Chickpea Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies

Modified: Aug 28, 2022 by Addison LaBonte · This post may contain affiliate links · 26 Comments

You'd never know that these melt-in-your mouth Chickpea Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies aren't just vegan, but they are also gluten-free, grain-free, refined sugar-free and nut-free. Enjoy alone or top with sea salt for a sweet and salty combo.

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close-up of three chickpea flour chocolate chip cookies stacked up with a couple in the background

Once upon a time, in a far away place (New Jersey), there was a girl who obtained a secret recipe from her father for the softest, chewiest chocolate chip cookies in all the land (still New Jersey).

The girl shared her cookies with family and friends, and even once used them to get out of trouble with her college RA for having a bottle of wine in her dorm (for the record, she was 21).

Everyone begged her for the recipe, but she kept it tight-lipped.

Some even went as far to say they were better than the cookies from that famous brand with the yellow packaging.

overhead of some cookies on a baking sheet topped with salt

Oh, those sweet, chocolaty, buttery, heavenly confections...

Then one day, the girl gave up refined sugar and wheat flour, and so...her days of cookie making were over…THE END.

HOLD ON!

What kind of happy ending is that?

No, no, no!

That’s not how the story should end.

Let’s change things up a little…

front view of stack of 4 cookie halves on a plate showing the insides

And that’s exactly what she did - change things up.

First, she swapped white granulated sugar and brown sugar for coconut sugar.

But flour, oh, that was a pesky little problem she had on her hands.

So many gluten-free flours and yet none were quite right.

She thought her prince would never come.

And then, like a knight in shining armor, chickpea flour rode in on its steel horse (OK, fine it was a shopping cart) and saved the day!

overhead of cookies on parchment with chocolate chips around

The chickpea flour produced a wheat-free cookie with a similar consistency to her signature recipe.

It also provided a number of vitamins and minerals in addition to protein and fiber (You can check out all the awesome benefits of chickpea flour in this Healthline article).

But wait, there's more!

The chickpea fairy appeared out of nowhere and presented another magical ingredient that took this cookie to the NEXT LEVEL!

overhead of some cookies on parchment with chocolate chips around

"Now, what pray tell could that be?" the girl asked.

"Why, aquafaba, my dear," the chickpea fairy responded.

Aqua...what??

In case you're unfamiliar with aquafaba, it is the liquid found in a can of chickpeas and acts as an egg replacement in vegan baked goods.

Sometimes, it is whipped, but other times (like in this case), it is used as is.

And even though she used vegan butter rather than dairy-based butter, her new cookie still had that signature buttery taste.

It even tasted BETTER than the original!

And so, she lived happily ever after eating lots of chickpea flour cookies at the Jersey Shore.

close-up of cookie with salt on top and another one blurred out in the background

THE END. 🙂

Oh, you want to know how to make them?

Sorry, it’s a secret...

JUST KIDDING! 😉

How to make chickpea flour chocolate chip cookies

Start by preheating your oven to 350°F and lining an extra large baking sheet with parchment paper.

If you don't have a large enough baking sheet, you can bake in two different batches.

You just want to make sure the cookies are not too close to each other on the sheet.

Next, add vegan butter, coconut sugar, aquafaba and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl.

Mix together using a spoon until well-combined. In a separate bowl, combine chickpea flour, kosher salt, baking powder and baking soda.

Be sure to use a grain-free baking powder if you'd like to keep them grain-free, such as Pamela's.

You can also choose to omit the baking powder altogether and increase the amount of baking soda to elicit a similar result.

Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture.

adding dry ingredients to the wet ingredients

Mix together with a spoon.

batter after wet and dry ingredients were combined

Fold in chocolate chips.

chocolate chips mixed into the batter in the mixing bowl

Use a cookie scoop or your hands to create dough balls.

Press down on each dough ball lightly with your fingers...

until you've done them all.

Cookie dough on parchment on baking sheet ready for oven

Bake for 11-15 minutes until edges are light golden brown.

overhead of cookies on baking sheet after coming out of the oven

At this point, you can top each cookie with sea salt right when they come out of the oven, if desired.

Tips

I know it's fun to eat raw cookie dough, but a word of advice...don't eat cookie dough made with raw chickpea flour! It simply does not taste good when raw and is not an indicator of what the final product will taste like after baking.
If the dough isn't firm enough to make the balls, refrigerate it for about 10 minutes to firm it up before scooping.

Storing

Store the cookies in a single layer in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Note that they will soften up more when stored this way. You can also refrigerate them if preferred.

stack of 3 cookies on parchment with two more blurred out in the background

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5 from 12 votes

Vegan, Gluten-Free Chickpea Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine Gluten-Free, Vegan

Keyword chocolate, chocolate chip cookies, dairy-free, egg free, gluten free manicotti, grain-free, nut free, refined sugar free, vegan

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 11

Cooling Time 15

Total Time 22

Servings cookies

Calories 171kcal

Author Sireesha A.

Ingredients

6 tablespoon vegan butter, softened but not melted (use soy-free if needed)
½ cup coconut sugar
3 tablespoon aquafaba (measured as is in liquid form)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups chickpea flour (aka garbanzo bean flour)
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon gluten-free, grain-free baking powder (such as Pamela's)
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup vegan, refined sugar-free chocolate chips (such as Enjoy Life or Davis Chocolate)
Sea salt to taste, optional

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F and line a large baking sheet (I used a half sheet pan) with parchment paper. If you do not have a baking sheet large enough, you can use two baking sheets and bake in two different batches. You just want to make sure the cookies are not too close to each other on the tray.
Using a spoon, mix together vegan butter, coconut sugar, aquafaba and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl until well-combined.
In a separate bowl, combine chickpea flour, kosher salt, baking powder and baking soda.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix together with a spoon.
Fold in chocolate chips
Use a cookie scoop (I used a #40 disher) or your hands to create 15 dough balls.
Press down each dough ball lightly with your fingers.
Bake for 11-15 minutes (mine took 13 minutes). If you are baking in two batches, ensure the second tray is kept away from the heat of the oven until you take the first batch out. You can keep it in the refrigerator if desired.
If you are using the optional sea salt, sprinkle sea salt to taste onto the baked cookies as soon as they come out of the oven.
Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes to ensure the cookies are set. Then, use a flat spatula (turner) to transfer cookies to a cooling rack for 10 more minutes.

(Please refer to the post above for instructional photographs and other helpful information for this recipe)

Suggested Equipment/Tools

Half Sheet Pan

Size #40 Disher

Notes

You can use regular baking powder if you don't need it to be grain-free. If you cannot find grain-free baking powder or do not want to use it, you can omit the baking powder altogether and increase the baking soda to ½ teaspoon. This will elicit a similar result, but the texture of the cookies will be slightly different.

To gather aquafaba, place a mesh strainer over a small mixing bowl and drain canned chickpeas right into the bowl. Be sure to use no salt added chickpeas. After the chickpeas are drained, pour the aquafaba into a mason jar, put on the lid tightly and shake well before using. Store the sealed mason jar of aquafaba in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.

Cookies taste best when stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Cookies will soften during storage. You can also refrigerate them to last a couple more days.

The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. Accuracy is not guaranteed. Information shown should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Please note the nutrition calculation for this recipe does not include the optional sea salt, nor does it include the aquafaba since there is limited information regarding its nutritional composition. According to this Healthline article, aquafaba adds approximately 3-5 calories per tablespoon.

Nutrition

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