Sweet Substitutions: Chocolate Chip Chickpea Bites

Let's take a break from our regularly scheduled programing, shall we? My sister sent me another post for the Sweet Substitutions section (you can read the first one, here)  This time its Chocolate Chip Chickpea Bites from one of her friends blogs, and from the pictures it looks like something I'm going to have to make myself very soon.  Without further adieu, I'll let her take it away:

"How many of you have been sitting in your apartment after a long day and had absolutely nothing to satisfy that sweet tooth? Yeah me either… until recently! So after a very long test week with no sweets I was struggling (the 8^th diet coke was my cue that I had to do something!) I called my best friend to get some ideas and she asked if I had any chickpeas, chocolate chips and peanut butter? (Check out her blog and you will see that she is FABULOUS (http://jessi-morley.blogspot.com/2012/06/did-you-say-chickpeas.html)) I was now very confused as to where this could possibly be going... Peanut butter chocolate chip bites made out of CHICKPEAS!? I will put peanut butter on anything and everything so I decided to try them (not very optimistic but definitely curious). However, these bites turned out to be just as gooey, delicious and addicting (and in my mind guilt free!) as promised. They even got the boys’ approval before and after learning they were made of chickpeas! Double win! Best friend to the rescue and hopefully now to yours too!"

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups canned chickpeas (well rinsed)

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp natural peanut butter

1 tsp baking powder

A pinch of salt if your PB doesn't have salt in it

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

·· Preheat oven to 350°F

·· Combine all ingredients, except chocolate chips, into a food processor (a blender works great) until very smooth

·· Make sure chickpeas are processed until they are no longer lumpy!

·· Put in the chocolate chips and stir

·· Form little balls with the dough and place onto a piece of parchment paper

·· Bake for 10 minutes!