Chickpea Buckeyes

by 63 Comments

These Chickpea Buckeyes are a healthier twist on a classic dessert! They’re full of flavor with an extra boost of fiber as well. 

These Chickpea Buckeyes are a healthier twist on a classic dessert! They're full of flavor with an extra boost of fiber as well. 

*Photos and post updated 12/2017*

Hi Friends!

Let’s talk dessert today, shall we? If you’re from Ohio, or even if you’re not, you’ve probably heard of the classic dessert called Buckeyes. They’re basically sweet balls of peanut butter mixed with butter and powdered sugar, dipped in chocolate to resemble the buckeye nut.

A few years ago, I shared a twist on this classic and this year I remade the recipe and decided to give it a little photo upgrade! Have you tried the healthier peanut butter cookie dough dip made with chickpeas? That’s the basic premise of these Buckeyes.

Chickpea Buckeyes

Instead of peanut butter, butter and powdered sugar, we’re mixing chickpeas, peanut butter, maple syrup and a little oat flour.

Please note I have nothing against regular Buckeyes. If you’re looking for a treat, go enjoy a few. This recipe is designed for people who are specifically looking for a version with a few more nutrients.

I even gave one to my daughter the other night as part of her dinner! Healthy fats and fiber for the win!

Here’s how you make them:

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Chickpea Buckeyes

A healthy twist on traditional Buckeyes.

Scale

Ingredients

  • 2 cups chickpeas, patted dry
  • 1 cup natural peanut butter
  • 3 tablespoons agave nectar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ⅓ cup gluten free oat flour
  • 1 cup dark chocolate chips (do NOT use melting wafers)
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil

Instructions

  1. In a high powered blender process the chickpeas, peanut butter, agave nectar and vanilla until smooth. The mixture will be too wet to roll.
  2. Transfer mixture into a bowl and add the oat flour slowly, as a drying agent, folding over until dough like consistency is reached. The entire ⅓ cup may not be necessary.
  3. Place mixture into refrigerator for at least 20 minutes or overnight to set.
  4. Roll into 1.5 inch balls and place on wax paper lined cookie sheet. If hands become too sticky run under warm water then continue to roll.
  5. Put balls in the freezer for 30 minutes until firm.
  6. Place chocolate chips and coconut oil in a bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals, mixing in-between, until chocolate is melted and smooth.
  7. Stick a toothpick into center of balls and dip in chocolate.
  8. Place back onto cookie sheet, remove the toothpick and pat hole closed.
  9. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Super simple! Do they taste exactly like the original? No. But they’re a pretty darn good substitute if you’re looking for one!

Some of the chocolate coating might pool on the parchment paper leaving a flat bottom. If you want, you can peel off the chocolate to make the buckeyes resemble the actual nut a bit more! This will leave you basically with just a chocolate coating around the sides and open peanut butter on the top and bottom, but when they sit on a plate, you can’t even tell. Or you can just leave them alone!

Chickpea Buckeyes

These Chickpea Buckeyes are a healthier twist on a classic dessert! They're full of flavor with an extra boost of fiber as well. 

[clickToTweet tweet=”Looking for a healthier twist on a classic treat? Try these Chickpea Buckeyes!” quote=”Looking for a healthier twist on a classic treat? Try these Chickpea Buckeyes!”]

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Comments

  1. You had me at amaze-balls lol. These look so amazing…definitely gonna give it a try 🙂
    Oh and happy belated Registered Dietitians Day to you both! 😀

    Reply

  2. When I first made Chick-pea based cookie bars a few years ago, I didn’t tell anybody what was in them because I didn’t want to scare them off. Within minutes they were being gobbled up and I was being asked for the recipe. I love how versatile chickpeas can be! This recipe looks great!

    Reply

  5. Thats so cool! I love buckeyes! I cant believe I am saying that, I didnt even know what a buckeye was when I moved to America, and now I am all in with the lingo and weird names for things! Yummm!

    Reply

  9. These are definitely one of my favorite desserts, I’m digging the chickpea addition! Happy belated RD, loved your post yesterday introducing everyone to awesome RD blogs, I didn’t get a chance to ask you to add mine to the list, maybe next year! You definitely listed some of my favorites and I can’t wait to check out the others 🙂

    Reply

  17. This looks delicious! I’ve never eaten buckeyes before and this makes me want to make it and try it. =) Thanks for sharing.
    By the way, thanks for the link-up!

    Reply

  20. Oh my goodness! We grew up with these too- I had almost forgotten about them! I would probably cringe at the chickpea substitution except that I’ve tried it in other desserts and found it really does work! Yum!!

    Reply

  21. I just started following your blog yesterday after seeing/hearing about you on Twitter and I didn’t realize you were from Columbus! I’ve lived in Maryland for 5 years now, but up until then I was in Columbus, born and raised. How fitting that the 2nd post I read is about my all time favorite dessert. Only if you’ve had a homemade buckeye do you know the joy that it is. Those prepackaged store bought ones hold no candle to the homemade deliciousness. I can do some damage with a plate of buckeyes. My stomach hates me the next day, though. I can’t wait to try this version!

    Reply

  24. My son has FPIEs and will throw up within 40 minutes of eating oats. Is there something that would make a good substitute for the oat flour?

    Reply

    • Really the oat flour was an after thought ingredient when I noticed the mixture was a bit too wet to roll. Any flour will do the trick- if he can tolerate rice flour try that. You can also try PB2 powdered peanut butter. Enjoy 🙂

      Reply

  26. I’m doing the Fast Metabolism Diet. No peanut butter allowed. Could I substitute almond or cashew butter? These sound amazing. Thanks

    Reply

Trackbacks

  3. […] Chickpea Buckeyes by Lindsay – If you love peanut butter and chocolate, you have probably indulged in a few buckeyes over the year. Lindsay shares a healthy twist on the traditional buckeye. There is still peanut butter, and still chocolate, but chickpeas are one of the main ingredients. They look delicious and not terribly hard to make. […]

    [WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The comment’s server IP (64.90.40.253) doesn’t match the comment’s URL host IP (108.162.197.39) and so is spam.

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  5. […] For this batch, I couldn’t find the exact recipe I tried a few years ago when I first made chickpea buckeyes but, thanks to the wonders of Pinterest, I found and adapted this recipe from Energy We Bring (by way of The Lean Green Bean): […]

    [WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The comment’s server IP (192.0.82.33) doesn’t match the comment’s URL host IP (76.74.254.120) and so is spam.

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