Chickpea Cookie Dough Recipe | The ULTIMATE Guide

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This Chickpea Cookie Dough is made from wholesome ingredients, but will still satisfy your sweet tooth! Plus it’s Vegan, Grain-Free, and Refined Sugar-Free.

Chickpea Cookie Dough. Yep, you heard me! Who knew that pureéing Chickpeas with 5 other healthy ingredients would result in a thick, cookie dough-esque batter that tastes like dessert, but is also loaded with fiber and plant protein?! 

ingredients for chickpea cookie dough on wood serving platter

I certainly did not, but now I do. And this stuff is so dang good, I just had to share the recipe with you!

Now I’ll admit — the first time I heard of this concept, I thought it was crazy. I thought, “How on Earth would Chickpeas taste like Cookies?  Isn’t this, like, pureed dessert Hummus?” 

And while the latter is still kind of true…I’m okay with it. Because somehow the combination of Nut Butter, Vanilla Extract, Oat Flour, Maple Syrup, and Chocolate Chips totally masks the flavor of Chickpeas. And I’m not going to complain about that, that’s for sure!

ingredients for chickpea cookie dough in food processor before being blended

This recipe could literally not be easier. Simply make your “dough” in a blender or Food Processor, then pulse or fold in your Chocolate Chips by hand. You could also just eat the Chickpea Cookie Dough plain….but everything is better with a little Chocolate, right? 😉 

hand holding white bowl filled with chocolate chip chickpea cookie dough

Substitutions, Substitutions…

I know many of you are Grain-Free, Nut-Free, or avoid eating certain Sugars, etc. Don’t worry — I’ve got you covered. I tested this recipe using as many substitutions that I could think of, and included all of them in this blog post for ya!

  • Nut Butter: You need to blend the Chickpeas with some kind of healthy fat, otherwise the final mixture won’t be as creamy or smooth. I prefer to use Cashew Butter, but any will do – it comes down to personal flavor preference.
  • Flour: Finally, you need some sort of “flour” to help thicken the puree and make it more fluffy and dough-like. I tested this recipe using both Oat Flour and Almond Flour (for my Grain-Free) friends, and liked both equally! The Oat Flour has a more Cookie-like flavor and was slightly thicker, while the Almond Flour gave an extra creaminess to the batter.
  • Sweetener: I’ve seen Chickpea Cookie Dough be made with both Dates and Maple Syrup, so I tested both. Honestly, I couldn’t tell the difference between the two in terms of smoothness or flavor! As long as you soak your Dates beforehand they should blend well into the mixture.

two white bowls filled with chickpea cookie dough on wood serving tray

For reference, the top Cookie Dough was made with Dates and Almond Flour, while the bottom was made with Oat Flour and Maple Syrup! As you can see, they both look pretty similar, aside from some small brown flecks in the “batter” made from Dates.

two clear tulip jars filled with chickpea cookie dough

Not only do I love that this Cookie Dough is made from wholesome ingredients, but I also equally love the fact that its sole purpose is to be eaten “raw.” And because there’s no eggs or dairy in it, you don’t have to worry about an upset tummy! I’ve never tried to bake this recipe, and I wouldn’t suggest it. Maybe that’s a project for another day, eh?

white bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough on wood serving tray with teal tea towel

A Few Final Thoughts:

  • I tested this recipe using both Pressure-Cooked Beans (from my Instant Pot) and Canned Beans, and noticed that the Canned Beans tastes a lot more bean-y than my homemade ones. If you have the option, I would go with homemade! 
  • Want to get fancy? Don’t just stop at Chocolate Chips! This Chickpea Cookie Dough would also be yummy with Pretzel Pieces, chopped Nuts, or even pieces of Dried Fruit.
  • This Cookie Dough will keep well in the fridge for up to one week…I doubt it will last that long though 😉 I have not tried freezing the leftovers, but don’t imagine that would end well.

white bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough on wood serving tray with teal tea towel

If you’re looking for more healthy Vegan Dessert recipes, you’ll also love this Almond Butter Brownies and these Blueberry Crumble Bars!

Finally, if you make this recipe and decide to share it on Facebook or Instagram, don’t forget to tag me @FromMyBowl + #FromMyBowl! I love seeing your delicious recreations 🙂

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Chickpea Cookie Dough

This Chickpea Cookie Dough is made from wholesome ingredients, but will still satisfy your sweet tooth! Plus it’s Vegan, Grain-Free, and Refined Sugar-Free.

  • Author: Caitlin Shoemaker
  • Prep Time: 10 Minutes
  • Cook Time: 0 Minutes
  • Total Time: 10 minutes
  • Yield: about 2 cups 1x
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: No Bake
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 ½ cups cooked Chickpeas*
  • ¼ cup Nut or Seed Butter*
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 3 tbsp Oat Flour or ¼ cup Almond Flour
  • 2 tbsp Maple Syrup*, plus more to taste
  • ¼ cup Dairy-Free Chocolate Chips (or other add-ins of choice)
  • ½ tsp Salt

Instructions

  1. Add all ingredients, except for the Chocolate Chips, to a high-speed Blender or Food Processor. Process until a thick, even dough forms, scraping the sides of your device as necessary. Keep in mind that the dough will thicken even more after the flour absorbs some of the liquid and after it sits in the fridge.
  2. Taste the dough and add more Sweetener, if desired. Transfer the dough into a large bowl and use a Spatula to fold in the Chocolate Chips (or just pulse them in using your blender). Serve and enjoy! Leftovers will keep in the fridge for up to one week.

Notes

  • A note on Chickpeas: I cooked my own Chickpeas from dry using my Instant Pot; if you are using canned beans, you’ll need about 1 can for this recipe. If you use canned beans, REALLY rinse and drain them well! I also tested this recipe with canned beans and noticed that the final dough tasted much more bean-y than with pressure cooked beans. If you go with canned, I would suggest adding extra Vanilla Extract and Sweetener to mask that flavor. Finally, if your canned Beans have Salt in them, reduce the amount of Salt in this recipe by ¼ tsp.
  • Nut Butter: The Nut Butter you use will affect the final flavor of the Cookie Dough. Cashew Butter is my favorite, though Almond/Peanut Butter or Tahini are also yummy! If your Nut Butter is salted, reduce the Salt in the recipe by ¼ tsp.
  • Sugar Substitutions: the Maple Syrup can be replaced with 2-3 soaked Medjool Dates or 2 tbsp Granulated Sweetener (Coconut Sugar, Brown Sugar, etc) dissolved in 1 tsp of Hot Water

Keywords: Chickpea Cookie Dough, healthy cookie dough, grain free, gluten free, chickpea dessert recipes, vegan recipes with chickpeas

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This Chickpea Cookie Dough is made from wholesome ingredients, but will still satisfy your sweet tooth! Plus it's Vegan, Grain-Free, and Refined Sugar-Free. #vegann #chickpea #cookiedough #dairyfree #glutenfree #sugarfree | frommybowl.com

About the Author

Hey there, I’m Caitlin! I make easy-to-follow, wholesome, and budget-friendly vegan recipes that are mostly gluten-free and refined sugar-free. I’m also an avid yogi, love the great outdoors, am chocolate-obsessed, and enjoy eating almond butter straight off of the spoon.

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Comments

  1. Okay so this is worth mentioning:
    I have a nutribullet so I put the chickpeas with some water and the vanilla/ maple syrup into it, blended and took out. Left a small bit and added oats – not oat flour cuz I don’t have any – and the peanut butter (it was too much for my bullet so I didn’t have it going for long) mixed all together and added the Choco chips. Bc it’s not a food processor, I couldn’t get the chickpeas to be creamy or the oats to completely chop up.

    I didn’t like the flavor or texture of it room temp OR chilled. So I experimented by throwing a small bowl in the microwave and it’s AWESOME.

    The texture is that of a cookie right out of the oven, and the flavor was really good. I’m going to try actually popping a batch in the oven for a short time to see if it ends up the same.
    Even though the original idea didn’t worn out for me, it was a winner in the end

  2. This sounds very close to chickpea peanut butter balls recipe I have. Roll them into a ball and freeze on a cookie sheet, then throw them into a container to keep frozen. Overlooked some for about 5 months and they are still good.

  3. This recipe is delicious! Since becoming gluten-free, I’ve missed eating raw cookie dough alongside my daughter. Now I have my own version that’s much healthier too.

  4. I LOVED this recipe! It satisfied my sweet tooth and fills me up so I don’t feel like continuing to snack.

  5. Just made this recipe using canned chickpeas. A lot of the skins came off during rinsing, so I removed the rest and discarded them; no idea if that affected texture or flavour. Following the notes, I doubled the vanilla, reduced the salt to 1/8 tsp and used 1.5 tbsps truvia and 1 tbsp maple syrup. I stirred in sugar-free white chocolate chips at the end. It’s delicious and I’m so happy to have a healthy alternative to traditional cookie dough! The kids I sit for didn’t believe me when I told them it was made with chickpeas 🙂 Thank you for the recipe, it’s a keeper.

    1. Hi Renee, you can definitely swap the flour for protein powder for more protein! I would also reduce the sweeter and add more to taste.

      1. Wait a second, swap flour for protein powder? I have some chocolate peanut butter that is now SCREAMING to be tried in this!!!

  6. Honestly forgot about this recipe (but used to make it all the time after you first shared it), until you posted it on your stories last week! It’s so good! I took inspo from your insta stories, and I used a flavoured tahini (salted caramel from the brand healthy crunch) and it’s delicious! Previous times i made this, I’d always use cashew butter, because it really does give the best flavour/ most realistic “cookie dough” flavour IMO!

    1. This recipe turned out amazingly good! I had tried similar recipes in the past and none has turned out as good; this will be a staple moving forward when I’m craving cookie dough 😊

  7. I made this recipe on a whim tonight – so tasty! I rinsed the canned chickpeas for quite a while in cold water and there isn’t a beany taste at all. I added probably another tablespoon of maple syrup and more chocolate chips because why not 🙂 Highly recommend! Love all the tips for substitutions/options too.

  8. Truly appreciate the way you made this chickpea cookie dough, Everything is so nicely described that really helped. LOOKING FORWARD FOR MORE SUCH RECIPES IN FUTURE TOO.

  9. Yumm-o! After my meal, I was knocked into a food coma. The food was flavorful, savory, and succulent. The waitress was prompt and polite. 5 stars!