Chickpea Cookie Dough
This chickpea cookie dough is a healthier take on regular cookie dough! It is made with 7 common pantry ingredients and is easy to prepare. It’s also naturally vegan, refined sugar-free and can be made gluten-free, just like my chickpea blondies.
Why you’ll love this recipe
This cookie dough is packed with wholesome ingredients! Compared to other chickpea cookie dough recipes, this recipe is more decadent as it has more nut butter. I also added more flour which minimizes any potential chickpea flavor in the cookie dough.
While this doesn’t taste exactly like conventional eggless cookie dough, you’ll still get your sweet and fudgy hit from this recipe.
Ingredients you’ll need
The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Notes about the ingredients
Cooked chickpeas or white beans, either canned or home-cooked. If using canned, make sure you rinse and drain them well to remove any excess chickpea or bean flavor.
Nut butter of choice. I used cashew butter as it has the most subtle flavor. You can also use almond butter, peanut butter, or sunflower seed butter to make it nut-free! Keep in mind that nut and seed butters vary greatly in consistency so you may need to add a little more flour or milk for your desired cookie dough consistency.
Maple syrup to sweeten this healthy cookie dough. Alternatively, you can use any liquid sweetener, soft dates, or coconut sugar!
Oat flour or rolled oats that have been ground up in a food processor. If you’re gluten-free, make sure you use uncontaminated gluten-free oats. In Australia and New Zealand, all oats contain traces of gluten, so use heat-treated gluten-free flour or almond flour to make this celiac-friendly.
Alternatively, you might like my classic vegan cookie dough recipe.
How to make chickpea cookie dough
If you’re making your own oat flour, process your rolled oats in your food processor before anything else. If you add them at the same time as the other ingredients, they won’t blend well.
Otherwise, simply add all the ingredients to a food processor and blend until combined. It’s really that easy!
Customizing this recipe
To make firmer chickpea cookie dough that can be rolled into balls, add more flour. Or to make a chickpea cookie dough dip, add dairy-free milk or water.
Otherwise, there are heaps of delicious things that you can add to your cookie dough, including:
- Cinnamon and nutmeg for a donut-like flavor.
- Cocoa powder for chocolate cookie dough. Replace a few tablespoons of the flour with cocoa powder. You’ll need to add more milk as cocoa powder is more absorbent.
- Pumpkin spice or gingerbread spices. Or check out my vegan ice cream sandwiches with gingerbread cookie dough.
- Sprinkles for funfetti cookie dough which tastes like birthday cake!
Serving suggestions
For a quick snack, enjoy the chickpea cookie dough by the spoonful! If you want an on-the-go snack, make a firmer cookie dough and roll it into balls. Or for a fun dessert, shape the cookie dough into bars.
Or make a softer cookie dough and bring it as a dip to a party! It is great served with apple slices, pretzels or graham crackers.
You can also bake this cookie dough into cookies (see the recipe card at the bottom of this post). Or check out my soft and fudgy chickpea blondies.
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Chickpea Cookie Dough
Ingredients
- ~1 ½ cups (250g) chickpeas, canned or cooked fresh (I got this amount of chickpeas from a 15oz or 440g can)
- ½ cup (125g) cashew butter, or nut/seed butter of choice
- ¾ cup (70g) oat flour, or rolled oats (note 1)
- ¼ cup (85g) maple syrup, (note 2 for alternatives)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, or to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ cup (85g) mini dairy-free chocolate chips, or to taste
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients except the chocolate chips to a food processor. Process until the mixture as smooth as possible.
- For thicker cookie dough, add more flour. For runnier cookie dough, add some dairy-free milk or water.
- Remove the blade of your food processor. Add the chocolate chips and mix through with a spoon or spatula. Make sure your cookie dough isn't warm when you add the chocolate otherwise the chocolate will melt.
- Scoop the cookie dough into a serving bowl. Alternatively, use an ice cream scoop to divide the dough into mounds or roll the dough into balls. Enjoy! (note 2)
- Store the cookie dough in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Notes
- If you’re making your own oat flour, add 2/3 cup (80g) of rolled oats to a food processor or blender and grind them up as finely as possible. Add the rest of the ingredients and process until combined. If you’re gluten-free, make sure you use uncontaminated gluten-free oats. In some countries like Australia and New Zealand, all oats contain traces of gluten, so use heat-treated gluten-free flour or almond flour instead.
- The cookie dough can be baked into soft and fudgy cookies. Make sure your cookie dough isn’t too sticky. Squash the cookie dough balls into flat round shapes (they will not spread in the oven). Arrange them on a tray lined with parchment paper and bake them in a preheated oven at 180°C (350°F) for around 10-13 minutes. Alternatively, check out my baked chickpea blondies.
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My picky 6 year old approved this!
Aw that’s lovely to hear, thanks so much for the feedback!!
Can I use the air fryer instead of oven?
Hi Lily, yes you can. However, air fryers normally have a fan and are more powerful, so turn down the temperature by 20°C (70°F) and bake for a little less time.
Unfortunately my food processor was not strong enough to make the dough, so I had to thin it out with some oat milk. When it cooled down in the fridge it had a nice dessert/pudding texture so not a complete fail. Tasted great nonetheless 👍
It sounds like you troubleshooted it well! Happy to hear that you enjoyed the taste of the dough/pudding. And thank you for your feedback, Alex 🙂
These are delicious both the dough itself or baked. If baking, smash with a fork as the ball will not flatten while baking.
I make a lot of gluten free goodies and these will be in my rotation. Yum!
Hi Shanny, I’m so glad that this recipe will be a keeper for you! I had the same experience with baking the dough but it’s great that you enjoyed the baked version too. Thanks so much for the feedback 🙂
I just made this cookie dough and it did not disappoint. It had the texture and all the essential flavors that make cookie dough oh-so-tempting! It was delicious. I highly recommend this recipe.
Hi Stephanie, that makes me so happy to hear! I’m glad that you found it comparable to conventional cookie dough too. Thanks so much for your time and feedback 🙂
Las hice, con algunas modificaciones pero quedaron muy ricas!!!
I’m glad you were able to customize this recipe to your tastes, thanks for your feedback!
We are enjoying this. Thanks for the recipe!
Aw that makes me happy to hear, thanks Sue!
Second double-batch is in the oven!
Amazing!!