I’m not gluten-free or vegan; I prefer to call myself a minimalist.

I eat minimal gluten, minimal animal products—and prefer my fruits and veggies raw. I try to eat as healthy as I can whenever possible, watching my sugars, preservatives.

I love a simple food label with only the purest ingredients and knowing exactly what is going into my body.

I have a major sweet tooth—my absolute favorite combo being peanut butter and dark chocolate. I’m always looking for a hearty healthy snack to satisfy this craving, a decadent smoothie, tasty trailmix, granola.

I came across a cookie dough recipe not too long ago that’s main ingredient was chick peas. I love chick peas and had never seen them used in this way before, so I tried it out and became hooked.

I have since made these delicious bites quite a few times and had a lot of fun experimenting with different ingredients to taste. They can be eaten as raw dough balls (absolutely melt in your mouth) or baked, which give them an incredibly unique and addicting texture!

You will need:

1 can of organic chickpeas drained (1 1/2 cups)

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (try carob chips too)

1/4 cup rolled oats

1/8 tsp salt

2 teaspoons of vanilla (honey and molasses work well also)

1/8 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup sugar in the raw

1/2 cup organic nut butter (almond, cashew,peanut butter is my personal favorite!)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

This is the basic batter recipe but have fun throwing in whatever you’d like to get creative and make them your own! Dried cranberries, crushed pistachios, golden raisins, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, sesame seeds and crushed dried banana chips are just a few of my personal suggestions.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and add all of ingredients, except chocolate chips and oats, into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.

Now, stir in your chocolate chips, oats or other added whole ingredients.

Scoop out 1 inch balls—if  baking them I suggest pressing them down a bit when you place them on the pan, since they don’t flatten out during the cooking process. If enjoy raw, feel free to leave them in bite size dough balls.

Bake 15-20 minutes, allow to cool and  eat away.

Warning: it is impossible to eat less than three at at a time.

Angela Melissa Diaz is a self-proclaimed  ecofashionista and thrift store/vintage clothing junkie with Pittsburgh as her stomping ground. She’s writing for the ecofashion and wellness sections of elephant as well as bringing her social butterfly skills to the social media team. If you cannot get in touch with her via any forms of technology, she’s teaching, or on her yoga mat flowing through vinyasas at 90 plus degrees. She’s studying for her certification in health and wellness counseling and hopes to save the world from bad food choices and stagnant lifestyles while reminding everyone to breathe and laugh as much as possible. You can reach her at [email protected] or find her on facebook.

 

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Ed: Bryonie Wise