The “I Dare You” Chickpea-Peanut-Butter-and-Honey-Dark-Chocolate-Chip Cookies

By Natalie Eve Garrett May 14, 2013

These cookies perform a Rumplestiltskin-style trick: One minute you’ve got a pile of beans, the next minute, gooey, decadent, I-want-to-eat-every-last-one cookies. It defies logic. And it sounds more than a little gross, and just, *why* would anyone do this, and how, and, really, WHAT?!?

I KNOW.

Believe me I know!

Nevertheless, I made them. I’ve been fixated on chickpeas for weeks now (honey-roasted chickpeas, anyone?), and also on making the perfect peanut-butter-olive-oil-dark-chocolate-chip cookies. (You would not believe how many deliciously imperfect pb cookies I have in my freezer right now.) But at last, these two obsessions collided, and I am in awe. Remember the booodseees? No? After eating these, I don’t, either.

These cookies were inspired by this recipe. I smooshed them into more cookie-like shapes, cooked them a bit longer, and added more peanut butter, chocolate, and, naturally, olive oil. They taste sweet, peanut-buttery, and with more than enough dark chocolate. And the dough! It’s chewy and light … honestly, something magical happens when the peanut butter and honey combine with the chickpeas. I’m not going to try to unravel the mystery, and maybe you shouldn’t, either. Just make them. I dare you.

***

Ingredients

1 ¼ cups chickpeas (I had some soaked and cooked in the fridge, but canned will do — just dry ’em off first, sandwiched between a couple paper towels)

a heaping ½ cup peanut butter

2 tsp vanilla

¼ cup honey

a drizzle of olive oil (about 2 tbs)

1 tsp baking powder

a pinch or two of salt

2/3 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper & spray with olive oil.

2. Measure out your chickpeas, and make sure to dry them off first on paper towels.

3. Puree in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Scrape down the edges, and pulse again a few times until the “dough” is completely smooth.

4. Add all the remaining ingredients (except the dark chocolate chips). Puree!

5. Pour the cookie dough into a bowl, and add in the chocolate chips. The dough will be super sticky. Don’t worry, keep going…

6. Scoop out heaping spoonfuls of dough and drop them onto the parchment. (You can also form the dough into balls with wet hands, but I found this got too messy for me.)

7. Bake for about 13 minutes. Eat them warm! Or cold! I love them either way.