Crispy Roasted Chickpeas

Chickpeas sure are great, aren't they? You can use them in dips, salads, stir fries, cookies, waffles (coming soon!), and just as a crunchy snack. I've heard about roasting chickpeas, so I thought I'd give it a try. We keep a good amount of snacks in the house so I figured we might as well keep some healthy ones lying around!

Ingredients: (I didn't measure anything -- just use your best judgment)

chickpeas - I used dried and then cooked them before this

a couple tbsp. olive oil

spices - I used a combination of garlic powder, paprika, chili powder, cumin, cayenne, and salt

Instructions:

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

- Dry your chickpeas! I spread mine out over some napkins and just blotted them dry.

- Toss your chickpeas in olive oil. Make sure they're all coated!

- Bake these for 15 minutes, add your spices and stir around, and then another 15 minutes until golden in color. If you're able to dry yours better than I did, yours might not take this long. However, keep an eye out -- they may take longer!

- Transfer to a bowl or plate to cool off before eating. Be careful because they will be really hot!

Even though I think I could make a few minor alterations next time, I really enjoyed these. I think I cooked them a tad bit too long (they got SUPER crunchy after sitting for a couple hours) and I also think some of the spices burned. I added the spices before cooking them at all, so I recommend adding them halfway through the cooking process to avoid this. All in all, I'll be keeping chickpeas on hand at home just so I can make these. Who knows, maybe one of these days I'll try them in my new dehydrator. Hmmm...

Chickpea-Almond-Chocolate Chip Cookies

We bought chickpea flour a couple weeks ago to make falafel, but we ended up finding chickpea/fava bean flour together and bought that as well. When I made falafel a few nights ago with the chickpea/fava bean flour, I realized how fluffy they turned out. I instantly started thinking about making pancakes with the chickpea flour, or waffles, or even... cookies! How didn't I think of this before? There are lots of recipes out there that use whole chickpeas or even whole black beans in desserts. Why wouldn't this work? Well, I literally just made them an hour ago and am already sharing them here because they are SO GOOD. I couldn't wait to share this with everyone! I decided to go ahead and make a healthier type of cookie. I was worried about the sweetness but it wasn't an issue at all. This recipes makes around 14 cookies.

Ingredients:
1 c. chickpea flour
1 c. rolled oats (not instant)
1/2 c. finely shredded unsweetened coconut
2 tbsp. flaxseed meal
1 tsp. baking soda
dash of salt and cinnamon

1/2 c. unsweetened natural applesauce
1/4 c. unsweetened almond milk
1/2 c. agave
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 tbsp. canola oil

1/2 c. chocolate chips
1/2 c. almonds, roughly chopped

Instructions:
- Using your food processor, grind your rolled oats into a flour-like consistency.
- Mix all dry ingredients in a medium size bowl, including your oats but not including your chocolate chips and almonds.
- Mix wet ingredients in a large bowl.
- Slowly incorporate your dry into your wet, making sure not to over mix.
- Let sit in refrigerator for 10 minutes while your oven preheats (350 degrees).
- Drop your cookie dough onto a well oiled cookie sheet, making sure to space them apart at least an inch.
- Bake for 10 minutes or until edges start to brown.

- Let cool on a cooling rack until ready to eat!

I am sure proud of these babies! They turned out moist, nutty, sweet, and OH SO GOOD! They are especially yummy right out of the oven. Feel free to use whatever fixings you want... dried fruit, pecans, walnuts, etc. I was really in the mood for some chocolate chip cookies and these seemed to hit the spot. I think next time I'll throw in some dried cranberries as well.