Why Chickpea Flour?
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The main ingredient in this baked good is something a little different - chickpea flour. Chickpeas are one of the many pulses we told you about earlier this year as part of our affiliation with USA Pulses and Pulse Canada, in honor of the International Year of Pulses.
Now, before you turn your nose up to a chickpea flavor in cookies, let me tell you about the benefits of chickpea flour. It's a good source of iron, folate, protein, and fiber. Chickpea flour can be used in a 1:1 ratio in place of whole wheat flour in many different recipes. For more help with measurements, check out this Tablespoons in a Cup post!
It's creamy, filling, and, for those who follow a gluten-free diet, this checks that box, too! Oh, and I should mention that we didn't notice the taste of this flour at all.
Most of the items in this recipe will be staples in your pantry, but if you don't have any chickpea flour, you can make your own in 3 easy steps.
For mornings when you need a quick, on-the-go breakfast (for you or your kids), this is a super option! Make a batch over the weekend and have them on hand and ready to eat. They can also be sent to school in kids' lunches or eaten as an after school snack.
Let me know if your kids love these as much as mine do :). Be sure to check out these Almond Flour Cookies too! If you are looking for quick breakfast recipes, check out these Easy Breakfast Ideas and these Back to School Breakfast Ideas.
Breakfast Cookies with Chickpea Flour
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups chickpea flour (can substitute whole-wheat flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup honey
- 1 egg
- ½ cup coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup nut butter (I used sunbutter)
- ½ cup oats (rolled)
- ¼ cup unsweetened coconut flakes (as a mix-in (or you could try seeds, shredded carrots, chocolate chips, etc)
- ¼ cup raisins (as a mix-in (or you could try seeds, shredded carrots, chocolate chips, etc))
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325° F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the chickpea flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Make a well in the middle and add the honey, egg, coconut oil, vanilla, and nut butter. Mix wet ingredients together and then mix them with the dry ingredients until combined.
- Stir in the rolled oats and then fold in mix-ins.
- Make golf ball sized balls of dough, flatten, and place on the lined cookie sheet.
- Bake for 12 - 14 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.
Notes
2. We recommend organic ingredients when feasible.
Nutrition Facts
Pulses are cost-effective, nutritious, versatile, and sustainable foods that include dry peas, beans, lentils, and chickpeas.
Susi says
I used tahini in place of the nut butter and they turned out Delish!
Thank you for great recipe!
Brooke says
I was pleasantly surprised by how delicious these are! Not too sweet with crispy edges and a delightfully chewy center. Initially I was skeptical because the dough had a bitter aftertaste, but the oven totally transformed them. Also, the dough seemed pretty greasy, but that could be because I subbed olive oil instead of coconut. Regardless, they baked up perfectly with no excess oil. Will make again!
Kiran Dodeja Smith says
I'm so glad you enjoyed them! :)
Jane says
Tried these and they came out really good. not too sweet(which I like). very good use of besan(garam flour). Thanks
Kiran Dodeja Smith says
Great! So glad that you liked them! ~Kiran
Danielle says
My dough seemed really oily, is it ½ c melted coconut oil? I also used Crazy Richard's 100% peanuts creamy peanut butter, maybe that added extra oil? They're in the oven now, so I'll see how they turn out!
Kiran Dodeja Smith says
Hmmm ... was the peanut butter oily? That could end up adding too much moisture. Keep me posted on how they turn out!
Danielle says
They came out perfect! I just baked them for a couple of extra minutes :)
Kiran Dodeja Smith says
Yay!! I'm so glad that they worked - hope you guys enjoy them:).
G says
Has anyone tried peanut butter or almond butter instead of sun butter?
Kiran Dodeja Smith says
I have not tried it yet. I'm sure either will work great, but would love your feedback if you try it!
~Kiran
Jaime P-R says
These are delicious! My whole family love them. I used almond butter and mixed in raisins. I think I'll add more raisins next time and they will be perfect!
Kiran Dodeja Smith says
So glad to hear that you enjoyed them!
Bites for Foodies says
I've tried to incorporate chickpea flour is so many of my recipes but I just can't get the quantities and ratios correct! Also, I don't love the flavour of chickpea flour? Can you taste it in these cookies? I bake with gluten-free flours and I 'think' I've found the perfect combo; a 1:1 ratio of oats and rice flour!
Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says
Hi. You really can't taste the flour.
Denise says
Dried chickpeas? Is there something about soaking chickpeas overnight to make them more digestible or am I making this up!?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says
Hi there. This is chickpea flour. I personally find it more digestible than wheat. :)
Becky says
Can we use butter in place of coconut oil?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says
Hi there. Yes, coconut oil should work, too. This might help: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/02/07/how-to-cook-with-coconut-oil/.
Becky says
No, I asked if I could use butter instead of coconut oil. I would prefer butter so I don't get the coconut taste in these because my son doesn't like them.
Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says
Sorry, I answered too quickly. While I've not tried int his recipe, you can usually make that switch without as issue. :)
Anvita says
Can I use another sweetner in place of honey? Would maple syrup work?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says
Hi. While I've not tried it in this recipe, we do often use the two interchangeably.
Lana says
I made these last night, used whole wheat flour instead, and used sun utter. This morning I broke one in half and the inside of the cookie is green! Checked a couple of them, and they're all green! What caused this?!?!
Kiran Smith says
HI Lana,
I've had this issue before. I made a cookie cake with sunbutter and it turned green, too! However, it only seems to happen with some of the brands of sunbutter - in my case, at least. It is harmless; scroll down and see what they say on their site: http://sunbutter.com/faq/
I made mine with sunbutter from Trader Joe's and they didn't turn green. Hope this helps!
~Kiran
Julie says
Can these be frozen after baking and cooling? Thanks!
Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says
Sure.
Mel says
Can we make our own chickpea flour by putting dried chickpeas in a NutriMill?
Kiran Smith says
Yes you can. There is a link in the post above to making your own chickpea flour.
M. says
I made these last night for breakfast this morning. They are delicious and quite filling. After eating one and a peach, I was good to go for hours! Thanks for posting this yummy recipe.
Kiran Smith says
Yay! So glad that you liked them:).
Samantha Shah says
These look great! My very picky 10 year old doesn't like oats. Do you think these would work without them?
Kassandra says
I was wondering the same thing. My 3 year old has an oat allergy.
Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says
It may but it is not something we've tried.
Jennie says
Anyone wanting nutritional info can just plug it into something like this: https://www.caloriecount.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php
These have 249 calories and 7.1g protein.
Patti Ungerson says
I love your reeipes; can you PLEASE post the nutritional content? I'm looking for low calorie protein snacks for my kids!
Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says
Hi there. We don’t post nutritional information. This post helps explain our philosophy: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2013/01/04/healthy-eating-defined/.
A reader below posted this which you might find helpful:
“Anyone wanting nutritional info can just plug it into something like this: https://www.caloriecount.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php
These have 249 calories and 7.1g protein.”
Patti Fitzgerald says
I would love to try these; however, I really would like to see the nutrients facts on these. Especially Protein, calories. ** Also in future posts as well. I love 90% of the receipts but since. My schools are not nut friendly I'm always looking for fun nut free Priotein snacks for my kids that are too extensive in calories.
Thank you!! You are my favorite Blog!!!
Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says
Hi there. We don't post nutritional information. This post helps explain our philosophy: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2013/01/04/healthy-eating-defined/.
A reader below posted this which you might find helpful:
"Anyone wanting nutritional info can just plug it into something like this: https://www.caloriecount.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php
These have 249 calories and 7.1g protein."
Renee Badolato says
Do you think it's possible to use almond or coconut flour in place of the chick pea flour?
Kiran Dodeja Smith says
I would not use coconut flour as a substitute because it is so absorbent. I truly would try the chick pea flour; I think you'll like it! And it's fairly inexpensive. If you want to toy around with swapping flours, this has a good explanation on doing so: http://www.hungry-girl.com/go-to-guides/show/gluten-free-flour-coconut-almond-garbanzo-bean-quinoa
anjuli says
Can we store these cookies in the pantry or it needs to be in the fridge? Thanks.
Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says
You can store them in the pantry.
B says
Do you think these would work as bar-style cookies?
Kiran Dodeja Smith says
I honestly don't know as I haven't tried them that way. Please let us know if you try it!
Andrea Z. says
What kind of coconut oil did you use? I have one that is liquid and another that is solid?
Thanks.
Kiran Dodeja Smith says
You can heat the solid coconut oil in the microwave so that it's liquid.
Andrea Z. says
Thank you!
Jennifer says
I made these today. Turned out pretty good. I used coconuts and raisins as my add-ins. Do you have the nutritional info on them? Fiber and sugar in particular?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says
Hello. We do not provide nutrition details. This post might help explain why: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2013/01/04/healthy-eating-defined/.
Goldnrod says
What could I use in place of nut butter. (Not a fan of PB in cookies.)
Maureen Petru says
I was wondering the same thing. My daughter has a peanut allergy. While I know sunbutter is a safe alternative, she has gone into anaphylactic shock 3 times from accidental ingestion of peanut and her body immediately rejects anything that remotely resembles peanut flavor. I was wondering if maybe almond butter would work?
Meg Wahl says
I have a can of chickpeas. If I'm reading this right I could process the chick peas and then use 3/4 cup pureed chickpeas and 3/4 cup whole wheat flour, correct?
Jennifer says
I think you need to start with dried chickpeas, not canned.
Meg Wahl says
Hmm. I think you might be right. I did try this with canned, and I found that I needed more flour (which makes sense based on your reply :))
They were delicious though, and really moist. My husband just walked by and said "Those cookies that you made are really good" Wait till I show him this comment thread and he realizes what is in them!
Lisette Callis says
you could do these without the egg. you could use the chick pea aqua faber you might find in a chickpea tin, whipped. I've heard of apple sauce and banana or psyllium as a binder as well.
Shelly says
Thanks for the recipe! Made these today. They turned out delicious. I made mine a bit smaller & got 20 cookies.
Kiran Dodeja Smith says
Yay! So glad you tried them and liked them:).
Kiran
Jen says
This recipe sounds great, but I'm wondering if it's possible to leave out the oats or are they needed to bind the ingredients together? Or maybe I could put them through the food processor so they are finely chopped? My son is not a fan of oatmeal and if they are too oaty as far as texture, he'll complain and not eat them. He doesn't like things with too much nuts and seeds either, so it's a texture thing more than the taste. .
Kiran Dodeja Smith says
Hmmm; they do help bind the ingredients together. While I haven't tried it, you could try putting the oats into a food processor or high speed blender to make oat flour out of them and using that. Please let us know if you try it and how it works!
Molly says
I haven't made this recipe yet but in another recipe (oatmeal cinnamon chip) that calls for oats I put the oats in a food processor. I don't make them quite as fine as flour but I grind them up a good bit. It gives the cookies a chewier texture that is quite lovely. You might be able to sneak them by the kiddo as the oats become part of the cookie rather than a textural add-in, if that makes sense.