These Chocolate Covered Chickpea Clusters are a super simple snack idea requiring only 3 basic ingredients; chickpeas, oil and chocolate. High in protein and naturally gluten free, make a batch of these at the weekend so you have tasty healthy snacks on hand for the week.
What you need to make these chocolate covered chickpea clusters
This quick to make dessert idea only needs 3 basic store cupboard ingredients:
Chickpeas: some chickpea brands tend to have chickpeas that are on the smaller size. Ideally you want to opt for a brand that has larger chickpeas within their cans. Brands I tend to use on a regular basis are Mr Organic and Napolena, both of which have large sized pieces. You can also use dried chickpeas, soaking and boiling them before use, however for speed I have used a canned version.
Vegan Chocolate: any form of vegan chocolate will work as you are going to melt it down, so you can choose either bar form or buttons. Depending on your preference you can pick a milk chocolate or dark chocolate variety. However, unless you like particularly dark chocolate I’d stick to a maximum cocoa % of about 65% to avoid these tasting too bitter.
Oil: you want to choose a neutral tasting oil so something like avocado or coconut oil would work well. The oil has two purposes, the first if to stop the chickpeas burning whilst in the oven. By coating them before they are roasted you are giving them a protective layer. The second is to give the chocolate a sheen, it is possible to go without it, but your chocolate will end up having more of a matte finish.
White Chocolate (optional): the optional white chocolate just has the ability to jazz up the chickpea clusters a little giving them a little variety in colour and a contrast in flavour. But they can definitely be made without this ingredient.
Sea Salt (optional): if you like that contrasting sweet and salty flavour, I highly recommend adding some sea salt flakes to your clusters before eating.
Recipe Tips
You want to get your chickpeas nice and crispy so you have the contrasting textures of the silky chocolate with the crispy chickpeas. The key to achieving this is to roast your chickpeas for a long time in the oven on a medium heat. You want to aim for 50 – 60 minutes in the oven at 180oc, tossing them regularly so they roast evenly.
If you aren’t fussed by this, you can reduce the oven time to around 30 minutes which will result in a softer chickpea. Or buy pre-roasted ones if you want to cut down your time even more
Storage
Store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
How these chocolate covered chickpea clusters should taste
These high protein snacks should be crunchy (unless you have opted to reduce the roasting time for a softer chickpea) but won’t have any chickpea flavour. You’ll end up with a rich chocolaty flavour that when bitten into gives a crunchy texture that bursts into a powdery centre as you bite through the chickpea outer layer.
Chocolate Covered Chickpea Clusters
Course: DessertCuisine: Dessert, SnackDifficulty: Easy12
servings5
minutes1
hourThese chocolate covered chickpea clusters are super easy to make and make a great healthy high protein snack with only 3 ingredients.
Ingredients
1 Can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
100g Dark vegan chocolate
15ml Avocado / coconut oil
Sea salt, for sprinkling (optional)
Vegan white chocolate for drizzling (optional)
Directions
- Preheat an oven to 180oc and line a baking tray with parchment paper
- Pat the drained chickpeas dry and spread them onto the baking tray
- Drizzle with 10ml of the oil and toss the chickpeas until well coated
- Roast in the oven for 50 – 60 minutes until really crispy, shaking the tray throughout to stop the chickpeas from sticking and burning
- Place 100g chocolate in a separate large bowl with 5ml of the oil
- Once the chickpeas are cooked pour them on top of the chocolate (the heat of the chickpeas will melt the chocolate) and stir through so the chickpeas are evenly coated in the chocolate mixture
- Place spoonfuls of the chickpea mixture onto a freshly lined baking tray, making little clusters. Pop in the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours to harden
- Drizzle with melted white chocolate and sea salt before eating if you want to make them extra special
Notes
I canβt wait to hear what you think of these Chocolate Covered Chickpea Clusters so please leave a comment below and tag me in your wonderful creations! Iβm @fortheutterloveoffood on Instagram and use the hashtag #theutterloveoffood. Iβm also on Facebook β please say hello!