– vegan – grain free – gluten free – oil free – refined sugar free –
Soft, fudgy, gooey, melt-in-your-mouth. These healthy cookies are flourless thanks to a special healthy ingredient: chickpeas!
Cooking essentials:
A blender or food processor
A baking sheet
See below for substitutions and nutritional information.
[mpprecipe-recipe:69]
For these brownie cookies, you will need:
- Chickpeas (garbanzo beans): a nutrient-dense food, loaded with vitamins, minerals, protein, fiber and healthy fats. Just one cup of chickpeas has 10 grams of protein, 4 grams of fat and 10 grams of fiber. Additionally, one cup has 12% of your daily omega-6, 70% of your manganese, 43% of your copper, 18% of your phosphorus and much more.
- Natural Peanut butter: a great way to sweeten your recipe and get some added protein, healthy fats and fiber. However, peanut butter is also high in calories, so it is best to adhere to the recommended serving size if trying to lose weight. Be sure to choose a peanut butter brand that is least processed to prevent added ingredients like sugar and trans fat. Look for peanut butter that contains only peanuts and maybe salt. Substitutions: any nut/seed butter.
- Nut/oat/soy milk, unsweetened: a great dairy-free alternative to cow’s milk since it has less calories and less sugar. Depending on your milk of choice, dairy-free milk is a great source of calcium and vitamin D. Be sure to buy unsweetened milk for this recipe to prevent added sugars.
- Pure maple syrup: although high in sugar, is loaded with 24 antioxidants that help protect against free radical damage. It also contains anti-inflammatory properties that help to protect against chronic diseases, brain inflammation, intestinal inflammation, and nerve inflammation. Therefore, pure maple syrup is a great natural sweetener when used in moderation. Fake maple syrup is made with high fructose corn syrup and provides zero health benefits.
- Pure vanilla extract: I recommend choosing a higher quality vanilla extract, as cheap vanilla extract often has artificial flavors and caramel coloring that disrupts digestive health. Stay away from extract that has propylene glycol, which is essentially just antifreeze. Pure vanilla extract is actually a great antioxidant and can reduce inflammation.
- Cacao powder: a great way to get all the flavor of chocolate without all the sugar that comes along with it. Note that there is a difference between cacao and cocoa powder. It is important to choose a high quality cacao powder, which is richer in magnesium, iron, potassium and calcium. Cocoa powder, although cheaper, typically contains unnecessary fillers and less minerals and antioxidants.
- Baking powder
- Sea salt: a natural alternative to table salt, which is more heavily processed and contains additives.
- Dairy-free dark chocolate chunks: although normally brought up with negative connotations, chocolate (particularly dark chocolate) in moderation has many health benefits, as it is loaded with minerals. Just 2 ounces (1/3 cup) provides 100% of your daily copper intake, 37% of your iron, 42% of your magnesium, 61% of your manganese, 25% of your phosphorus, 23% of your zinc and 16% of your potassium. Not many other foods can boast this many minerals! I recommend buying high quality, organic dark chocolate that is free from vegetable oils and artificial colors & flavors that disturb the digestive system. Furthermore, look for chocolate that is made with cacao rather than cocoa, since cacao is richer in magnesium, iron, potassium and calcium. For this recipe, I used dark chocolate made with 72% cacao. Anything above 70% cacao will provide you with the healthful benefits in chocolate. Remember to check the serving size of your chocolate, as very little is needed to get its benefits and over-consuming is not good for health.
