Chocolate Chip Chickpea Cookies with Raisins and Pecans
A dear friend gave me her copy of “Deceptively Delicious” , the cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld, when I complained about my kids not eating certain foods. Vegetables being our main problem. While perusing the cookbook I came across some really yummy looking recipes. The great thing is that almost every one sneaks veggies into foods that kids love (macaroni and cheese, spaghetti and meatballs, chicken nugget, etc .) I came across a chocolate chip cookie recipe that has an entire can of chickpeas in it. Well, we all know what I had to do that very day.
I changed a few things about the recipe, using butter instead of tub margarine, one egg and one egg white instead of two egg whites, and white whole wheat flour instead of all purpose. I also mashed up the chickpeas instead of adding them whole, just to avoid biting into a big ol’ chickpea, which didn’t sound super appealing.
The results were not bad! You can’t taste the chickpeas. Ben actually took one off of the cooling rack when he got home, ate it and declared it good before I told him they were semi-healthy. I didn’t even tell him about the chickpeas. He’s finding out now via the blog…
The cookies are cakey and bake up in mounds with very little spreading. I left some in mounds and flattened others. You can flatten them with your hand, the bottom of a glass or the back of a fork. Eaten the same day they’re baked they are really tasty. After storing them in a container for a day they stick together a bit and are very soft. BUT still quite delicious.
I used milk chocolate chips, but I think semi sweet or dark would be better. The raisins are optional, but I really liked them in these cookies. I used pecans, because that’s what I had. But, and I know this is out of character, I think walnuts would be better. I don’t think the white whole wheat flour made much of a difference in these since they’re already very hearty in texture, I used it because I had some and it made me feel like I was making these even healthier! Healthier cookies means I can eat more of them! And I feel better about giving them to the kids. Both of the big kids, almost 4 and almost 2, really liked these. So while I won’t be making these cookies every time I want chocolate chip cookies, I will be making these again.
Chocolate Chip Chickpea Cookies
Makes 2 dozen
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup (1 and 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
- 1 egg and 1 egg white
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 cups flour (all purpose or white whole wheat)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
- heaping 1/2 cup pecans
- heaping 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup oats
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Place chickpeas in a bowl and mash with a potato masher or a fork, until mixture is coarse, just a few larger pieces, but not perfectly smooth.
- Beat butter and brown sugar in a large bowl of a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer. Beat for 2 minutes, then scrape the bowl.
- Add in egg and egg white and beat well, then ass in vanilla and scrape bowl.
- Mix in flour, baking powder and salt until just combined. Then mix in oats.
- Mix in chickpeas, chocolate chips, pecans and raisins until evenly mixed.
- Scoop by rounded tablespoons onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until tops are beginning to brown. Let cool on the pan for a minutes, then move to a wire rack.