Fruity Chickpea Cookies – A healthy high fiber, high protein cookie sweetened only with fruit.
Chickpea Cookies? Yes, you read correctly, I’ve put chickpeas in a cookie and my boys love them. Please don’t dismiss these before you try, I promise they ae good and they get the big thumbs up from both my 5 year old and my 2 year old!
Finn started school this week and so I have all of a sudden been thrown into the world of lunch boxes. I had a little taster of it while he attended pre school but now that he needs a lunch box five days a week I have been thinking a lot more about healthy lunch box ideas that are quick and easy and meet the school criteria of being nut free.
I plan to add, very soon, a section to this site all about lunch boxes. I will include the lunch boxes I have prepared, lunch box recipe ideas and more information about the lunch boxes I use. In the meantime you can see these ideas on my instagram. (Updated: Find the lunch box section here)
These fruity chickpea cookies are the first recipe I have developed with the lunch box in mind. I can’t believe how many of my recipes contain nuts or peanut butter. I think I may have an addiction! Although I think some peanut butter and some crunchy nuts would taste great in these cookies I really wanted something that I could throw into the freezer to take out for the lunch box when needed.
If you are looking for something sweet and indulgent then these aren’t the cookies for you. After all they are chick pea cookies with no added sugar! However, if you are looking for something healthy, high in fibre, protein and packed full of goodness then these fit the bill exactly. If your kids don’t need a lot of sweetness then these are perfect. The raspberries and blueberries give great flavour bursts but if you think that these would benefit from a little more sweetness then you can always up the dates or add a little sweetener of choice.
Fruity Chickpea Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp chia seeds
- 80 ml (1/3 cup) water
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 400 g can chick peas (drained and thoroughly washed)
- 1 small ripe banana
- 95 g (1/3 cup) apple puree
- 70 g (3/4 cup) rolled oats
- 25 g (5 small) dates**
- 75 g (1/2 cup) frozen raspberries
- 45 g (1/4 cup) frozen blueberries
Instructions
- Pre heat oven to 180c /350 F / Gas 4 and prepare two baking trays with baking paper / re usable baking sheets.
- Combine the chia seeds, water and vanilla extract together in a bowl.
- Add the chickpeas, banana, apple puree, oats and dates to a food processor and blitz until smooth. Add the chia seed mixture and pulse until combined.
- Remove blade and stir through the raspberries and blueberries.
- Form table spoon sized cookies onto the baking sheet.
- Bake for 15 mins.
Recipe Notes
** You may wish to add more dates / sweeter of choice if you are looking for a sweeter cookie.
Nutritional Information is a GUIDE only and is calculated using an online nutrition calculator.
Thanks for this recipe – looking forward to making these. It’s a constant challenge to have healthy snacks for school which are nut and sesame seed free – and which freeze well!
Hi Mhairi, It is, isn’t it! I hope these are a success for you. ?
These look amazing! (I’ve made similar cookies with peanut butter and chocolate chips, not quite so baby friendly!) Is there anything from my store cupboard I could use instead of chia seeds? Thank you!
Hi Nadia, Thank you! The peanut butter and choc chip version sounds good but not quite as healthy ? You could replace the chia seed with flax seed or an egg. I’ve not tried either so can’t guarantee it will work but that is where I’d start!
Just made these. Substituted mango for the banana, and added some sugar as I didn’t have any dates. They are a little bit squidgy in the middle so giving them a little bit longer. However, the one I sampled tasted gorgeous. Perfect for my coeliac daughter. ?
Hi Sylvia, I love the sound of the mango – I must try that next time. So glad you liked them ?
RE:chickpea cookies
Hi there,
These look great. My only question is, do they keep well and for how long? I have two boys under two and prior to my second I had a lot of time on my hands to cook him nutritious food all the time. Now I am so time poor I can barely keep two good meals a day for my toddler. I have scoured the internet for healthy snacks to make in advance that can be either frozen and then microwaved as needed, or stored for four or five days in an airtight container.
Your recipes look amazing and are exactly what I’ve been looking for, however they don’t really state how to keep leftovers or whether or not some CAN actually be kept for longer than a day.
Thanks for your website!
Hi Noellia, thanks for your feedback. These freeze really well (in fact I have been know to eat them straight from the freezer when I am looking for something sweeter!) I usually make a batch and then freeze on a tray and once frozen pop them in a zip line bag. I pop them into my eldest son’s lunch box often.
The little guy loves these. Thanks Amy!
Yeah! So pleased! Thanks for taking the time to tell me x
I’ve made these twice now! Great recipe! Even my older kids eat them!
Brilliant! I love to hear feedback like this, thanks for taking the time to tell me ??
Help! What am I doing wrong. I have followed it to the letter but the mixture is very wet indeed. The first test two I put in came out soggy still after 15 minutes and even after another five. I’ve added about another 40g of oats and baking for 20 mins but still coming it soggy in the middle. Any tips?
Hi Katie, Sorry you aren’t having much success with these. Are you rinsing the chickpeas? I usually pat them dry too. The mixture is quite soft but I wouldn’t say soggy.
Hi Amy,
Would these work with chickpea flour instead of canned chickpeas?
I have never tried making them with chickpea flour, I’m not sure how that would work to be honest as I’m guessing the mixture would be a lot drier.
Are they suppise to be soft/chewy, or do i need to bake longer?
Hi Ashley, they are quite a soft cookie.
Is there any alternative to the oats? I’m gluten and wheat intolerant, and in Australia we don’t certify uncontaminated oats as gluten free even if produced in a wheat free factory.
Hi Kim, without experimenting I can’t say for sure. You could maybe try ground almonds. Let me know if you do try!
You could try buckwheat goats broken down a bit in a food processor.
How many cookies does this make?
Hi Laura, sorry I can’t remember off hand. I should have detailed that at the time. I’d have to make them again to say for sure.
I had to up the temperature to 375, keep them in for 22 minutes, and almost flattened them to get them not squishy in the middle…bummer they taste good, but was planning to share these with friends but…
Hi Dianne, sorry you didn’t have much success with the texture. Did you flatten them before coking or leave as a tablespoon ball? I flatten mine before cooking
Hi Amy! have you tried making these into bars instead of cookies? Would it work?
Hi Brasta, Sorry I missed your comment. I haven’t tried making them into bars, sorry. I’m not sure how it would work, they may be a little soft to hold as bars.
Could these be made without banana
Hi Charlotte, I’m not sure how they would work without the banana. Without playing around with the ingredients I can’t say for sure. They would probably need some other form of sweetness added but the texture may still be ok.
My toddler loves these! Such a great healthy snack. Thanks so much for the great recipes.
Thanks Ruth, I love comments like this, they make my day. Thanks for taking the time to let me know!
I made these with my two year old. She had a great time making them and really enjoyed them. I baked them for an extra five minutes but otherwise stuck to the recipe and they turned out well. They freeze well too which is a bonus. Thanks for another fab recipe, love your site.
Hi Anna, I love that you made these with your 2 yr old and I’m so happy they turned out well for you. Thank you!!
They are delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
Thank you 🙂
Oh my goodness! I’ve been wanting to make these for a while and I am so happy I did. They came out delicious. I had the frozen blueberries but only freeze dried raspberries, but they came out great. I followed some suggestions as in flattening the cookie batter on the cookie sheet, and I did tweak the temperature up to 360F. I was planning on freezing some but there definitely won’t be enough left over to do so.
Do you refrigerate these? Thanks! They sound delicious
Thanks Irene, I usually freeze them and take out as needed 🙂
Can I use eggs instead of the apple purée? It’s not an ingredient I can seem to find or did you use a baby purée? Thanks!
The apple adds sweetness so I am not sure how egg will work as a replacement. If you can not find apple puree / sauce then the baby apple puree will be perfect. I just make my own puree and freeze it in small batches.
Very unfortunate these have a very distinctive chickpea taste, i much prefer recipes that hide this. Not a hit in our house, unfortunately straight to the bin
Hi Simone, I’m sorry you didn’t like the taste. Did you use a ripe banana? I usually find the banana and dates enough to sweeten the cookie and I don’t taste the chickpeas. I did mention you may wish to add some sweetener if you are used to a sweeter taste. Most likely the recipes that “hide the taste” as you say has a lot more sugar (honey / maple syrup etc)