If there was a competition for a healthy, yet delicious cookie, these here would definitely be in a running. They are not too sweet, they are gluten-free and completely vegan, and they contain a good amount of protein thanks to using chickpea flour. I sometimes call these hummus cookies as chickpeas and sesame (in a form of tahini for hummus) are the main components for both snacks, but in reality, they don’t taste anything like hummus. Luckily. I know that sweet hummus exists, but it is really not my thing. Now, of course, I started wondering if savory hummus cookies could also be a thing. I think they could, but this needs some extra exploring from my side first. I will keep you posted if my trials turn out to be a success!
But back to the recipe that I am sharing with you today! As said, they are healthy and delicious. They are not super crispy but rather quite soft all the way through. In Estonian, we have a specific word for crispy cookies – “küpsis”, and another word for softer and usually slightly glazed cookies, which we call – “präänik”. These cookies rather remind me of präänik. If I think back now, I haven’t had one for at least 20 years…. But maybe präänik-cookies are making a comeback to my baking in other forms too, time will tell!
Chickpea Sesame Cookies
Makes: 12
Cooking time: 10 minutes to prep, 20 minutes in the oven
Ingredients:
½ cup warm water
¼ cup coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla paste
A dash of salt
¼ cup coconut sugar
¼ dark chocolate chips
1 ½ cups chickpea flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ cups sesame seeds
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 360F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
Mix water, coconut oil, vanilla paste, coconut sugar, and a dash of salt. As oil and water are not best friends, they might not end up completely homogenous, this is okay.
To the same bowl, add the chocolate chips, then chickpea flour, and finally the baking powder. Before mixing the whole lot, try to incorporate the baking powder slightly into the flour (If you like doing dishes you can mix them first in a separate bowl. I don’t 😊), then mix everything so you get a firm but sticky dough.
Place the sesame seeds on a plate.
With wet hands, divide the dough into 12 balls and roll them out between your hands. The dough is very sticky, but it will not stick to wet hands, so make sure to wet them if the dough starts sticking again.
Roll the balls in the sesame seeds and then with dry hands (as seeds stick to wet hands) gently press the balls into round cookies between your palms.
Bake for about 20 minutes until slightly browned. They taste great when warm, but if you are not planning to eat all of them in one go, place them on a cooling rack and then store them in an airtight container.
By Kadri Raig
Kadri is a food blogger and yoga teacher from Estonia. She loves to spend time in the kitchen, but most of her recipes are simple and don’t take more than 20 minutes of active cooking time. She thinks that everybody can find time to cook healthy food at home, it is just a question of planning. "I work in an office full time, teach yoga 7-8 hours a week and write a blog. So if I manage to cook most of my meals, then so do you!" Connect with Kadri and enjoy many more of her delicious healthy recipes on her website here: www.kahvliga.ee.