What’s Hiding In Your Cookie?

 

These Chickpea Coconut Flax Chocolate Chip Cookies are great for those parents who have picky eaters and want to hide some healthy goodness in baked goods.

I know what you are thinking, cookies made with chickpeas sound disgusting but the truth is far from that. You know from previous posts that I am a chickpea fan and will use all kinds of chick peas to create recipes for our menu plan.

These are the crazy cookies of the year for me I think but they work and I’m sure once you make them you will agree that you can hardly taste chickpeas at all in the cookie. The best thing is that it’s a cookie recipe for kids and they won’t even know they are eating healthy chickpeas in their favourite chocolate chip cookies.

Where did my crazy Chickpea Coconut Flax Chocolate Chip cookies idea come from?

As I was getting ready to cook my dry chickpeas in the crock-pot I had this thought about making cookies with chickpeas. There was something about the colour and texture of the mashed chickpea that reminded me of what the batter for chocolate chip cookies looked like.

That’s when the bright idea hit me to try and create cookies with chickpeas. I’m like to make a mess in the kitchen exploring new foods so why not give it a try I thought.

The first thing I did, and this might sound odd is I put a spoonful of chickpeas on a plate, mashed them and then added a few chocolate chips into the mix. I ate that to test what chickpea chocolate chip cookies might actually taste like, minus all the other ingredients of course.

I just wanted to see if my idea was crazy or if I might actually be able to create a cookie that was full of some healthy goodness. I’d like to say I came up with this crazy idea first but through further research, that is not the case. None the less, this is a recipe that I will make over and over again.

I had no idea if this cookie was even going to work but what was the worst that could happen. If you think about it, the ingredients I chose for this recipe are what we practically would use in a traditional chocolate chip cookie. I’ve substituted some of the fats and changed the flour then added chickpeas.

I decided to use 3 ingredients together to see how they would work almond oil, coconut oil and barley flour. I chose barley flour because I know from previously using it in baked goods such as muffins and cakes that it creates a moist texture to anything that I bake.

Since my wife was on a low gi diet we thought it would be great as well since she eats lots of barley. I was worried that the chickpeas might be dry so a couple of tablespoons of what I call magic barley flour should do the trick. It worked like a charm.

 

What is almond oil?

 

I know you might think that almond oil is only good for beauty products such as hair products, massage oils and perfumes but you can use it to stir fry and in this case I used it in my chickpea coconut flax chocolate chip cookies.

You’ll find that almond oil has a sweet smell and tastes just like almonds. They press the sweet almonds to extract the almond oil. It has many health benefits and is packed with vitamins and the best part is that it aids digestion for those with digestive problems.

The oil from bitter almonds can also be used in cooking and it’s also what makes amaretto so I’m told. We picked up our bottle of almond oil at the Indian shop for about $8.00 which we thought was reasonable. It says it can be used for both beauty and cooking. Almonds can also be used to make almond butter and almond milk where almond flour is used as a gluten-free alternative to flour.

 

What is barley flour? 

 

Barley flour is a non-wheat flour that is low in gluten and all you do is grind up barley until it’s a fine powder. With its nutty flavour you might just enjoy adding it to your baking to give your sweets a wildly moist product.

The first time I used it I used too much barley flour but through research learned why I can’t substitute flour in a recipe for barley flour in its entirety. My understanding is that you can use barley flour in place of half the flour for a recipe of breads or baked goods but I’m sure it boils down to trial and error.

What I didn’t know was that barley flour doesn’t last too long before it goes rancid, 1-2 months in the pantry or up to 4 months in the freezer where my bag will be going as soon as I finish up this post.

I also didn’t know that barley could be used as thickeners for sauces and soups. Now that I know that I’m going to test that out and see what I can do with it. I’m not sure what sauce or soup I would use it in though.

If you are allergic to wheat flour then barley flour might be a good alternative for you.

 

What is coconut oil?

 

“Coconut oil is an edible oil extracted from the meat of mature coconuts harvested from the coconut palm.” We’ve been using Grace coconut oil ever since my friend who is also a doctor recommended it to us instead of frying with extra virgin olive oil but only in moderation as it is high in fat.

Although you will find coconut oil in the health food aisles at your favourite grocery stores as it has become “very popular with vegans” and those who feel coconut oil is a benefit to them such as natural foodies like us.

We are just part-time natural foodies but are learning all we can about it. Coconut oil smells and tastes like coconut and can also be used on your hair to give it a smooth silky touch. (My wife uses it on her hair)

 

 

What is Flax Seed?

 

My friend also told me that he puts flax seeds on his yogurt and in his morning cucumber smoothies so I went looking for it back a couple of weeks now in the health food aisle. I was lucky to get 3 bags of free flax-seed due to the scanning code of practice at 2 different Zehrs stores in Ontario.

What were the chances of that? Anyhow, I decided to add them into the chickpeas mixture for added health benefits. “Flax seeds come in two basic varieties: (1) brown; and (2) yellow or golden and contain high amounts of Omega 3 fatty acids.” 

I hope you enjoy these cookies and the tidbits of information above. I enjoy learning about ingredients I use in my recipes and hope that you do as well.

 

 

Chickpea Coconut Flax Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

• Prep time: 10 minutes (more if you use dry chickpeas but I cook them in the crockpot in advance)
• Total time: 30 minutes
• Cooking time: approx 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees (adjust according to your oven)
• Serving Size: large cookies 12-14 or more if you make them small

 

 

Ingredients for Chickpea Coconut Flax Chocolate Chip cookies

 

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 tbsps oats
• 2 tbsps barley flour
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs large
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup flaked coconut
• 1/4 whole flax-seed ( or crushed)
• 2.5 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 tbsps pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1 tbsp almond oil
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups of chickpeas (not dry)

 

 

Directions

 

• In a food processor add your chickpeas, vanilla extract, coconut and flax seeds and blend together until it becomes a paste
• In your stand mixer add in your butter, brown sugar, almond oil, coconut oil and mix adding your eggs one by one until combined.
• Add in the dry ingredients your barley flour, oats, whole wheat flour, salt, baking soda, and mix until combined.
• Add in the chickpea mixture to the stand mixer and mix until combined
• Fold in your chocolate chips gently
• On a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper add about 2-3 tablespoons of the mixture per cookie. I made big cookies but it’s up to you what size you like.
• Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 for 8-10 minutes or until just slightly browned as they finish cooking on the baking sheet as soon as you take them out. If you like a harder cookie you can cook them for longer

I hope you enjoy making these chickpea coconut flax chocolate chip cookies and remember if you want to substitute flavours you can by adding in raisins, butterscotch chi-pits whatever you like.

Now you can find all my recipes on one page here on Canadian Budget Binder with my new Free Recipe Index. 

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