Everyday Chocolatey Chickpea Cookies
These Everyday Chocolatey Chickpea Cookies have an exciting story to tell! The overall mouthfeel is like a dense, tender, satisfying, yet shortbread-like pastry. So what do you name a plant-based cookie with so many attractive qualities?
Everyday Chocolatey Chickpea Cookies is a combination of vegan ingredients that seem to rebel against being put into a single category. While testing out this gluten-free recipe, we must have named them at least three or four times. The funny part is that we had thought we’d found the right name every single time!
But then, something seemed to click. After weeks of having fresh test batches of homemade cookies around our house, we found that tasting them time after time, was a pleasure. Just this morning, before completing the final writing stage of this recipe, we happily had yet another cookie. And that’s when the lightbulb went off about what to name this recipe.
Everyday Chocolatey Chickpea Cookies are a cookie that we could eat every single day, and we think you’ll agree! So, finally, on a Tuesday morning in a small town north of Orlando, this fabulously simple cookie name is born!
We initially held off on using the word chocolatey because the chocolate flavor is subtle. But when you take a second mindful bite of this cookie, the chocolate really sings! So let’s talk about cacao and cocoa, shall we?
What’s the Difference Between Cacao & Cocoa?
Talk about confusing, when we look at the words cacao and cocoa we immediately think of every spelling test word we ever missed!
When ingredients sound so similar that they appear confusing, we believe they deserve a second look. As it turns out, the difference here is mostly about the process. It’s about using heat or not, which is responsible for the difference between the cacao and cocoa.
Cold-pressing unroasted cocoa beans make raw cacao powder. It’s the cold-press process that retains the living enzymes and removes the fat, known as cacao butter.
And raw cacao powder contains more fiber and calories than cocoa powder since more of the nutrients from the whole bean remains intact.
Cacao is nutrient-dense! And it’s high in antioxidants as well as magnesium, which may help to reduce stress. To top it off, cacao provides potassium and iron, too!
And cacao is also high in healthy fats to help it feel satisfying and give you energy.
Cocoa, on the other hand, is a heated form of cacao that is available at most grocery stores and usually used for baking. But although raw cacao is well-known for being healthier than cocoa, cocoa powder needn’t be thought of as entirely unhealthy.
Like cacao, cocoa is without excess fats, sugars, calories, or oils. But it’s important to remember that whenever we process food, we lose nutrients, as this thoughtful video clip explains.
When it comes to the taste of cacao and cocoa, the difference is slight but still distinguishable.
The main difference between the flavor of the two is bitterness. And since cacao powder comes from the raw, unprocessed seeds of the cocoa tree, the taste is just a little bitter. But since it is less processed than cocoa, it also has more of the chocolate flavor than cocoa powder.
So, bottom line, if you prefer to consume plant-based whole foods and the most minimally processed ingredients, cacao is the clear winner. Plus, the slightly deeper chocolate flavor of cacao is a beautiful thing, no matter what diet you follow.
We’re SO Happy to SHARE our Everyday Chocolatey Chickpea Cookies with YOU!
If you ever have a question about a recipe, feel free to ask! And remember, you can count on the fact that all of our recipes are plant-based, oil-free, and gluten-free!
And after you make your first batch of these delicious, naturally gluten-free Everyday Chocolatey Chickpea Cookies, we want you to feel welcome to leave a comment and tell us about your experience!
We love it when you share any tweaks you happen upon to make the recipe your own!
And as always, thank you so much for reading our recipes! You being here growing in your plant-based food adventure is the reason VEEG exists. As they say, sharing is caring, and we want you to know that we appreciate it GREATLY when you take the time and make an effort to pin our recipes on Pinterest.
After all, getting the word out about the benefits of living a healthy plant-based lifestyle is a gift to the who are ready to hear, so share away!
For access to even more recipes from like-minded cooks, we invite you to join our Facebook Group called: VEEG Plant-Based, Vegan, Gluten-Free Recipes & Lifestyle. On our group page, we invite everyone to share recipes, articles and other helpful tips and methods.
And by all means, follow our VEEG Facebook Page, too. On our Facebook Page, we often share helpful bits of encouraging plant-based news.
Happy eating!
More DELICIOUS Plant-Based Recipes!
If you enjoy baking and eating (LOL) whole food plant-based vegan and gluten-free recipes like this one, you’re going to love these SWEETS:
- 1-Bowl Crazy-Healthy Black Bean Brownies
- Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
- Best Ever Oatmeal Chia Banana Bread
- No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake with Aquafaba Whipped Cream
- Vegan Baked Chocolate Chip Skillet Scones
- Tahini Mango Granola Bars
Everyday Chocolatey Chickpea Cookies
- 10Prep:
- 35Cook Time:
- Yield: 16 Servings
This tender chocolatey cookie recipe is so easy and QUICK – it’s everything you want in a cookie recipe! Everyday Chocolatey Chickpea Cookies taste like a magical combination of a traditional Fig Newton and a Scottish shortbread cookie, so there’s a delicious little crumb to it even though it’s also soft and chewy! This recipe makes 12 to 16 fabulously healthier, everyday kind of cookies.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups of ground old fashioned oats or oat flour - Make sure to use certified gluten-free oats like these if needed and use organic oats if possible to avoid pesticides!
- 1 cup of walnuts, very finely ground keeping 1/4 of ground nuts set aside for topping
- 1/3 cup of unrefined coconut sugar, maple sugar, or date sugar + an optional tablespoon or so for topping
- six pitted Medjool dates - We have been pleased with this brand of organic Medjool dates! - and we often purchase five pounds of this brand in bulk for the best deal!
- 1/4 cup of raw cacao powder or cocoa - Cacao is our first choice since it is the least processed of the two.
- 8 tbsp of chickpeas/garbanzo beans undrained, plus about 4 tablespoons of its aquafaba (cooking liquid)
- 1/2 tsp of cream of tartar
- 1 1/2 tsp of apple cider vinegar or fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp of pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp of pink Himalayan sea salt or another salt, more or less, to taste
Instructions
- First, line a baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat — Preheat the oven to a moderate 300ºF.
- Next, either place the oat flour in a roomy mixing bowl or grind your whole oats into oat flour using a food processor and place the ground oats into your mixing bowl.
- Then grind the walnuts in the processor by pulsing until finely ground, almost like nut flour but not quite that small or they'll turn into nut butter! Place the finely ground walnuts into the mixing bowl with the oat flour. Remember to set aside 1/4 cup for topping the cookies.
- Now, it's time to get to the sweet part of this recipe. Into the empty food processor, add the sugar, dates, cacao, chickpeas, additional aquafaba, cream of tartar, lemon juice, vanilla, and salt. Blend these ingredients until they're thoroughly combined and smooth. Give the blended ingredients a taste and possibly add more salt or lemon juice to taste, if needed. Scrape the sweet and wet mixture into the dry ingredients a little at a time and stir until combined.
- Next, using clean hands, shape the cookie dough into generously portioned, teaspoon-sized balls and place on a clean plate. In a separate dish, using a fork, combine the set aside 1/4 cup of ground walnuts with a tablespoon or so of additional sugar.
- Then, place the cookie dough balls in the nut and sugar combo and give them a little roll to coat what will become the top side of the cookie. Place the nut topped balls of cookie dough, nut side up on the parchment-lined cookie sheet about a couple of inches apart. Using the bottom of a drinking glass dipped in water, gently smash the balls into cookie-shaped rounds.
- Bake for twenty minutes, check the progress since all oven vary a bit, and then return to the oven to bake for about fifteen to twenty additional minutes. We baked ours for the first twenty minutes on the middle rack and then raised them to the top shelf for the remaining fifteen to twenty minutes. Cool completely and store in a covered container.
- When fresh out of the oven, these cookies have a delicate crispy exterior and an almost fig newton-like interior. After they've cooled and have been in your life for a day or two, the texture is more uniform. The overall mouthfeel of this cookie is like a dense, tender, satisfying, shortbread-like cookie. They're marvelous, you'll see! Your cookies will keep for a good solid few days on the counter, but for more extended periods, we suggest storing these in the fridge.
Notes
- We use walnuts in this recipe, but you can bet your bottom dollar that we will make these, again and again, using whatever nut we have on hand; any nut or seed should work just fine!
- We haven't frozen these cookies, but we can tell that they would likely fare well in the freezer.
- Since we prefer to use organic ingredients whenever possible, we're always on the lookout for bulk buy deals to save money. Here is the best price we've found on three full pounds of delicious and healthy organic walnuts. We purchase large quantities of nuts and seeds and store them in the freezer until needed to keep them nice and fresh!
Nutrition
% DV
- Total Fat 6.1 g 9 %
- Saturated Fat 1.2 g 6 %
- Cholesterol 0 mg 0 %
- Sodium 45.3 mg 2 %
- Carbohydrates 18.9 g 6 %
- Fiber 3.2 g 13 %
- Sugar 8.8 g ---
- Protein 3.6 g 7 %
- Vitamin A 0 %
- Vitamin C 0 %
- Iron 7 %
- Calcium 2 %
Everyday Chocolatey Chickpea Cookies
BY VEEG.CO
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups of ground old fashioned oats or oat flour - Make sure to use certified gluten-free oats like these if needed and use organic oats if possible to avoid pesticides!
- 1 cup of walnuts, very finely ground keeping 1/4 of ground nuts set aside for topping
- 1/3 cup of unrefined coconut sugar, maple sugar, or date sugar + an optional tablespoon or so for topping
- six pitted Medjool dates - We have been pleased with this brand of organic Medjool dates! - and we often purchase five pounds of this brand in bulk for the best deal!
- 1/4 cup of raw cacao powder or cocoa - Cacao is our first choice since it is the least processed of the two.
- 8 tbsp of chickpeas/garbanzo beans undrained, plus about 4 tablespoons of its aquafaba (cooking liquid)
- 1/2 tsp of cream of tartar
- 1 1/2 tsp of apple cider vinegar or fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp of pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp of pink Himalayan sea salt or another salt, more or less, to taste
Instructions
- First, line a baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat — Preheat the oven to a moderate 300ºF.
- Next, either place the oat flour in a roomy mixing bowl or grind your whole oats into oat flour using a food processor and place the ground oats into your mixing bowl.
- Then grind the walnuts in the processor by pulsing until finely ground, almost like nut flour but not quite that small or they'll turn into nut butter! Place the finely ground walnuts into the mixing bowl with the oat flour. Remember to set aside 1/4 cup for topping the cookies.
- Now, it's time to get to the sweet part of this recipe. Into the empty food processor, add the sugar, dates, cacao, chickpeas, additional aquafaba, cream of tartar, lemon juice, vanilla, and salt. Blend these ingredients until they're thoroughly combined and smooth. Give the blended ingredients a taste and possibly add more salt or lemon juice to taste, if needed. Scrape the sweet and wet mixture into the dry ingredients a little at a time and stir until combined.
- Next, using clean hands, shape the cookie dough into generously portioned, teaspoon-sized balls and place on a clean plate. In a separate dish, using a fork, combine the set aside 1/4 cup of ground walnuts with a tablespoon or so of additional sugar.
- Then, place the cookie dough balls in the nut and sugar combo and give them a little roll to coat what will become the top side of the cookie. Place the nut topped balls of cookie dough, nut side up on the parchment-lined cookie sheet about a couple of inches apart. Using the bottom of a drinking glass dipped in water, gently smash the balls into cookie-shaped rounds.
- Bake for twenty minutes, check the progress since all oven vary a bit, and then return to the oven to bake for about fifteen to twenty additional minutes. We baked ours for the first twenty minutes on the middle rack and then raised them to the top shelf for the remaining fifteen to twenty minutes. Cool completely and store in a covered container.
- When fresh out of the oven, these cookies have a delicate crispy exterior and an almost fig newton-like interior. After they've cooled and have been in your life for a day or two, the texture is more uniform. The overall mouthfeel of this cookie is like a dense, tender, satisfying, shortbread-like cookie. They're marvelous, you'll see! Your cookies will keep for a good solid few days on the counter, but for more extended periods, we suggest storing these in the fridge.
Notes
- We use walnuts in this recipe, but you can bet your bottom dollar that we will make these, again and again, using whatever nut we have on hand; any nut or seed should work just fine!
- We haven't frozen these cookies, but we can tell that they would likely fare well in the freezer.
- Since we prefer to use organic ingredients whenever possible, we're always on the lookout for bulk buy deals to save money. Here is the best price we've found on three full pounds of delicious and healthy organic walnuts. We purchase large quantities of nuts and seeds and store them in the freezer until needed to keep them nice and fresh!
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