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These Peanut Butter Chickpea Cookies are irresistibly chewy, and happen to be gluten-free, too. It’s hard to believe they’re made with chickpea flour!
This recipe is the result of all my chickpea flour experiments earlier this month. We’ve made socca bread, and socca pizza, and even chickpea pancakes, so cookies seemed like the next natural step. Let’s dive in!
What You Need to Know About Chickpea Flour
Chickpea flour is naturally gluten-free, since it’s made from ground dry chickpeas. As a result, it’s higher in protein and may help you feel full longer when you use it in baking.
This protein-packed flour is also quite bitter in flavor. It’s not the kind of flour that makes you want to eat raw cookie dough straight from the bowl. (Which may be a good thing?)
The flavor does, thankfully, become more mild after you bake it, and to make these cookies even more palatable, I’ve mixed in some peanut butter so I can reduce the amount of flour required. As written, you need only 1/2 cup of chickpea flour to make this entire batch of cookies!
This idea is sparked by my flourless peanut butter cookies recipe, which doesn’t require any flour at all. Adding chickpea flour to the mix makes these cookies ultra-chewy, while still keeping them gluten-free and grain-free.
How to Make Them
Just like a traditional cookie recipe, you’ll start by mixing together the butter, peanut butter, and sugar. I’m using coconut sugar here, which is less-sweet than white sugar, but any granulated sugar will work for this recipe.
Granulated sugar = chewy cookies.
Next, you’ll add in the egg and vanilla, and mix again. Then you can add in the rest of the dry ingredients, including the chickpea flour, baking soda, and salt.
Mix until the batter is uniform and sticky.
Finally, you’ll stir in the chocolate chips, and then the batter is ready to scoop.
Use a tablespoon or 1-ounce cookie scoop to drop the cookie dough onto a lined baking sheet. These cookies will spread, so be sure to leave space between each cookie!
Top with some flaky sea salt, if you like, then bake at 350ºF until the cookies spread and look golden around the edges, about 8 to 10 minutes.
The cookies will puff-up as they bake, but will flatten as they cool, so be patient.
They need to cool completely on the pan in order to firm up. These cookies are flat and chewy, which is exactly how I like them, but if you prefer a thicker cookie, you can add up to a 1/4 cup more flour. I’ve tested these cookies both ways, and both ways are delicious, and kid-approved.
The version made with less flour just tastes a little more decadent, if you ask me. And I love decadent cookies.I hope you’ll love these, too!
Substitutions
Need to swap something? Here are my best guesses for you below.
Peanut Butter. If you’d like to leave out the peanut butter, cashew butter, almond butter, sunflower butter, or even tahini should also work.
Butter. Replace the butter with vegan butter (I love Miyoko’s brand) or try coconut oil, instead.
Egg. Replace the egg with a flax egg. In that case, I’d probably use at least 2 more tablespoons of chickpea flour, to make sure the cookies have enough structure.
Chickpea Flour. If you want to experiment with another flour, I think oat flour would give you similar results. I would not use coconut flour or almond flour, though. Try one of my other cookie recipes if you would like to use different ingredients.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter , softened (2 ounces)
- 1/3 cup drippy, all-natural peanut butter (94 grams)
- 3/4 cup coconut sugar (128 grams)
- 1 large egg (52 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (5 grams)
- 1/2 cup chickpea flour (55 grams; see notes)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda (3 grams)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (3 grams)
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips (141 grams)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine the butter, peanut butter, and sugar, and mix well.
- Add in the egg and vanilla, and mix again. Then add in the flour, baking soda, and salt, Mix until a thick batter is created.
- Fold in the chocolate chips, then use a tablespoon or 1-ounce scoop to scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with flaky salt on top, if desired. Bake at 350ºF for 8 to 10 minutes, until the cookies puff up and start to look lightly golden around the edges.
- Let the cookies cool completely on the pan, to help them firm up. They are fragile when hot, but will become sturdy as they cool. (Don't be surprised if these flatten as they cool-- this helps with the chewy texture!) Enjoy them right away, or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. You can also freeze these for up to 6 months.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
More Chickpea Recipes
Want to sneak more chickpeas into your life? Try one of these popular recipes!
- Aquafaba Mousse (use up your leftover chickpea liquid)
- Kung Pao Chickpeas
- Vegan Chickpea Cookies (made with canned chickpeas)
- Chickpea Tikka Masala
- Thai Chickpea Curry
- Chickpea Salad Sandwich
If you try these Chickpea Cookies, please leave a comment below letting me know how you like them. And if you make any modifications, I’d love to hear about those, too!
delish, thank you !!!!
best ice cream sandwich cookie I have tested so far!!
These were really yummy! I used coconut oil instead of butter. Unfortunately, they didn’t spread like the photos and didn’t have the texture I was looking for. So after the first tray came out, I added some shredded coconut and rolled oats. Baked for ten minutes and they were great! I love that this recipe could take add-ins so easily. Thank you for sharing it!
This best gluten free cookie recipe I’ve ever made and it was super easy and so delicious. Had some cacao nibs and white chocolate chips. Mix them in. Family loved it. Will definitely make these again! Thanks!
I took a chance and quadrupled this recipe for the test run. WINNER!! Thank you for this one!! I followed all but only had chunky peanut butter and used vegan butter, cuz we are vegan. Baked an extra few minutes and they are divine!! Keep mine in the fridge, cuz I like em cold and more crisp. Fabulous recipe!!
These are the best cookies I’ve had in a looong time!! I’m not gluten free, but did have some extra chickpea flour to use up; so glad I chose this recipe. This site never disappoints.
I did reduce my sugar, salt and chocolate chips by a third. Everything else I followed to the letter.
I’ve baked before with chickpea flour, but this was the first time I really couldn’t taste it at all. The peanut butter flavor really dominated.
Thank you, Megan!
I have made these twice already and they are delicious! I veganized them with a flax egg and subbed earth balance butter/coconut oil for the butter. The first time I made them I must have used more chickpea flour because they didn’t spread much. The second time around then wound up spreading more but they were delicious-still soft and yummy!
So good!!! We sun coconut oil for the butter and they turn out amazing. The kids and hubby approve!
These are delicious! I used an extra 1/4 cup of chickpea flour as suggested, simply to finish off my bag of flour. Also used equal parts butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips, and semi sweet chocolate chunks. Yum!!!