Secret-Ingredient Chocolate Chip Cookies (or cookie dough!)
No eggs, sugar, butter, oil, or flour.
Healthy.
Cookie dough.
Need I say more? When your sweet tooth strikes, this is quick to whip up for a nutritious snack or treat. And feel free to throw in all the yummy things you have in your pantry–chopped nuts, dried cranberries, flaked coconut, seeds of all sorts.
This cookie dough is high in plant protein and the nutrients folate and magnesium, both of which may reduce chances of depression. As if cookie dough doesn’t reduce depression as it is!
Although 90% of the time I just eat this as cookie dough, I’ve updated the recipe to also be baked into cookies if preferred! Can you even believe the cookies in this picture are basically beans? (I would have a hard time believing if I hadn’t just made them and eaten half that batch all by myself!).
This is one of the treats we make most often at my house. In fact, when I cook up a batch of chickpeas in the Instant Pot, my husband usually perks up and asks, “Are you making cookies?” You know you’re getting a little weird when that happens!
If you like healthy chocolatey treats, don’t miss my Banana Chocolate Cake with the Healthiest Chocolate Frosting, and my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, naturally-sweetened.
No-bake cookie dough to eat right out of the bowl (but can also be baked if you prefer!). High in protein, fiber, and folate and very popular among kids and adults. You won't taste the secret ingredient--promise!
- 1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed or 1 1/4 cups, cooked
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder (you can omit if not planning to bake dough)
- 1/4 cup peanut butter (or nut butter of choice)
- 3/4 cup oats
- 1/2 cup honey or maple syrup (or sub coconut sugar)
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/4 c dried cranberries, walnuts, coconut flakes optional
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Combine all ingredients except chocolate chips in a food processor. (If you don't have a food processor, you can use a blender but you may need to add some almond milk to make it thinner, and your cookie dough will be a bit runnier but still taste great as cookie dough). Blend until very smooth.
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Stir in chocolate chips. Chopped nuts and shredded coconut are also delicious stir-ins. Added flax, chia or hemp seeds sneak in even more protein and omega-3's.
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Eat as is!
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Preheat oven to 350. Place heaping tablespoon-fulls on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on the baking sheet completely before removing with a spatula. Makes 12 cookies.
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I make the secret ingredient chocolate chip cookies and found that they baked up really well. They were also delicious! I found that i was able to eat more at one time because they are not as filling as cookies made with flour. That’s a good thing! Thanks Faith
I’m so glad you liked them! Thank you for the feedback!
So yummy!I I Will make them again🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪
I’m so glad you liked them, Melanie! Thank you for taking the time to comment!
Uh-oh, I’m in serious trouble. I found a replacement for regular chocolate chip cookies that doesn’t contain white, brown sugar or eggs and it is addicting! With the added peanut butter it elevates it to divine for sure. I didn’t even get a chance to bake them up because we all just sat around and ate the dough, so yummy. My kids loved it, and didn’t even know it was a healthy option. I’m going to double it next time so hopefully we’ll have enough to bake and try them as cookies.
I feel ya, girl! I don’t know what I did before chickpea cookie dough!
Such a creative way to use chickpeas! My kids gobbled the dough up before I had the chance to bake them, so I’m going to have to make them again and try to bake them this time! I think if you gave them to somebody who didn’t have the ingredient list, they would have no idea that there is a can of protein packed beans in it.
I made this as a double batch in a blender and it worked fabulously. We used m&ms instead of chocolate chips. It was DELICIOUS as both the cookie dough and baked cookies!!
That’s so good to hear it worked in a blender! I have never had the courage to try. Thanks for the feedback!
We’ve made this at least 20 times in the past 3 months. It’s delicious. We now ALWAYS double the recipe and it usually doesn’t last to be cooked up haha. We found it to be really sweet so when we double the batch we don’t double the sweetener (honey/maple syrup) and we still love it! Cookie dough is my weakness so this is the perfect lower-guilt guilty-pleasure option 😊
Good to know about the sweetener! We also make this pretty often because we always have the ingredients, and it’s more instant gratification than having to wait for cookies to bake. 😉 Thank you for coming back to comment, Tasha!
I froze the dough into small balls so we could make cookie dough “ice cream” with bananas. I can also highly HIGHLY recommend freezing this recipe – sooooooooo delicious!!
Oh man, what a great idea! I love cookie dough ice cream!
I was so pleasantly surprised. I’m used to saying, “you can’t even tell it’s a healthy alternative” knowing that you really can. But these are awesome. I’m going to share the recipe with all the bakers in my family. I agree that they come out quite sweet (another pleasant surprise) and could easily use less. I’m trying a frozen roll to slice and bake later. We’ll see how it goes!
Haha, totally know what you mean about being able to tell it’s a healthier version. 😉 To me, it’s worth the difference in taste for the health benefits, but that’s not the case for everyone. So glad you liked them, and please let me know how the freeze and slice and bake option goes!
This cookie is a staple in our home. I always need something sweet at night after dinner, and this cookie does it for me. I add coconut and walnuts and it is delicious!
Made these today and my husband said “best cookie ever” . I’m diabetic so these are a godsend, won’t raise my blood sugars YEA!! They are REALLY good!! Thanks Faith!
Yay! So great to find a satisfying healthier alternative. 🙂