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)

Recipe: Double Chocolate Cookie Dough Balls & Batter

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.