Gaaah!  James posted this photo on Facebook last week, and people were clamoring for the recipe:

“Seems like there was a lot of interest in this recipe so here it is. You don’t taste the chick pea at all and they are REALLY delicious. I will be making them again.

Giving credit where credit is due I found this recipe from an email from Pinterest. It took me to the site of Texanerin.com”

Hmm, the phrase “You don’t taste the chick peas at all” strikes fear into my heart, especially in connection with cookies.  But since it’s from James and we trust him, here’s the recipe.  I’m still trying to get up the courage to make them.

UPDATE 9/3/2017:  I made them and you know what?   They really are good!  You absolutely would not know they contained the dreaded chickpea.  (Dreaded only because chickpeas have no place in a cookie.  Yes, I’m judgey that way.)  I would recommend NOT pressing the balls down to look like cookies because they do not have a cookie crispness at all and you will be disappointed.  They really should look like dough balls because that is what they are!

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups roasted and salted peanuts (or 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons of all-natural peanut butter)*
1- 15.5 Ounce can of chickpeas, well-rinsed, drained and patted dry with a paper towel
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup honey (agave or maple syrup for vegan)
1 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of sea salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips (use vegan and dairy-free chocolate chips, if desired)

Method:
Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Put the peanuts in a food processor (a blender will NOT work). Process for one minute then scrape down sides. Continue processing and scraping at one minute intervals. In four minutes, you should have delicious, amazing peanut butter. NOTE:  At the 2 minute, 30 second mark or so, the peanut butter will be extremely thick. Do NOT be tempted to add oil or liquid, just keep processing.  You can also use store bought natural peanut butter (1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons).

Leave 1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons in the food processor (store any remaining in the refrigerator). Add all the other ingredients except for the chocolate chips  and process until very smooth. Make sure to scrape the sides and the top to get the little chunks of chickpeas and process again until they’re combined.

Add the chocolate chips and stir them in. The mixture will be very thick and sticky. At this point, I put the bowl of dough in the freezer to firm up the dough.

With wet hands, form into 1 1/2″ balls. Place onto a Silpat- or parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. If you want them to look more like regular cookies, press down slightly on the balls. They don’t rise much.
Bake for about 10-12 minutes. Do not overbake. The dough balls will still be very soft when you take them out of the oven. They will not set like normal cookies. The bottom of the cookies will brown. Cool on wire racks.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature (or in the fridge) for up to 1 week.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

*1.  If you opt for not making the peanut butter do NOT use regular peanut butter! The cookies will come out too oily. You MUST use natural peanut butter.

2.  If you need grain-free baking powder, you can use 1 part cream of tartar + 1 part baking soda + 2 parts arrowroot.