle toppings on each truffle. Pop them in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours, and then serve them in mini cupcake liners or candy wrappers! Some of our favorite truffle toppings are:
- Crushed peppermint candies
- Nuts diced very small: peanuts, almonds, or pecans
- Dried fruits like banana chips, dehydrated raspberries, dried apricot, candied ginger, shredded coconut, or dried cherries
- Flaky sea salt
Cookie Dough to Use in Homemade Ice Cream
This eggless cookie dough can be added to ice cream to make a cookie dough ice cream! Just roll the dough into very tiny balls rather than using a larger scoop.
How to Store Vegan Chickpea Cookie Dough
We like to drop three cookies into individual snack-size plastic bags, then fill a gallon-sized plastic bag with the grab-and-go packages. We store them in the freezer so they last a long time, but you can also keep them in the refrigerator for up to a week!
More Easy Dessert Recipes
- 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
- Panellets: Pine Nut Cookies
- Candied Pecans
- 5-Ingredient Chocolate Chia Pudding
- Peanut Butter Energy Bites
- Crispy S’mores Bars
- Guilt-Free Chocolate Truffles
- Roasted Hazelnuts Covered in Chocolate
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Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Chickpea Cookie Dough
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 30 balls 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Our delicious Chocolate-Peanut Butter Chickpea Cookie Dough Balls are a portable, protein-packed energy cookie that will give you a boost when you’re on the go.
Ingredients
- 1-15-ounce can chickpeas
- ½ cup all-natural peanut butter
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup 0ld fashioned rolled oats
- ⅓ cup dark mini chocolate chips or regular chocolate chips
Optional Chocolate Coating
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 1 tsp coconut oil
- Flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment or wax paper
- OPTIONAL STEP: Empty the can of chickpeas into a colander. Rinse the chickpeas with water, and while the water is running, rub them with your fingers to loosen the skins. Drain the chickpeas really well. Remove and discard as many skins as possible and dry them using paper towels. If you prefer not to fuss with this step, move to the next step.
- IF YOU DON'T DO THE STEP ABOVE: Rinse and drain a can of chickpeas.
- Place the chickpeas, peanut butter, brown sugar, and vanilla in the food processor and pulse 5-6 times. Add the oats and process until the ingredients come together to form a dough. Transfer it to a bowl, add the chocolate chips, and mix well
- Working with approximately 2 teaspoons at a time, form 30 balls (we like using an ice cream scoop to make them easier and faster to roll).
- At this point, you can eat the cookie dough balls. To store the cookie dough balls, place them on the lined baking sheet and freeze. Once frozen, put them in a freezer bag or a container.
- If you would like to coat the chickpea cookie dough in chocolate, melt chocolate and coconut oil in the microwave or over a double boiler.
- TO MELT CHOCOLATE IN THE MICROWAVE: Place the chocolate chips and coconut oil in a heat-proof glass bowl. Microwave it in 20-second intervals until melted, stirring after each interval.
- TO MELT CHOCOLATE USING THE DOUBLE BOILER METHOD: Place a heatproof bowl over a saucepan with 1–2 inches of simmering water (the bowl shouldn’t touch the water). Add the chocolate to the bowl and stir occasionally until melted and smooth.
- Spoon the melted chocolate over the frozen cookie dough balls, place them on a baking sheet, and return to the freezer. Once frozen, put them in a container with a tight lid or a freezer bag.
Notes
- Replace peanut butter with almond or cashew butter, and if you’re nut-free, try sunflower seed butter or tahini.
- You may replace chocolate chips with cocoa nibs.
- Drop 2-3 cookies into individual snack-size plastic bags, then fill a gallon-sized plastic bag with the grab-and-go packages.
- This post was originally published on February 6, 2018
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Snack
- Method: raw
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 ball without chocolate coating
- Calories: 62
- Sugar: 4.5
- Sodium: 4.5
- Fat: 3.1
- Saturated Fat: 1
- Unsaturated Fat: 1.8
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 7.3
- Fiber: 1
- Protein: 2
- Cholesterol: 0
Susan Nathan
These are excellent! I've made them a couple of times already and can't get enough of them. They are now my go-to afternoon snack. Delicious!
Vicky & Ruth
Thank you Susan. We are so glad you are enjoying our recipe for Chocolate chip peanut butter chickpea cookie dough!
Susan
I've become addicted to these! Can't get enough. I make them and keep them in the freezer and have 2 every afternoon for a snack. So delicious
Vicky & Ruth
Thank you so much Susan. So glad you're enjoying them!!
Joella
Great base! I needed to add coconut/almond milk to get it to blend. Was able to add oats, nuts and chocolate chips and it was perfect. Good healthy choice
Vicky & Ruth
Thank you for sharing!
Deb
Looks great but Hubby can't have 1/2 cup of sugar how can I cut it down and use something more diabetic friendly 1/4 cup maple syrup ?
Vicky and Ruth
Yes, you can replace sugar for maple syrup. If the mixture is a little loose place it in the fridge for a couple of hours and it should come together.