Gluten Free Vegan Cookies | Chocolate Pecan Love Bites
These gluten-free, vegan cookies, aka Dark Chocolate Pecan Love Bites, are a healthy family favorite and challenging to keep stocked in the cookie jar! They’re also low FODMAP & are quick and easy to make~perfect for whenever the chocolate craving hits!
Before I divulge my recipe, I thought I would share some of my favorite foods for keeping your beautiful heart in tip-top shape!
Eat More of These Heart-Healthy Foods
- FRUIT. Citrus fruit and apples are high in soluble fiber to help decrease LDL cholesterol. And polyphenol-rich berries may lower blood pressure and raise HDL cholesterol. (1)
- BEANS & LEGUMES. Like certain fruits and veggies, beans are a great source of soluble fiber and contain various flavonoids that help prevent heart disease by lowering blood pressure, improving circulation, and preventing abnormal clotting of blood platelets.
- SEEDS. Flax, chia, and hemp all provide plant-based omega-3 fats, which, although not as powerful as seafood omega-3’s, may also help with heart health. In addition, flaxseed contains phytoestrogens called lignans, which may also help prevent cardiovascular disease.
- FATTY FISH. Fatty fish such as SMASH fish (salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, and herring), tuna, and trout all provide 1 gram or more of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3s provide cardiovascular protection by lowering triglycerides, decreasing inflammation, reducing blood clotting, and lowering blood pressure. To choose fish that are heart-healthy, environmentally friendly, and low in contaminants such as mercury and PCBs, be sure to check out the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch website.
- DARK CHOCOLATE. The darker, the better! Rich in flavanol, the primary flavonoid in cocoa and chocolate, dark chocolate can be a heart-healthy choice.
And now on to these scrumptious gluten free vegan cookies!
My inspiration for this recipe comes from these fabulous peanut butter chocolate chip cookies over at Texanerin. If you like peanut butter, you MUST make them.
Ingredients
My version is equally delicious yet features a different sort of heart-healthy nut~pecans. Oh, and there are chickpeas and dark chocolate, too. Yep, I said chickpeas! Plus a little maple syrup and some ground flaxseed…
How to Make
- Add all your ingredients, minus the dark chocolate, to a food processor bowl. Process until creamy.
2. Stir in the chopped dark chocolate chunks and form the dough into balls. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and press out the dough with your clean thumb or the back of a spoon.
3. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes or until they are light golden brown. Control yourself, LOL, and let them cool for a few minutes before popping one into your mouth. Sprinkle lightly with optional coarse sea salt if desired.
Chocolate Pecan Love Bites
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw pecans
- 1 cup garbanzo beans, canned, or dried and soaked
- 3/4 cup dark {70 % or more cocoa} chocolate
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons ground flaxseed
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, plus extra, if desired, for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine pecans, garbanzo beans, maple syrup, ground flaxseed, vanilla, baking powder,and sea salt in a food processor, and process until smooth, or ~8 minutes.
- Meanwhile chop dark chocolate in to chunks, then stir into pecan/garbanzo mixture. Form dough in to 12 ~ 1-inch balls and place on parchment lined baking sheet. Press lightly on dough with the back of a spoon, and bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove to cool, and sprinkle with sea salt, if desired, before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
More Heart-Healthy Chocolate Treats You’ll Love!
Did you make this recipe?
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These were so good! I subbed chia seeds for the flax seeds because that’s what I had. I also added a banana and some pumpkin pie spice and omitted the chocolate (because…that’s what I had). They were moister due to the banana and so I dropped spoonfuls instead of rolling into balls. Will definitely go back to this recipe. I might try grated carrots next time instead of banana.
Thanks so much for stopping by Beth! I always love getting feedback on my recipes, and all of your substitutions sound delicious! I’ll have to try it your way the next time I make them 🙂 Cheers!
These look amazing! Yum!!
O.M.G. I want to eat these right now!!!! YUM!
Hey there. The photos here are broken. – Just an fyi :).
Awesome recipe!! I’ve made 3 batches of these cookies in the past two weeks and they are all almost gone! This is the first time i’ve used beans in a sweet dish and i’m already a huge fan! They were extremely easy and quick to make (my 3 yr old even helped me). And my kids loved the cookies…i have no problem saying YES to them eating these chocolate chip cookies. I took a batch home to my brother, who has Celiac, and he even loved them!
The only change I made was to add both pecans and hazelnuts, mainly because I love the taste of hazelnuts and chocolate! =)
Thanks again!
So glad you enjoyed the cookies, and thank for letting me know-I love getting feedback! I think your idea to use pecans and hazelnuts is brilliant & love that your 3 yo old helped you too 🙂
Tried making this with Navy beans as suggested and I was pretty pleased at how the cookie came out..I used the 100% dark chocolate unsweetened baking chips and that made it too bitter. Will have to use a different chocolate next time, but overall a good experiment!
Thanks so much for sharing your experience making the cookies Usha, and so glad you enjoyed them!
My son is allergic to garbanzo beans..what can I substitute so I can still keep it gluten free? Also, can I use Agave nectar instead of Maple syrup?
Hi Usha! Thanks for your question. If your son is ok with other beans,you could try white navy beans. If he has problems with all beans, you could use brown rice flour-not sure of the exact amount, but you could definitely experiment. If you do, I’d love to hear back from you about how they turn out 🙂 And, yes, agave nectar instead of maple syrup should work fine.
I did try making these but i didnt use the cup of raw pecans. I used 2 cups of garbanzo beans and the ground flax. I also didnt use the qtr. cup of maple syrup… instead i used a tablespoon and then i added some stevia for sweetner.
I added extra vanilla extract and a dash of vanilla soy milk to get the food processor going.
instead of folding in alot of nuts and chocolate chips …i put just a few on each cookie and topped them with a small piece of pecan.
i know this sounds like it takes away from the recipe but believe me…. for me…it came out GREAT ! I made the cookies VERY small… just one bite and not alot of calories.
my goal is always healthy with as few calories as i can get away with…. and still have it taste good.
but thats just my preference. you may find it blah…. but to me it was wonderful.
and made even MORE so because i could have a few cookies instead of just one.
that dough is fabulous ! I had a terrible time trying to keep from eating it. lol
next time…. i am going to make these as NO bake cookies.
thanks for the recipe.
Hi Joule-your most welcome! And, thanks so much for sharing your substitutions-sounds delicious too 🙂
I’ve made these twice – they are amazing!! Love the simple recipe and they are so good. I want to get away from canned stuff, and I read you said soak them first if you buy the dried bagged chick peas, how long, overnight? And if you soak them you don’t have to cook them? Thanks, I’ve never used dried chickpeas before and all other dried beans I’ve cooked after I soaked.
Hi Virginia~Thanks so much for letting me know how much you have enjoyed this recipe. I always love hearing feedback 🙂 In regards to using dried chickpeas, I recommend the “quick soak” method which I explain in this post here: https://www.eastewart.com/recipes-and-nutrition/tooting-my-own-horn-my-bean-homework-is-completed/ This method has worked really well for me, and it takes less than 1 1/2 hours. Give it a try and let me know how it turns out!
I finally made these using dried chickpeas that I quick soaked – it did not turn out the same. I made the mistake of measuring my chickpeas before I soaked them, so that was some of my problem. But I estimated my scant 1-1/2 cups dry was about 2 cups of the soaked ones. But they dough was so dry, I added some more maple syrup, maybe about a TBS and almond milk, no idea how much, maybe around 1/4 cup. I’m sure some of this has to do with the fact that my measurements were off, but the quick soaked beans were not as soft as canned beans I’ve used before, so I’ll be sticking with canned from now on.
So glad you shared your experience making these with quick soaked dry beans Virginia! Too bad it didn’t turn out as good as the canned bean version though. Although I have used the quick soak method with success w/ some beans, I guess it doesn’t work with all beans-good to know!
I finally made these again using dried chickpeas with the quick soak method, it did not work out for me 🙁 My first problem was measuring the dried beans instead of after they were soaked. I estimated my scant 1-1/2 cups dried were about 2 cups soaked, because of course I had already dumped them into the food processor with all the waiting ingredients. So I upped the rest of the ingredients to be a double recipe instead of one and a half and the dough was really dry. I added about a TBS more maple syrup and almond milk, maybe about 1/4 cup. They turned out okay, but not as sweet as the last few times. I think I’ll stick to canned from now on. And for anyone else who uses dried, but sure to measure after the soak.
These just came out of the oven and are delicious! Can you really go wrong with dark chocolate? The texture is chewy, does that sound right?
This is just what my heart would have demanded for Valentine’s day ;o) Thanks.
Flavourful wishes,
Claudia
Oh wow, these sound just amazing and I love how good they are for you! What a perfect Valentine’s Day snack … wish I had a few on hand right now! =)
I might not make it to the baked cookie stage, the dough does sound pretty awesome 🙂 But that chewy bite looks like it might be worth waiting, yum! Thank you so much for participating!
Thanks so much everyone for all your kind comments!!! If you make the cookies, I’d love to know how you like them 🙂
These look SO good! I definitely want to try these out. I don’t normally like pecans (wait, we don’t even have pecans where I live – switch that to walnuts!) but I do love a good walnut butter cookie. I’m happy that the peanut butter version inspired you. 🙂 Thanks for linking to the recipe!
Thanks so much for the delicious inspiration Erin!!!!
Oh my! These looks soooo yummy and I love that you used chick peas! If you’re using dried ones, do you need to cook them as well?
Thanks!
Thanks so much Maggie! And, yes, you could definitely use dried beans, but definitely make sure to soak them first. Funny story…a friend tried my recipe for fried rice, and didn’t realize she had to cook the rice first-came out pretty crunchy :-). Enjoy!
I plan to make these TODAY! WOW! they sound and look delicious. Can you suggest a sweetner other than the maple syrup or sugar. I usually cook with xylitol, splenda, erythirol, stevia. Thank you for your hard work in the “kitchen”. This will be a first for me with garbanzo beans.
Hi Jean-thanks so much! I don’t bake much with alternative sweeteners, but I think erythritol might work out well in the recipe. If you do try it out, I’d love to know how they turn out!
Oh my gosh, these sound AMAZING. I am absolutely going to make them! Yum!
Would be able to give the cal/fat/carbs/sugar count for the cookies? Looks yummy.
Hi Kapu! 160 calories, 11 g fat {mostly monounsaturated}, 7 g sugar {I didn’t write down total carbs}, 3 g protein, and 3 g fiber. Hope that helps 🙂
Okay, I am SO going to make these. I’m not gluten-free, so a lot of GF baked goods have flours that I don’t have on hand. But this? This I can totally do!
These look amazing! I love using beans in sweet dishes. I have a cookie dough snack that I make that reminds me very much of this recipe and a chocolate bean butter that is heavenly on rice cakes. Now can’t wait to try these cookies, too! Pinned. 🙂
Well, I often use garbanzo flour in my baking, but I’ve never used the whole beans before – must try it – not influenced in the slightest by the presence of chocolate in the recipe:) …….. well, okay, maybe a little:-)
EA will you be my Valentine? I was told to bring cookies to a friend’s house this weekend, these may be my cookie. Done.
Okay, I must try these cookies! They are so pretty, and I love sneaking things into dessert. 🙂
Though I have no problem with gluten myself, I love dark chocolate, nuts and good cookies, and these look delicious!
Oh my heavens!! These cookies sound fabulous! Now all I need is a glass of wine with these cookies and I’ll have all my heart-healthy foods in one sitting 😉
LOVE the idea of these! I was expecting a gluten-free grain, but no, chickpeas! As a sensitive soul I would probably use aduki beans (& lose the pretty pale colour) but other than that I would make as you describe. I bet your family loved these. Beautiful ingredients image too