A recipe for Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake made with a secret ingredient! High in protein, and without any refined sugar, your celebrations will be the perfect combo of decadent and healthy!
Bear with me while all of this week’s posts are somewhat inspired by my impending day of birth. Clearly it’s the only thing on my mind. But it did give me an excuse to whip up a cake! Better yet, a cookie cake!
My favorite dessert has and will always be cookies. It’s probably why I have so many cookie recipes on the blog. But birthdays require cake (or cupcakes!) so this year I decided to jump into the great big world of cookie cakes. I truly had no idea what I was getting myself into…
In true maven fashion, I couldn’t possibly have a classic cookie cake. My conditions: 1) It had to be healthy – I do think that birthdays are a great excuse to get a little wild but if you can make it healthy and have it taste just as good, then why they heck not?! and 2) Trick everyone into eating a dessert with a hidden ingredient- because I am evil like that.
I wish that at this point I could say that my attempt was an immediate success. Unfortunately, the birthday gods were not on my side and I remade this recipe FOUR TIMES until I got it just right.
I suppose there was probably some sort of message buried deep in this story. Actually it probably wasn’t so deep considering I’m pretty sure the final version’s ingredients included a solid cup of perseverance.
Which brings me to today’s birthday week lesson, never giving up.
I’ve never been someone who gives up on anything easily, in fact I’d say I have a hard time letting go of things more than I do in following through. While in Sunday’s post, we talked about the pressure I often put on myself to do the things I think I “should”, I am also learning more about my somewhat more admirable qualities as I get older.
One of the most powerful lessons I’ve learned as I’ve gotten older is that anything worth doing in life is never easy. There are moments of strife and challenge, but the feeling of satisfaction from following through on these moments (that are basically screaming at you to give up) is always always worth it.
It’s part of the reason why I am always trying out new things or delving outside of my comfort zone.
I wouldn’t be here writing this blog, running it as a full-time business or stuffing my face with this healthy chocolate chip cookie cake if I gave up too easily. So even though I’m a year older (on Thursday!), I am grateful for the skills I have learned over the years. Let’s cheers to that!
PrintHealthy Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 8-12 slices (depending how you cut it) 1x
Ingredients
- 1 19 ounce can chickpeas*, rinsed and drained
- 1/2 cup unsweetened almond butter
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/3 cup dairy-free chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life)
- Optional: 2 T rainbow sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Spray a 10 inch cast-iron skillet or a circular pan with coconut oil.
- In a food processor (or blender) combine chickpeas and almond butter.
- Add in egg and egg yolk and process until they all come together and all chickpeas are broken up.
- Add in coconut sugar, vanilla and baking soda and process until well combined.
- Stir in chocolate chips and rainbow sprinkles, reserving some to sprinkle on top.
- Add batter to skillet or pan and top with a few chocolate chips in sprinkles.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Allow to cool for 20 minutes before slicing and removing from pan.
- Will keep for up to 2-3 days in an airtight container on the counter.
Notes
*I’m told that these are difficult to find in the US so this comes out to 1 3/4 cup chickpeas
If you think this is all you’re getting from birthday week lessons, you’re out of luck (LOLz). Stay tuned for Thursday (i.e. my birthday) where I’m sharing all sorts of Maven wisdom acquired over my 25 years.
Cookie Cakes, yay or nay? Tell me a story of how you’ve persevered!
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30 Comments
johanna
March 28, 2016 at 6:30 pmHey! I love the idea of this recipe but I was a bit confused. You don’t use flour??? Does that mean it’s gluten free??? Also, is the texture of this cookie nice and soft/chewy?
Davida Kugelmass
March 30, 2016 at 8:52 amNope, no flour! It is indeed gluten-free. It’s chewy like a cookie but denser like cake!
Chrissa - Physical Kitchness
December 11, 2015 at 3:36 pmOk it’s SO time for me to start baking with chickpeas!!!! I’ve seen it multiple places but haven’t been convinced to try it, until now. Oh Davida, you know how to make a girl happy (aka adding sprinkles).
The Healthy Maven
December 15, 2015 at 8:58 amyou neeeeed to jump on the chickpea baking train! It’ll blow your mind!
Ann
September 1, 2015 at 4:46 amAaw that photo at the bottom 🙂 Lovely!
I’ve never had a cookie cake. I guess it’s time to change that because this looks pretty delicious, and I looove that it’s healhtified, of course! I’m also a big fan of chickpeas. Yum!
BTW have you ever considered including metric measurements to your recipes? Or do you not have that many Eurpoean readers? I’d appreciate it, but I can imagine that it’s a bit more effort that may not pay off really. Still like your recipes 😉 And your wisdom, lol 🙂
Davida Kugelmass
September 1, 2015 at 7:16 amI was actually talking to Lee about this the other day. Canada is super weird because we follow the metric system but then in cooking we are very American! I’m not all that educated when it comes to cooking in metrics so I try to stay away from it, but it’s definitely something to consider. If you ever have a question about a recipe, let me know and I’ll give you as much feedback as I can. P.S. stay tuned for an updated newsletter! I really do listen 😉
Shannon
August 26, 2015 at 3:30 pmYay for chickpea desserts. It’s just beans so that means you can eat the whole thing right?! 🙂
Davida Kugelmass
August 27, 2015 at 10:50 amExactly. I like the way you think!!
Alysia at Slim Sanity
August 26, 2015 at 8:31 amLet’s be honest… This cookie cake would get cut into fewer than 8 pieces in my house 🙂
Davida Kugelmass
August 27, 2015 at 10:49 amClearly it was cut into 8 at mine but I most definitely went back for at least half the cake in one sitting…I mean chickpeas make it okay right?! lol
Cassie @ Almost Getting it Together
August 25, 2015 at 11:58 pmCan you stop amazing me with every thing you do?? This looks fabulous.
Let’s not talk about me + perseverance. That’s a whole 20 blog posts on AGIT for sure.
xoxo
Davida Kugelmass
August 27, 2015 at 10:48 amIt’s me every morning trying to get out of bed LOL. Miss you. Love you <3
Dixya @ Food, Pleasure, and Health
August 25, 2015 at 8:20 pmhappy early birthday my friend..you never fail to inspire me 🙂
Davida Kugelmass
August 27, 2015 at 10:43 amYou’re too sweet! Thank you for all of your thoughtful birthday wishes. Means the world!
Catherine @ foodiecology
August 25, 2015 at 3:00 pmCookie cake is my weakness. Love that there’s now a healthy version I can try!
Maryea {Happy Healthy Mama}
August 25, 2015 at 1:35 pmSounds like this was worth trying to get just right! I’d take this healthy cookie cake for my birthday celebration for sure. 🙂 Happy almost bday!
Davida Kugelmass
August 25, 2015 at 3:13 pmThanks so much, lovely! Definitely worth it 😉
Alicia
August 25, 2015 at 11:04 amI’m with you on cookies over cake. Always have loved cookies more and cookie cakes are even better! I love making a cookie cake in a skillet and since I have recently become obsessed with hummus, I know this recipe is a must to try for me. Happy almost birthday!!
Davida Kugelmass
August 25, 2015 at 3:07 pmfor the hummus lover in all of us hehe. Cookie Cake FTW always!
Megan @ Straight From The Jar
August 25, 2015 at 10:43 amYou’re awesome. And this cookie cake looks awesome. I’m having it for dinner tonight.
Davida Kugelmass
August 25, 2015 at 3:06 pmYOU BETTER. But f’realz I did 4 tries of these so I ate A LOT of slices for dinner haha
Lee
August 25, 2015 at 10:31 amWe must make this for Thursday. Like 6 of them. #carbz
Davida Kugelmass
August 25, 2015 at 3:05 pmAnd like 16 quinoa bakes. HI.