No-Bake Chickpea Cookie Dough Bites

I kind of came up with this recipe by accident.

A few months back, I released a chickpea breakfast scramble recipe and in the YouTube video, I referenced all the wonderful ways that beans could be used – soups, stews, brownies, meatloaves, and even…cookie dough. And someone put me to task to actually release a chickpea cookie dough recipe.

Through the testing process, I realized that my chocolate chip cookie dough recipe works really well already as a cookie dough – spooning the batter straight out of the bowl is delicious, or even adding less water so you can roll the dough out into balls before freezing them gives you a really pleasant frozen cookie dough to enjoy.

But this recipe is a no-bake, no-freeze option to give you an instant, travel-friendly breakfast, snack or dessert. You can make it sweeter and add chocolate chips to make it like a cookie dough, or limit the sugar and add in nuts, seeds, or cranberries to make it an energy-packed, high calorie, trail-mix style snack. And the base of oats and chickpeas has a flavor that’s somewhat reminiscent of a Clif bar.

It’s also SO simple to make. There’s no cooking involved (unless you’re cooking the chickpeas yourself which I recommend you do!) and just have to blend up the chickpeas, combine the wet with the dry, and roll the dough out into balls before eating on the spot or prepping in advance to have around and available in the fridge to dive into throughout the week. They’re great to take on the go if you don’t have time to prep breakfast before heading out the door, travel great in a lunch box to send off with your kids to school, or are just nice to have to grab as a midday pick-me-up at home between lunch and dinner.

When it comes to flavor and texture, this recipe is:

• Mildly sweet
• Filling
• Smooth and slightly flakey
• Has texture kind of like a cake pop
• Very satisfying

I will say that eat little bite can be quite calorie-dense, especially if you add in any additions like nuts, seeds, dried fruit or chocolate, so if you’re eating a whole foods, plant based diet for the purposes of weight loss, I’d hold off on these or eat them sparingly. Otherwise, though, they are a great option and a much healthier replacement for even higher-calorie, higher-fat trail mix, a real Clif bar, cookies, or cookie dough.

If you try out this recipe, please share it with me by commenting here or on my YouTube channel, or even tagging me in a photo on Instagram @plantsnotplastic. I read every comment and love hearing from you. Enjoy!

No-Bake Chickpea & Oat Energy Balls

Plants Not Plastic

These chickpea cookie dough bites can be made as a snack, dessert, or even a grab and go breakfast. They can be sweetened up with additions like cocoa powder or chocolate chips, like a trail mix bite with nuts and dried fruit, or eaten simply with just the base ingredients!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Optional Cook Time (see directions) 10 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Servings 12 Balls (~2tbsp each)

Calories 87.5 kcal

Equipment

• high-speed blender
• Small mixing bowl
• baking tray (optional; see directions)

Ingredients

  

• 1 cup cooked chickpeas drained and rinsed; 1/3 cup dry
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tbsp almond butter optional; sub 1/2 a banana
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp unpacked brown sugar sub agave or maple syrup [note#1]
• 1/2 cup rolled oats [note#2]
• 3/4 cup oat flour [note#2]

Optional Additions

• 1/4 cup dried fruit cranberries, raisins, etc.
• 1/4 cup chopped nuts and/or seeds walnuts, pecans, pepitas, etc.
• 1/4 cup vegan chocolate chips
• 1-2 tbsp cocoa powder

Instructions

 

• Blend cooked chickpeas and water in a high-speed blender to form a paste.
• Combine all ingredients with desired additions [note#3] in a mixing bowl and stir until well combine and a solid dough ball forms.
• Separate into ~2 tbsp sections and form into into small balls by rolling between your hands.
• Eat immediately or store in the fridge for grab-and-go snacks.
• Enjoy!

Optional Baked Option [note#4]

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Bake for 7-12 minutes to desired consistency.

Video

Notes

1. If you're using a liquid sugar, add an addition 2tbsp oat flour or rolled oats to absorb the moisture
2. You can change up this ratio (i.e. more rolled oats, less oat flour, all oat flour, etc.) depending whether you want them to have more texture
3. If you want to make a mix of different types of energy balls, mix the base dough first, separate it into sections and then fold in additions before rolling into balls. I like to make a mix of different types to add variety to them as I eat them (i.e. half plain, half chocolate or 3 balls of each type - splitting my dough into fourths and adding 1 tbsp of each topping type to each portion).
4. I like their texture best unbaked, but if you are putting chocolate chips into your energy balls it's great to get the chocolate nice and melted. You can also simply do this in a microwave instead of the oven!

Optional Additions calories per ball:

• Raisins - 9kcal
• Cranberries - 10kcal
• Pepitas - 14kcal
• Pecans - 15kcal
• Walnuts - 16kcal
• Vegan Chocolate Chips - 27kcal

Keyword chickpeas, chocolate, cookie dough, cookie dough bites, desserts, easy, grab and go, simple, snacks, sweets