CHOCOLATE CHUNK CHICKPEA COOKIES (or Blondie) + My 2021 Recipe Calendar is Here!

October 20th, 2020

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It’s that time of year again when I dream up and create a calendar containing some of my favourite recipes. This is my fifth recipe calendar and I feel confident this is the best one yet! The calendar is 100% self-published, and besides the printing (a few km down the road), I do everything myself to produce the calendar, including the photography, page design, packaging & sending, and the dishes! 

I initially started producing a recipe calendar (in 2015) to help cover the website costs and time involved in creating the recipes I share here on Homegrown Kitchen – a free resource for all. I don’t have any advertising or sponsored content on my website and I would love to keep it that way with your support.

*Find more details about my annual Homegrown Kitchen recipe calendar here.

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If you have made it this far down the page, thank you, here is that special cookie/blondie recipe you have been waiting for… 

Chocolate Chunk Chickpea Cookies (or Blondie)

Chickpeas may sound like an odd addition to cookies, but here they are used as some of the flour component and bring a fudge-cake like crumb. Due to the high moisture content of the chickpeas, they are almost like a cross between a cookie and fudge brownie. I also have given a variation below to make the mix into a "blondie’’ if preferred (pictured above cooked in a skillet). Once cooked, you can’t taste the chickpeas as they are used more for texture than flavour, and the addition of a little coffee or malt drink (such as Milo) complements the flavour. You will need a food processor to make these to blend the chickpeas until smooth – a bit like making hummus.

Servings 12 cookies or slices

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Ingredients

• 100 g room temperature butter
• ¼ cup (50g) raw sugar
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 small egg
• 400 g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed, OR 1 cup cooked and drained chickpeas
• 1 tbsp instant coffee - or Milo for caffeine-free (optional)
• ½ cup (75g) white flour (or use gluten-free flour)
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 80 g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 180C. Line two cookie trays with baking paper.
• Place the butter, sugars, vanilla, egg and drained chickpeas into a food processor and blend until smooth. This will take 1-2 minutes, scraping down the sides as needed.
• Add the instant coffee (if using), flour and baking powder and pulse 6 times. Next, add the chopped chocolate and pulse again 6-8 times until just combined. The dough will be sticky at this stage, which is what you want.
• Use either a cookie scoop or 2 tablespoons to mould and scoop walnut-sized mounds on to the cookie trays. Scoop 6 on each tray with a 5cm space between each cookie. Don’t worry too much about the shape as they will soften as they cook. Place the trays into the oven and cook for 6 minutes.
• After this time, switch the trays for even cooking and, as you do so, give each tray several firm bangs on to the oven shelf so the cookies collapse a little. Bake for a further 8-10 minutes until golden then cool on a cake rack. Store in an airtight container and consume within 3 days.

Notes

Variation: This recipe can also be made into a "blondie’’ by spreading the batter into a 24cm oven-proof pan (I used a cast iron skillet) or 20 x 25cm lined tin. Bake as above for 20-25 minutes until golden. Skip the tray-banging part. Cool in the tin then slice into wedges or squares and store as above.