What is life without COOKIES??

I’m in Love, I’m in Love and I don’t care who knows it…

I’ve been Gluten intolerant for several years and I really miss cookies. Yes, there are gluten-free versions on the market. And there are gluten-free recipes using gluten-free flour, but since giving up most processed foods, I find that gluten-free cookies send my blood sugar and my energy on a roller coaster.

Then one day, after sharing my Black Bean Brownies with a coworker, she said, “Oh my God, these are soooo good!!!” And then she said, “Have you heard about the Garbanzo Bean Cookies?”

And with both excitement and intrigue I replied, “No.”

Immediately I pulled out my iPhone and began Googling. I found several posts using the EXACT same recipe for Chocolate Chip Garbanzo Bean Cookies. Each recipes called for 1 ¼ cups of garbanzo beans, but having measured the yield of a can of garbanzo beans, I know that you get 1 ½ cups of beans from a 15oz can. So I thought, “Why not use the whole can?”  

These same “copied” recipes also call for baking powder. Now, I’m not a food chemist, although I did take many food science classes during my undergrad Nutrition Science coursework, buuuuttt, as far as I know, baking powder doesn’t really do anything unless there is some kind of leavening agent involved, namely eggs or an egg substitute. So what IS the point of the baking powder in these cookies??? NOTHING. I made these garbanzo bean cookies with and without the baking powder and it did not make one IOTA of a difference.

Some other ingredients found in this recipe include salt, vanilla, peanut butter and chocolate chips, of course.

In the end, I feel this cookie hits the “COOKIE SPOT” without causing the unnerving BLOOD SUGAR rollercoaster found after consuming flour laden cookies.

Aside from modifying the mimicked garbanzo bean cookie recipe, I also came up with some variations based on taste and/or supplies…

Here is my rendition of Chocolate Chip Garbanzo Bean Cookies…

Garbanzo Bean Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ready in 30 minutes                                                                                                    –    Makes 20 servings

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

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+ 1 ½ cups garbanzo beans, one 15 oz can, drained

(save liquid in a bowl in case you need to add moisture)

+ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

+ 1/4 cup Organic Dark Brown Sugar

 

+ 1/2 cup ALMOND butter or nut butter of your choice

(I prefer the taste of the cookies with almond butter over peanut butter)

 

+ 1/4 cup ground flax seeds (for binding)

(You can make the cookies without the flax but it helps keep them together better & adds a bunch of OMEGA-3 fats!!)

+ 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

ONE

Place everything, EXCEPT the chocolate chips, in a food processor. You can also use a blender but you will need to push the ingredients down without hitting the blades. It’s tricky, so be careful. 

TWO

Blend to a creamy, cookie dough, or pudding-like, consistency. Add liquid, if needed, about 2 Tablespoons at a time, until you reach the desired consistency. If you’re batter is thinner than pudding, it’s OK. The cookies will be a bit flatter but still cookie-like.

Add the chocolate chips and pulse to combine.

THREE

Use a teaspoon & a spatula to spoon the batter onto the tray. Scoop batter with the spoon and push the batter off the spoon with the spatula. Don’t worry if your batter doesn’t fall in a perfect circle.

Since these cookies won’t rise, you can place them fairly close to each other; at least four rows across and six rows down.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 – 27 minutes or until the edges just begin to brown.

Remove from oven and let cool. These cookies are more like little cakes. They are AWESOME straight out of the oven or even the next day or two. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Label & date and consume or share within a week. OR freeze for later consumption. They thaw within a few hours in the refrigerator or in an oven set at 350 degrees for 5 minutes.

 

Cost per serving: $0.26

Nutrients per serving (1 cookie / 24g):  Calories: 84, Total Fat: 5 g, Total Carbohydrates: 10 g, Dietary Fiber: 2 g, Protein: 2.5 g, Sodium: 4 mg

Omega-3 Fats: 210 mg, Omega-6 fats: 990 mg

RATIO Omega-6: Omega-3 = 4.7:1 (ideal is < 4:1)

% Daily Value

20% manganese

9% magnesium

9% copper

7% vitamin E

7% folate

7% phosphorus

6% iron

4% niacin

4% zinc

4% calcium

4% potassium

3% riboflavin

2% selenium

2% B-6

2% thiamine

1% vitamin D

0% B12

0% vitamin C

 

 

 

 

Ready in 30 minutes  Makes 20 servings

Ready in 30 minutes  Makes 20 servings

Ready in 30 minutes  Makes 20 servings