Miso And Chickpea Cookie Bars – Vegan & Made with Canned Chickpeas

Soft, sweet and umami, miso and chickpea cookie bars are delicious vegan healthy snacks that can be prepared in a food processor.

What is miso?

• 

• 

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this Japanese ingredient, miso is fermented soybean paste. If I had to describe how it tastes like I’d say it tastes salty, earthy, nutty, creamy and slightly sweet? Oh, and there’s the umami. There are lots of umami flavors in miso that comes from the fermentation process.

This article even calls miso a secret ingredient.

There are many uses for miso paste, like making miso soup, using it for marinades for fish (or chicken or pork), or in sauces like pasta sauce. But I’ve also seen Some Japanese restaurants use it for dessert dishes, too. Does vanilla icecream with miso caramel sound amazing or what?

Really, there was no reason NOT to try adding some to my dessert recipes. And what better pairing than miso and chickpeas?

Chickpeas are nutty and creamy. Miso is earthy, sweet and umami.

The texture of these cookie bars were on the softer/tender side. Probably not a “cookie” texture but more like a cookie bar?

And to top it off there’s the white chocolate chips to make the cookie bars even sweeter.

Ingredients used to make these Chickpea Cookie Bars

_{**I’ve linked some of these ingredients to amazon.com to give you an idea of what they are, but you should also be able to find them in your local grocery store (usually, the natural & organic food section). They are also affiliate links, which means that I earn a commission as an Amazon Associate if you decide to purchase the items. The price will be the same for you, link or no link 🙂}

• Canned Chickpeas (also called Garbanzo) – Just any canned chickpeas. You can also prepare them from the dried chickpeas.
• Coconut flour – coconut flour does not substitute well, and I can’t recommend swapping coconut flour with other ingredients unless you absolutely had to (2 Tbsp coconut flour = ½ cup almond flour). Unfortunately, you probably won’t get the same texture or mouthfeel as the original recipe.
• Almond Butter – like this one or any other natural nut butter
• Applesauce – preferably unsweetened. The pectin that’s naturally found in applesauce helps bind the ingredients together without the addition of oil or egg.
• Salt – Pink Himalayan salt is what I have at home, so it’s what I use, but you can use any kind for this recipe. Since I use only a small amount, the conversion (between kosher and fine salt, for example) isn’t necessary.
• Coconut Sugar – You can use any granulated sugar for this recipe. Coconut, date and maple sugars are less processed sugars I would recommend. Honey and maple syrup should also work, but I have not yet tried. For keto options, you could also use stevia (but be sure to convert according to package instructions). I also put a range on the amount you could use (3 to 5 Tablespoons) because I personally prefer desserts that aren’t overwhelmingly sweet. I would say 3 Tbsp is subtly sweet, 4 Tbsp is sweet enough, and 5 Tbsp is sweet.
• Miso paste – I used the sweet miso (Miko Brand) but you can also use light or shiro/ white miso
• White Chocolate Chips – the regular ones in the baking aisle. For healthier alternatives, you can also use no sugar added chocolate chips like this one.

Miso and Chickpea Cookie Bars

Serving size: you’ll get ~10 triangles (Basically, double what you see on the first photo).

Basic Recipe

Keep scrolling down for the full recipe

1 can chickpea canned, drained and washed (260g)
3 Tbsp coconut flour
2 Tbsp almond butter (60 g)
4 oz container of unsweetened applesauce (slightly less than 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup granulated sugar of choice*
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 Tbsp miso paste (preferably sweet or white miso)
1/2 cup white chocolate chips (any brand)

Recipe Variations and Optional Add Ins:

• Add 1 tsp cinnamon or 1 Tbsp cocoa powder
• Fold in some nuts and dark chocolate chips to the batter
• Or add raisins or dried cranberries
• Shape them into smaller
• Add 1/2 tsp matcha powder
• Boost up the nutrition of these bars by adding 1 Tbsp of flaxseeds

What are some ways you can eat these?

• Plain and warm
• Glazed with the almond butter glaze (see recipe below)

How to Store

Store these coookie bars covered at room temperature for up to 24 hours. If you need to store them longer, you can place them in the fridge for up to a week or freeze up to 4 months. Defrost at room temperature.

More Chickpea recipes