These 3-Ingredient Chickpea Cookies Are The Secret To Healthier Holiday Snacking

Few would deny that snacks are amazing. Having a little treat to tide us over between meals can sometimes brighten our entire day. But, with the holidays coming up, we'll be eating a lot of rich meals, not to mention snacks that might become a bit heftier, too. If you want to snack healthier this holiday season, all you need is a batch of three-ingredient cookies made from chickpeas (which are actually the same thing as garbanzo beans).

To make these cookies, all you need besides the chickpeas are peanut butter and your choice of sweetener. Simply blend them all together (equivalent weights of cooked chickpeas and peanut butter, with sweetener to taste, is a good pace to start). Then, bake them in the oven and enjoy. If you want to make it even easier, you can also potentially bake these cookies in the air fryer (though you may need to calculate batches and cook times differently). 

These treats are rich in protein, and the chickpeas provide plenty of manganese, an essential mineral for bone and brain health, as well as vitamin B. They're also tasty and chewy, making them practically perfect for a healthy holiday snack. One of the best parts about these cookies is that they're vegan, gluten-free, and can easily be made kosher and halal. It can vary depending on the exact sweeteners and peanut butter you use, but this still means that they're easily suited to any holiday gathering, and almost every guest can enjoy them. Just be mindful of peanut allergies before you bring them to an event.

Another great aspect of your chickpea peanut butter cookies is how customizable they are. Since they're so simple, you have plenty of room to tweak these treats to your taste. A little salt goes a long way in adding complexity and depth, and with a dash of vanilla or lemon juice, you can give your cookies a major flavor boost. A small amount of baking soda can add leavening to lighten up the texture. You might also experiment with peanut butter substitutes, like cashew butter.

And that's hardly the end of it. You can easily add chocolate chips to your cookie recipe for a fun spin on the classic chocolate chip cookie, as long as you avoid making mistakes that can ruin the cookies, of course. Other great additives are nuts, cinnamon, coconut, or raisins. Take a look at your favorite cookie recipes and see what you think would work with these chickpea treats.

If you're not worried about extra sugar, another great addition to your chickpea cookies is frosting. Frosting is a cookie classic, especially for holiday cookies, and there's no reason this recipe needs to be any different. Make them into fun shapes and give them festive designs with different colored frostings. With just a little effort, your chickpea cookies can be the healthy highlight of your next holiday get-together.