Chocolate chunk cookie pie

Another cookie-pie you might be thinking…?  Oh yes, but it’s a full throtle ‘Cookie Pie’ not a breakfast cookie-pie.

This warm and melty chocolately pie tastes like cookie dough….only it’s good for you! Would I ever let you down?

You’ve probably already guessed what’s coming next…beans. Ok it’s another chickpea recipe, but hey what’s not to love when chickpeas can taste this good (i.e like cookie dough pie!)  There are so many recipes of this kind floating  around blog world and so it was only a matter of time before I attempted a healthy, gluten free version of my own. 

This is the second time I have made this dessert and the fist time it was tasty but a little dry. The second time around it was perfect. I attributed this to two factors... 1) don’t skip the dates as they add a caramelly sweetness and moistness, 2) make sure you don’t over cook the pie- it wants to be only just cooked when tested with a skewer.

To take the decadence factor up a notch I teamed this pie served warm from the oven (so so so good served hot) with a dollop of my newly developed super healthy dark chocolate ice cream. You will think I’m crazy when I tell you this ice cream has beans in it too (black beans this time!) but I’m gonna make you wait for that recipe….

A healthy, high protein, warm and comforting dessert…perfect whatever the weather be it summer or winter…you can never go wrong with a slice of cookie pie for dessert. Top tip: don’t skimp on the choc chunks…the oozy melty part is the best bit! (see the difference between the top pic and the one below- no melted chunks below)

Recipe: Chocolate chunk cookie pie

7” round cake pan

Ingredients

1 cup cooked chickpeas

4 tbs vegan yoghurt (or apple sauce)

1 tbs coconut oil- melted

3tbs agave

1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ cup buckwheat flour

¼ cup quinoa flakes (could sub oats*)

Approx. 1/3 cup finely chopped dates

¼ cup chopped nuts (I used hazlenuts)

Tiny pinch salt

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ cup dark chocolate chunks (reserving some for the top)

Handful of nuts for top- optional

Sprinkle of coconut sugar or rapadura- optional for a crisp topping

Method

Blend the wet ingredients with the chickpeas in a food processor/blender until smooth. Mix all remaining ingredients (other than choc) together in a medium bowl and then add the blended wet ingredients. Mix together , adding the chocolate chunks last (reserve a handful for topping).  

Spoon the batter into a smallish approx. 7” greased round or square cake pan, smoothing the top with a knife and sprinkling the remaining choc chunks/nuts for decoration. Press the nuts and chocolate lightly into the batter.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for approx. 15 mins until cooked through and slightly golden. Be careful not to overcook otherwise you’ll have a drier cake…still tasty but much better moist!

* for further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Double choc cookie dough balls and batter

Some months ago, at around the time I first discovered the ‘magical powers’ of chickpeas, I made a cookie dough dip, and subsequently some half-baked cookie dough balls.

These were both pretty yummy...but... this week I had another thought and knew I could do even better!

Enter the super (super) healthy double choc chip cookie dough dip and half baked balls!

Even healthier? How?

Chickpeas and sweet potato!

My blondie and sticky toffee pudding recipes both use a combination of chickpeas and sweet potato as their bases and judging by the amount of times I have made both these recipes...and eaten spoonfuls of the mixture before adding the dry ingredients...it would indicate that this batter is in need of a little recognition all of its own!

The batter can easily be transformed into half baked balls with the addition of a few extra dry ingredients so feel free to whip up a few of each. You will note that the recipe is now ‘double chocolate’. Apart from giving it an even more indulgent twist, the sweet potato turns the batter quite an orangey colour which doesn’t so much give the impression of cookie dough, but with the addition of a little cocoa powder it all becomes so much more!

I baked my balls for around 8-10 minutes and they still have a soft cakey centre. I think they would probably have even more of a half-baked feel to them with a shorter baking period. So I would suggest you take one out after 5-6 minutes and cut through it so see if the centre is how you like it, if not leave them in a few extra minutes. Just be sure not to overbake, otherwise you’ll have regular cookie balls- though I guess that is not necessarily a bad thing either.

One more note, the cookie ball batter with the flour added is still fairly sticky and needed to be dolloped onto the baking sheet although I then lightly used my palms to form a more rounded ball. You could of course add more flour (or less sweet potato) to the mix to make a firmer dough that could be scooped/rolled but I would imagine the centre would not be so soft- if you try this you could add a big choc chunk to the centre so that it goes all melty when heated (Ooooo that’s an idea!).

Makes 2 ½ cups batter or approx. 12-16 balls (depending on size)

Ingredients- batter

1 cup cooked sweet potato

¼ cup coconut butter- melted

¼ cup peanut butter

½ cup agave plus ½ tsp stevia

2 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup chickpeas

3 tbs cocoa powder

¼ tsp baking soda

½ tsp cinnamon

¼- ½ cup dark choc chunks

Ingredients- half baked balls:

Add all above ingredients plus:

¼ tsp baking powder

2 cups flour (spelt or GF) I used 1 cup ground oats, ½ cup tapioca, ½ cup ground almonds

Add extra choc chunks if desired

Method

Blend together all ingredients (except choc chunks) until a smooth batter is formed. Add the choc chunks last and lightly mix through.

For the cookie dough batter it should be soft and easily spoonable- served into a medium bowl.

For the balls the dough should be fairly stiff. Spoon dollops on to a greased baking sheet and lightly roll in your hands to get a smooth shaped dollop. Bake for 5-10 mins at 180C. The outside should be cooked and the centres soft.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Cookie dough dip

At the time I was experimenting with my bitter chocolate thins in sandwich form I also came across a recipe for a cookie dough dip on Chocolate Covered Katie’s blog. It uses chickpeas as its main ingredient which had me intrigued since I’ve used chickpeas here in my baking before. The principle of the recipe was so simple that I couldn’t help having a go myself. This is now the second time I’ve made this dip and in the process I added a few small changes to the original recipe.

In case you’re wondering I then also had to make some chocolate cookies to truly test the dip out. Cookies dipped in cookie dough …. Oh yes double whammy! 

This dip would also be great used as a frosting (thin out with a little more soy milk as necessary), as the cream for a chocolate thins sandwich or dipped with fresh fruit. Feel free to throw in some chocolate chips or whatever you fancy if you eat it on its own as a dessert.

Oh and just one more thing… the notion  of  big globs of ‘cookie dough’ then triggered an idea for another yummy twist on this recipe… don’t worry I’ll be sharing all very soon!

Recipe: Cookie dough dip

Makes 1 small bowlful

Ingredients

100g cooked or canned chickpeas

A pinch of salt

Pinch of baking soda

2 tbs soy milk powder (optional but I think it helps give a more sweet-vanilla-milky edge)

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 tbs peanut butter (or other nut butters for a more ‘neutral’ taste)

Approx. 3 tbs soymilk

3 tbs ground oatmeal

1/4 cup agave plus ¼ tsp stevia

¼ tsp cinnamon or nutmeg

Method

Blend everything together in a food processor until very smooth. If not eating straight way, store in the fridge with clingfilm pressing down on surface so a ‘skin’ doesn’t form.

P.S. You may have noted that my title bar has a new page added called ‘Baking tips’.  I’d had a few queries from readers regarding conversions for the recipes where I’ve used Metric instead of American standards.  For a while now I’d also been meaning to put together a summary of the basic principles that apply to my approach to baking as a whole. So, it was a good incentive to stop dithering and get it written… I hope you find it helps!