Healthy cookie dough? Can it really be? Normally cookie dough is made with sugar, brown sugar and eggs. Almost all of us can remember licking the beaters when our mom’s or ourselves were making chocolate chip cookies.
Then came edible cookie dough that you didn’t have to bake. What a concept! I can skip a step and eat that cookie dough right from a container? BRILLIANT!
Again, many edible (and I will say delicious) cookie doughs are still full of sugars and that is something I try and avoid. This recipe also doesn’t contain flour, eggs or rising agents.
Then comes the question, how can I make it healthier?
Well, chickpeas are one of those legumes that seem to take on any flavor you give it. The most notable way to use chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans) is in hummus. Chickpeas are an excellent source of fiber, vitamins and minerals too.
Ok, wait, have I lost you with chickpeas? It’s ok, really it is, chickpeas will make up the “bulk” of your edible cookie dough and you’ll feel good about eating them. Even the fussiest chickpea eater may enjoy this.
Moving on from chickpeas, we also used unsalted natural Peanut Butter. Personally I feel that the chickpeas took on the flavor of the peanut butter and in my world, all was good. We use Crazy’s Richards creamy natural peanut butter with zero sodium.
How to sweeten? Have you heard of lucuma powder? We’ve been adding it to our smoothies for about a year and substitute lucama powder for sugars. Lucuma is a fruit that is native to Peru and has a sweet taste, like maple syrup, and a creamy texture.
One tablespoon of lucuma powder contains 75% less sugar than regular table sugar. It has health benefits too which is another bonus and great reason to add lucuma powder to your diet. It’s rich in antioxidants and high in xanthophylls. Lucuma contains zinc, calcium, Vitamin C, fiber, potassium, and iron. Lucuma powder is low on the Glycemic Index so it won’t cause blood sugar to spike.
Lucuma’s research is still emerging but other benefits are that it may help manage blood sugar levels, improve energy and cognitive function, help support the immune system, may improve cardiovascular health, assist muscle recovery, and may reduce inflammation.
If you’re baking with lucuma powder, you’ll want to substitute 2 tablespoons lucuma powder to 1 tablespoon of sugar or brown sugar. Depending on how “sweet” you want something to taste, you may need to adjust that.
With our healthy edible cookie dough, we ended up going with 4 tablespoons lucuma powder as we tested the recipe while in between scrapping the food processor.
Next we added Life’s Abundance Vanilla Plant Protein Powder. Not only have we used this every morning in our smoothies for years, it’s also our go-to plant protein powder for our recipes. It’s doesn’t have a strong taste so it doesn’t mess up the flavor when added. It’s gluten free, grain free, dairy free and doesn’t contain added sugars, artificial flavors, colors or preservatives.
If you’re looking for more recipes using Life’s Abundance Vanilla Plant Protein Powder, visit our blog here and our sister blog here. Our personal favorites are the Pumpkin Spice Protein Pancakes and the Healthier Peanut Butter, Oatmeal, and Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies. We make the pancakes every Sunday and the cookies about every 2 weeks. However, that’s going to change with this new healthy edible cookie dough!
We also used ground flaxseeds. Flaxseeds are loaded with health benefits like high in fiber and omega-3 fatty acids, as well as phytochemicals called lignans. We also use them in our morning smoothie and besides being loaded with nutrients, they may improve cholesterol levels and may lower blood pressure.
Healthy Edible Cookie Dough Recipe
Ingredients:
- 15 oz. canned chickpeas, drained
- 1/4 c. unsalted, natural peanut butter (heaping)
- 4 tablespoons lucuma powder
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
- 1 tablespoon Life’s Abundance Vanilla Plant Protein Powder
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 1/2 tablespoon honey
- 3 tablespoons old fashioned oats
- 3/4 c. dark chocolate chips
Directions:
In a food processor add all ingredients except dark chocolate chips. Pulse until you reach the creamy consistency. You may need a little more or less almond milk but when adding, do so slowly so your mixture doesn’t become watery. Scrap the sides of the food processor as needed to ensure everything is mixed.
If you have a bigger sweet tooth, you can add more lucuma powder or honey. If you add more powder, you most likely will need to add more vanilla almond milk. If you’re adding honey, the mixture will become creamier.
Remove from food processor and stir in dark chocolate chips.
This is best when eaten cold so try and refrigerate it for at least an hour before serving.
If you’re wondering if you can freeze this recipe, we’ll be updating this post with that info. I have some in the freezer and because you can freeze chickpeas, I don’t think this will be a problem.