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.
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.