High Protein Chickpea Cookies Recipe

These high protein chickpea cookies are soft cocoa cookies made from one 15 oz can of chickpeas, ⅓ cup cocoa powder, ½ cup rolled oats, nut butter and maple syrup, with chunks of banana folded through. There is no flour, no eggs and no butter. They bake at 350°F for 10 to 12 minutes, take about 22 minutes start to finish, and make 12 cookies with roughly 5 grams of protein each.

The chickpeas get blended with the cocoa until almost smooth, so the cookies taste like chocolate, not beans. The banana goes in last, in small pieces, and leaves sweet soft pockets in a fudgy center.

Chickpea Cookies in Numbers

• Yield: 12 cookies, a scant ¼ cup of dough each
• Time: 10 minutes prep, 10 to 12 minutes baking
• Oven: 350°F (175°C), parchment lined sheet
• Protein: about 5 g per cookie, 197 calories (card nutrition estimate)
• Sweetener: ¼ cup maple syrup, or honey if you do not need them vegan
• Keeps: 3 days at room temperature, 1 week in the fridge, and they freeze

The protein comes from food, not powder: chickpeas, nut butter and oats. Two cookies give you about 10 grams, which is why they work as an after-school or post-walk snack.

How Chickpeas Stand In for Flour and Eggs

Blended chickpeas are starchy and thick, so they do the job flour and eggs would normally share. They bind the dough and keep it soft and a little creamy. The oats add structure and chew, and the nut butter adds fat so the cookies are tender instead of rubbery. Only ½ teaspoon of baking soda goes in. That small amount lifts them slightly without making them cakey.

Cocoa does the hiding. Its bitterness covers the bean taste, and the maple and banana round it out. For anyone new to baking with legumes, chocolate is the easiest place to start. My black bean brownies work on the same idea, and the vegan chickpea muffins use chickpeas for bulk in a muffin.

Almond Butter or Peanut Butter in Chickpea Cookies?

Both work, ¼ cup either way. I used almond butter. It is mild and lets the cocoa lead, so the cookies taste like a brownie. Peanut butter is stronger and makes them taste like a peanut butter cup, and it hides the chickpea flavor even better. Use whichever jar you have; you do not need peanut butter for this recipe.

Stir the jar well before measuring. Natural nut butter with the oil sitting on top makes the dough greasy in one batch and dry in the next. I do not recommend tahini or sunflower butter here. Both taste bitter next to cocoa, and sunflower butter can turn green inside the cookies when it meets baking soda. It is harmless, but it looks odd.

Blending the Cocoa Chickpea Base

Drain and rinse the chickpeas, then pat them dry in a kitchen towel. This matters more than it sounds. Water clinging to the skins makes the dough gummy and the cookies flat.

Put the chickpeas, cocoa powder, nut butter, maple syrup, vanilla, baking soda and salt in a food processor. Blend until mostly smooth, with a few tiny chickpea bits left. Stirring by hand will not break the chickpeas down, and the cookies fall apart. Blending into a perfectly silky paste goes too far the other way and the texture turns pasty.

Folding In Banana Chunks and Oats

Scrape the base into a bowl and stir in the oats, banana chunks, chocolate chips and the hazelnuts if you are using them. Stir only until combined. Overmixing breaks the banana into mush and works the oats into the dough until it turns sticky.

Pick a medium banana with brown spots on the peel that still feels firm. It should be sweet but hold its shape when cut into small cubes. A very soft, black banana melts into the dough and makes it wet.

Use old-fashioned rolled oats. Quick oats turn soft and pasty, and steel-cut oats stay hard. The dough should be thick and scoopable. If it cracks when you scoop it, add 1 tablespoon of plant milk, and a second only if it still looks dry.

Shaping and Baking Until the Tops Turn Matte

Scoop a scant ¼ cup of dough per cookie onto a parchment lined sheet. If the dough sticks to the scoop, dip it in warm water between cookies. These barely spread, so flatten each one with the back of a spoon to about ½ inch thick and press a few extra chocolate chips on top.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Done looks like this: the tops are matte and dry, not glossy, and they give slightly under a fingertip without sinking. Wet looking tops need another minute. Past 12 minutes the edges dry out and the cocoa tastes dull. The bottoms brown fast, so keep the parchment or a silicone mat under them.

Let them rest on the sheet for 5 minutes, then move them to a rack to cool completely. Warm chickpea cookies are fragile and firm up as they cool. Cut one open once it is cool: the inside should be dense and moist with no raw paste in the middle. They need the same watchful eye as coconut flour cookies.

Runny Dough, Crumbly Cookies and Other Fixes

• Dough is runny or the cookies spread: the chickpeas were not dried, the banana was overripe, or too much plant milk went in. Chill the dough for 15 minutes and add a spoonful of oats.
• Dough is too dry to hold together: add 1 tablespoon of plant milk or an extra spoonful of nut butter.
• Cookies are crumbly: they baked too long, or the base was not blended enough. Pull them while the tops still feel soft.
• They taste like beans: the cocoa was cut back or the base was under-blended. Keep the full ⅓ cup cocoa and blend until mostly smooth.

Swaps for Vegan and Gluten Free Batches

With maple syrup and dairy-free chocolate chips, the cookies are vegan. Honey works in place of maple if that does not matter to you. For gluten free cookies, use oats labeled gluten free, since regular oats are often processed alongside wheat.

Walnuts can replace the hazelnuts, or leave the nuts out for a smoother bite. Chopped dates or raisins add chew; a few tablespoons are enough. For a breakfast cookie, skip the chocolate chips, add a pinch of cinnamon and a little more banana. If you want a chocolate oat cookie with more crunch, try these dark chocolate oatmeal cookies, and for a brighter chickpea bake, the lemon blueberry chickpea cookies.

Keeping and Freezing the Cookies

Keep them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the fridge for up to a week. To freeze, lay them flat on a tray until firm, then move them to a freezer bag; use them within about 2 months. They thaw in under an hour on the counter, and a few minutes in a toaster oven brings back the soft center. Over a few days the banana flavor fades a little and the chocolate gets stronger.

Chickpea Cookie Questions

Do these cookies taste like chickpeas?

No. Blended with cocoa, maple and nut butter, the chickpeas read as a soft, fudgy texture, not a bean flavor.

How much protein is in one chickpea cookie?

About 5 grams per cookie, by the recipe card nutrition estimate for a batch of 12.

Can I make chickpea cookies without peanut butter?

Yes. Use ¼ cup almond butter, which is what I use. Skip tahini and sunflower butter, which taste bitter here.

Can I use home-cooked chickpeas?

Yes. A 15 oz can gives about 1½ cups drained, so use 1½ cups cooked chickpeas, cooled and patted dry.

Are chickpea cookies healthy?

They have fiber, plant protein and only ¼ cup maple syrup for 12 cookies, plus the chocolate chips. For more snacks in the same spirit, try my protein balls or almond flour cookies.