Edible cookie dough two ways (GF, dairy free, vegan)

We try not to keep sweets and desserts in the house because I have little to no willpower. The other day I had a craving for something sweet because I was sleep deprived from a long night of sitting up with our foster dog who was terrified of all the fireworks on the 4th of July.

There I was craving a little something sweet for comfort but didn't want something loaded with sugar, and I didn't want to run to the store, so it had to be something I could whip up from my pantry. As any of us would, I started browsing healthy desserts on Pinterest and came across a few edible/"healthy" cookie dough recipes. I had seen a recipe here or there in the past but never really looked at them. But today the idea of eating cookie dough was what I knew would hit the spot.

From my brief research of recipes on Pinterest there seemed to be 2 main ways to make this edible cookie dough: from chickpeas or from protein powder. So I decided to try out each! Of course I put my own twist on the recipes I found and tweaked them based on my taste and what I had on hand. I hope you like them!

The first one I created was from chickpeas. From reading through several recipes, the most important tip seemed to be to remove the skin from each chickpea before blending them up in a food processor. This would ensure a smoother dough.

One recipe suggested that after you rinse and drain them, you put them in a towel and roll them around on the counter to remove the skin. I didn't try that method myself but wanted to share with you all in case you wanted to give it a whirl! I opted for removing the skin by hand one-by-one to ensure I got them all.

I chose to sweeten this cookie dough using some dates I found in the back of the pantry. They were pretty dry so I heated some water in the teapot and poured it over 4 dates to reconstitute. While they sat in their little warm bath, I rinsed, drained and shelled my chickpeas.

One recipe I looked at recommended to grind up 1 TB of chia seeds (I used my Nutribullet but it was hard to clean up!) and throw that in. The purpose of this would be to bind everything together. I did it this time, but I honestly wouldn't do it again. You can just add the chia seeds in whole and let the food processor do the work or you could try a flax egg or just skip entirely. I think it would all blend together just fine without.

And then this is when it gets easy! You throw all the ingredients except for the chocolate chips into a food processor and blend until smooth or really whatever consistency you want!

I ended up adding a little extra almond milk to get it just right for me! Once it's blended to your satisfaction transfer to a bowl and mix in the chocolate or any other mix-ins you want! I think coconut would be yummy. I didn't have chocolate chips but I did have a Lily's dark chocolate bar that I chopped up.

Of course I didn't stop there! This first one was delicious! But it was a little time consuming with prepping the chickpeas and dates. And I wanted to try one using protein powder.

The only protein powder I had in the house was vegan chocolate Shakeology so that is what I used. I think vanilla Shakeology or even just a regular vanilla protein powder would have made it better but desperate times call for desperate measures and chocolate was all I had. i think it turned out pretty good still!

For this recipe, I started with throwing my dry ingredients in a bowl while I melted the coconut oil and peanut butter in the microwave.

In a separate bowl I mashed up 1/2 banana which was going to be my sweetener for this recipe. Make sure to mash it up really good! I went back after this picture and mashed even more. You want to get all the lumps out if possible.

Then I took the mashed banana, melted oil and peanut butter and the rest of the wet ingredients and mixed them into the dry ingredients. Again you can add more almond mix or almond flour to get the consistency you want. Then I mixed in my chocolate!

Two great options to fulfill a sweet craving without the guilt! Dig in!

I will say that the protein powder cookie dough was better after chilling it in the fridge for an hour or 2.

Let me know what you think!

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Chickpea edible cookie dough

Prep time: 30 minutes

Yield: 4-6 servings

1 can of chickpeas, drained, rinsed

4 dates

1 TB chia seeds, ground (optional)

2 TB almond flour

3 TB almond butter

3 TB almond milk

1/2 TB vanilla extract

Dash of salt

1/4-1/2 cup of chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips

Place dates in a bowl and cover with hot water. Let sit while you remove the skin off of each chickpea. You can do this by hand one-by-one by pressing the chickpea between your thumb and index finger, or dump the chickpeas on a towel, cover and roll around in towel under skins come off.

Remove dates from water and remove seeds. Place chickpeas, dates and all ingredients except the chocolate chips in a food processor. Blend until smooth or the consistency you like. You may need to add a little more almond milk if mixture is too dry.

Once blended, transfer to a bowl. Mix in chocolate by hand and enjoy! Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.

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Protein powder edible cookie dough

Prep time: 20 minutes

Yield: 4-6 servings

1/2 cup protein powder or Shakeology (vanilla is best but you can use any flavor. I also used a vegan option as that is my preference by whey would work too)

1/4 cup almond flour

2 TB coconut flour

1/2 banana

1 TB peanut butter

1 TB coconut oil

1 tsp almond milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Dash of salt

1/4-1/2 cup of chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips

Place protein powder, almond and coconut flour in a bowl.

In another bowl, mash the banana with a fork until almost no lumps are present.

In a microwave safe bowl place the peanut butter and coconut oil. Microwave for about 30 seconds or until melted.

Add mashed banana, melted peanut butter and coconut oil and all other ingredients except for chocolate chips into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Mix until well combined or you achieve your desired consistency. You may need to add more almond flour or almond milk to get desired consistency.

Mix in chocolate and enjoy! This recipe is best enjoyed after the dough has chilled. Store any leftover dough in an airtight container for up to 7 days.