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These Chickpea Flour Cookies are a delicious gluten-free dessert. They have the perfect chewy texture, and since they’re made with chickpea flour, they also pack extra protein in each bite!
What is Chickpea Flour?
Chickpea flour is simply ground dry chickpeas. That’s it! You can make it at home in a blender by grinding dry chickpeas, or you can buy a bag of it at the store, just like you would regular flour.
This type of flour is naturally gluten-free and nut-free, so it’s great for baking when you need to be careful of allergies or special dietary needs. It’s perfect for making socca bread, chickpea pancakes, and more!
The main thing you should know about chickpea flour is that it tastes very bitter before it’s cooked. I don’t recommend taste-testing the raw batter, or you might be turned off before you even bake these. I promise that they taste 100% better after you cook them!
Chickpea flour acts remarkably like all-purpose flour, even though it doesn’t have the same density. (This is something I always test on my kitchen scale when working with new flours.) Maybe this is due to chickpea flour’s higher protein content?
Either way, I’ve found that this recipe is relatively flexible, just like a cookie recipe made with all-purpose flour is. I like to use 1 1/3 cups of chickpea flour, but you can use only 1 1/4 cups flour for a flatter, more gooey cookie, or 1 1/2 cups flour for a thicker, more doughy cookie. I’ve tried it all, and my kids like them all, but I like the cookies best in the middle-range, so I use 1 1/3 cups of chickpea flour.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Whenever I develop a new cookie recipe, I always like to use a classic recipe, like the famous Nestle Tollhouse recipe, as my benchmark. As a result, these chickpea flour chocolate chip cookies use similar ingredients, with a few upgrades.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Chickpea flour
- Butter (or vegan butter)
- Coconut sugar
- Egg (or flax egg)
- Baking soda
- Vanilla
- Salt
And don’t forget the chocolate chips! This recipe is easily made vegan if you use dairy-free chocolate chips, and I like to use dark chocolate ones, so they aren’t quite as sweet.
How to Make Chickpea Cookies
To make these Chickpea Flour Cookies, start by mixing together the butter and sugar. I’m using coconut sugar because it is slightly less sweet than other sugars, but you can use any other granulated sugar you have on hand. (Vegan butter also works here, or you can use 1/3 cup softened coconut oil.)
Next, add in the egg (or flax egg) and vanilla, and mix again.
Now it’s time to add in the dry ingredients! Mix in the chickpea flour, baking soda, and salt, and stir until the batter looks uniform.
Stir in the chocolate chips, then scoop the dough with a tablespoon or 1-ounce cookie scoop.
Drop the cookie dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, then bake at 350ºF for 8 to 10 minutes.
I like to pull the cookies out of the oven when the edges look lightly golden, but the centers still look soft to the touch.
They will firm up when they cool, for a cookie with lightly crispy edges, and gooey centers. Yum!
These cookies can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days, but they will last longer in an airtight container in the fridge. You can store them in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Substitutions
I don’t recommend substituting the flour here, since this recipe is specifically developed for chickpea flour. If you have another flour on hand, check out my other cookie recipes:
- Buckwheat Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Almond Flour Cookies
- Coconut Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Oat Flour Cookies
- Chickpea Cookies (made with pureed chickpeas!)
I can’t wait to hear what you think of these cookies! It’s shocking to me how much my kids love these. (They told me they like them better than cake… which is saying something.)
Chickpea Flour Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter , softened (1 stick; 113 grams)
- 3/4 cup coconut sugar (125 grams)
- 1 large egg (50 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (5 grams)
- 1 1/3 cups chickpea flour (170grams)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda (3 grams)
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt (3 grams)
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips (138 grams)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, mix together the softened butter and sugar.
- Add in the egg and vanilla and mix well, then add in the chickpea flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir until the batter looks uniform; it will be relatively thick and sticky. Warning: Do NOT taste the raw cookie dough, because chickpea flour tastes terribe before it's cooked.
- Fold in the chocolate chips, then scoop the batter using a tablespoon or 1-ounce cookie scoop. Drop the dough onto the lined pan, spacing the cookies about 1 to 2 inches apart to allow for spreading. You can sprinkle the cookie dough with some flaky sea salt, if you like a sweet and salty flavor.
- Bake at 350ºF for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the cookies look lightly golden around the edges. Let the cookies cool on the pan completely, to let them firm up. They should be lightly crisp on the outside, and soft on the inside. (Let the bake longer, until they are more golden, if you prefer a crispier cookie.)
- Chickpea flour cookies can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. They can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
If you try these Chickpea Flour Cookies, please leave a comment below letting me know what you think! And if you try any modifications, I’d love to hear about those, too. We can all benefit from your experience!
Ailin
I weighed out the ingredients and everything was delicious! Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Pam henEl
Hi Meghan, I lovely our recipes, found you when I was experimenting with gluten free diet. Curious about coconut sugar, my husband is diabetic so wondered if I can substitute stevia based sweetener in these cookies.,.
Thank you for all you do!
Pam H
Shondie
Hi! Are there benefits to using chickpea flour over almond flour?
Megan Gilmore
Chickpea flour is lower in calories and research suggests it has the same benefits as dry whole chickpeas. You can read about the potential benefits in my chickpea flour post! Plus, this is a great alternative for those who have nut allergies.
Marie
This recipe is almost identical to one I’ve been making from Ambitious Kitchen except this uses butter instead of coconut oil…
Megan Gilmore
Hi Marie! It looks like the recipe you’re referring to calls for an extra egg yolk, only 1/2 cup brown sugar, and more chickpea flour, in addition to the coconut oil, so I imagine the results would be different from this one, but I’m sure it’s delicious, too!
TK
How should I modify if I don’t have natural peanut butter on hand? None of mine is drippy.
Ela
Do you think I could substitute coconut oil for the butter and if so, would it be the same amount? It’s all I have on hand! Thanks!
Gabrielle Bouffard
I’ve used coconut oil a d it works perfectly same measurements too.
VW
My first time to try chickpea flour.
I did add a little extra water, just to get the ingredients to bind together.
I resisted the urge to lick the spoon (per instructions) –and was a bit nervous about biting into the first cookie. But it tasted great!
So good to know that we can enjoy chocolate chip cookies while getting a boost of fiber & protein!
Will definitely be making these again.
Angelina
Delicious and so quick and easy to make. We like them even more refrigerated and even then they keep their chewy texture. Will make these cookies again!
Angelina
5 stars
Brenda
Made these with a flax egg, almond extract, and less salt-scrumptious!!! They reminded me of the perfect chocolate chip cookies- slightly crisp on the outside and soft on the inside! Delish!!
Máquina de café
Muy buena receta gracias por el aporte, yo en lo personal siempre a la mezcla del chocolate le agrego un poco fe cafe para que le de un toque amargo especial
Ela
I just realized I posted my comment in the wrong place above!
Do you think I could substitute coconut oil for the butter and if so, would it be the same amount? It’s all I have on hand! Thanks!
Ela
I just realized I posted my comment in the wrong place above!
Do you think I could substitute coconut oil for the butter and if so, would it be the same amount? It’s all I have on hand! Thanks!
Megan Gilmore
I usually use about 1/3 cup of melted coconut oil (I always melt coconut oil to measure it) to replace a 1/2 cup of butter. I haven’t tested that here, but that’s my best guess. Let me know if you give it a try!
Dr. S. Nithya Osborn
Awesome recipe… Thanks
Christiana
These chocolate chip cookies taste like the real deal, and these are my kind of ingredients too! I’ve been looking for a chocolate chip cookie that was gluten-free, dairy-free, and with healthier ingredients that actually tasted like the old gluten sugar laden ones I remember, for a long long time. These are amazing! Thank you so much!💕
Av
Fantastic!!!
Jill Akbay
I always love your recipes!! I didn’t have softened butter and didn’t feel like waiting so I melted it instead and the batter turned out great! The initial taste of this cookie is really good but then there’s a bit of the bitter chickpea flour aftertaste for me. I’ll try the oat flour chocolate chip cookies next!
Sandy
These are the real deal – the best-tasting GF chocolate chip cookies I’ve found! This is now our favorite cookie! In the last batch, I tried half chocolate chips and half butterscotch chips with a few chopped pecans. Do you think this recipe could be adapted in some way for Oatmeal Raisin cookies?
nichelle
hi, can you substitute butter/oil for applesauce?
Megan Gilmore
The texture will be more muffin-like I would think, and the applesauce flavor will come through, so they won’t taste the same or have the same texture. But, in theory, it should still hold together. Let me know if you give it a try!