Blueberry chickpea cookie dough balls. This is one of our favorite vegan no-bake recipes that blends chickpeas, blueberries, and oats into an easy, healthy plant-based snack for your babe.
Being busy mamas ourselves, we know how important it is for parents and caregivers to have access to easy, healthy snack ideas for their kiddos.
Some of our most frequently made recipes are no-bake, meaning that all you have to do is blend the ingredients and you’re pretty much done. The best part is, no-bake recipes can be made using super healthy ingredients.
For this no-bake recipe, you’ll blend the ingredients, roll into balls, and refrigerate until ready to eat. That’s it!
Toddlers love these blueberry chickpea cookie dough balls. They also travel well, so you can prepare ahead of time and bring them in a baggy wherever you go.
They’re naturally sweetened with Medjool dates, packed with iron from the chickpeas, and provide healthy unsaturated fat from the peanut butter.
The blueberries are an excellent source of antioxidants, and the oats provide soluble fiber good for little tummies.
To make these, start by pulsing the oats in a food processor or high speed blender until they reach flour consistency.
Add the chickpeas, peanut butter, pitted dates, vanilla extract, and salt and process until a sticky dough forms.
Note that you can purchase either already-pitted dates or buy ones that need to have their pits removed at home. To remove date pits, simply take a knife or fork and slice them lengthwise to expose the pit. You can them remove this with your fingers and discard.
Additionally, the salt in this recipe should be omitted for babies under 12 months old, as their kidneys are not yet mature enough to process it.
Finally, add the blueberries and pulse again a few times to incorporate them.
Using a spatula, remove the dough from the food processor or blender and place it in a bowl or on a clean counter top.
Use your hands to roll it into balls, approximately 1-inch in diameter.
Place the balls in a flat, airtight container or on a plate covered with plastic wrap, and store in the refrigerator. Here, they will firm up a bit.
Find the full printable recipe below.
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Blueberry Chickpea Cookie Dough Balls
Equipment
- food processor or high speed blender
Ingredients
- 1 cup oats
- 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 8 Medjool dates, pitted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp sea salt (omit for babies under 1 year old)
- 1/2 cup dried or freeze-dried blueberries
Instructions
- Add oats to a food processor and pulse until flour consistency.
- Add chickpeas, peanut butter, dates, vanilla extract, and salt.
- Process until a sticky ball forms.
- Add blueberries and pulse a few times until they're incorporated.
- Roll into balls and store in the fridge.
We think you’ll love these blueberry chickpea cookie dough balls! Add it to your list of vegan no-bake recipes and homemade healthy plant-based snacks for kids.
Chime In: Have you made these yet? Let us know what you think!
If you liked this post, we think you’ll enjoy some of our others:
JB says
Do you think I could use sun butter in place of PB?
alexwhitney says
Sure!
Jessica Allen says
This sounds so yummy! The only sad part is I have fresh and frozen blueberries not dried. Do you know how fresh ones would work or can I substitute something like raisins? Thanks!
alexwhitney says
I haven’t used frozen berries in this, but one reviewer did and said it worked!
Melissa Duggan says
My kids both ate these! (4yr, 15mnth) I changed up the recipe and added frozen raspberries instead of blueberries and it made them a nice pink colour!. I also rolled half of them in coconut and the other half in cocoa powder. I think next time I wouldn’t blend the oats as much as they were a little too mushy in the end but overall very tasty. I also love that they have chickpeas in them! My girls didn’t even notice 🙂 WIN!
alexwhitney says
So glad you like them!
Lesley says
Do you happen to have the nutritional count on these?
Chloe says
Sounds like a lovely recipe! I’m keen to try it, do you think it would be ok to use crunchy PB and fresh blueberries?
Also, how long do these keep in the fridge, and are they ok to freeze?
Many thanks! Chloe x
claire says
hello, thank you very much for the great recipe!! I’ve been asking the same question and would love to get an answer 🙂
alexwhitney says
We haven’t used fresh berries, but don’t see why they wouldn’t work though you may need to add in more dry binders, like oats, if they are too sticky.
Rebecca says
Is there anything you can use in place of the oats? My son is allergic. Thanks!
sarah says
hi! I just used coconut flour and it seemed to work just fine!
Sarah says
I made these, but used fresh blueberries because that’s what I had on hand and they were great. Not mushy or sticky at all.
Kelsie Roze says
Great idea- I love new ways to incorporate beans and legumes into my kiddos diet (and mine!)
Raz says
These taste delicious but mine became way too sticky and gooey, wonder what I did wrong. Can I bake them to salvage these yummy goodies?
Suzi says
You could dehydrate them for a few hours.
Julie says
My 15 mo loved these! How long do you think they stay good in the fridge?
alexwhitney says
With foods like this, we usually say 5-6 days in the fridge but most balls can be frozen!
Kelly Kurtz says
Love this recipe! It’s a tasty bite without being too sweet! Just curious, do you have the nutrient breakdown available?
Megan says
Great recipe! It works well with white beans too.
Saida Smith says
Amazing love all your creations especially the chickpea balls. I grew up eating chickpeas but never in a dessert way. Thank you again😋
Izabela Snyder says
I would like to try these – they look wonderful. What age are these kind of date balls appropriate for? My daughter is 12 months old. Thank you for sharing!
alexwhitney says
These are fine for that age! Enjoy!
Angie says
What can i use instead of peanut butter? My son is allergic to nuts
I need some substitute that’s GF and no dairy
Thank you 🙂
alexwhitney says
Can you use sunflower butter?
Azza says
What brand of dried blueberries do you use? do they have added sugars?
alexwhitney says
I bought the one’s from Trader Joes– they do have added sugar. If you want no added sugar, then you can also tried freeze-dried blueberries.
Tessa says
Made these with freeze dried berries and they are SO good! My one and three year old officially have hope for a healthy breakfast now. A couple tweaks, though: need to either scale back the oats to a scant cup OR add water to reach desired consistency (I added almost a quarter cup water and my PB was already the liquidy natural type). Also should add the blueberries BEFORE the sticky ball stage in my opinion–at the point the processor is no longer grinding, just moving the ball around, so it was really hard to get the berries evenly chopped without pulverizing them and lots of stopping to scrape. With those tweaks I’ll be making these again and again!
Azza says
I made these with sun flower (family isn’t too found of peanut butter) and they turned out amazing.
Can these be frozen?
Samta Desai says
Can I skip dates and use bananas. My baby is 8 months- so wanting to wait to introduce dates
Haley says
I unfortunately have a vegan baby who won’t eat beans, so I have been slowly making my way through your recipes that use beans. My baby will eat small doses of these, so progress! I like them too, but I do miss the chocolate chips I typically add to date balls. I didn’t have dried blueberries so I use a combo of goji berries and raisins and they turned out fine. Might try them with fresh blueberries next time and almond butter for a more neutral flavor.
Alex says
I just made these with dried cherries since that’s all I had. They are delicious! I will definitely try them with dried blueberries when I can get them. Thanks for a great and simple recipe!
Darin Bradshaw says
Since these are no-bake, is it safe to use vanilla extract when making them for toddlers given the alcohol content?
alexwhitney says
Hi Darin– there is a small amount of alcohol with the vanilla extract, though it’s very low when divided into the balls. However, you are welcome to omit it completely!
Nyssa says
My 9 month old, 3 year old and I all loved these!
Monique Marco says
TJ’s has new no alcohol vanilla. Or use vanilla bean paste.
Megan says
Any suggestions on oat substitution? I saw another commenter ask the same question and “coconut flour” was a response by another commenter, but I feel weird about using flour that doesn’t get cooked out. (Maybe that’s a weird thing to have a hang up on, I don’t really know, ha!)
Anyway, would love any other suggestions for oat substitution if you have them!
alexwhitney says
What about an almond flour?
Jessica says
I made these this morning for my 17 month old and as she has been ill for a few days and I’m trying to encourage her to eat I let her eat the dough before I’d rolled them. She loved it.
Sabina says
Do you know if I could freeze these?
alexwhitney says
Yes! You can freeze these.
Katie says
What size can of chickpeas
alexwhitney says
14.5 ounce can
Leanne Clifford says
These are so tasty for mom and baby. Do you think they could be frozen? I feel like we have way more balls than we can eat before they go bad?
alexwhitney says
Yes! I freeze them all the time– just remove and defrost before serving.
Tiffany says
Can I freeze these? How long will they last in the fridge? Thanks!
alexwhitney says
Yes, these freeze well. I typically free for 2 months
Miriam Jirari says
Sooo yummy and nutrient rich!! I’m an RD with a 4 year old and we made these together. I only had almond butter and fresh blueberries as an adaptation but they came out scrumptious. A bit sticky so we rolled them in monk fruit granules. I’m going to eat em up along with my son for sure! Thank you 🙏🏼
Jill says
These are delicious! My 2.5yo loved them, and so did the grown ups that I offered them to (all omnivores). What a creative use of chickpeas! I used about a cup of frozen blueberries instead of dried. Thank you for all your recipes!! They make it so much easier to raise a plant based kid.
alexwhitney says
So glad to hear!
Samuel says
Do you have a suggestion for alternative to dates, we have an allergy.
Jeri-Lynn says
These are sooooo delicious!!! Highly recommend they remind me of a childhood taste that I can’t put my finger on and I love them!!!
Thank you for making such wonderful recipes! I love your book and guides! I’m 15 weeks pregnant and have been with y’all every step of the way so thankful for y’all!!!
Syd says
I really enjoyed these! The chickpeas are undetectable and it is a little sweet but not excessively so. I will definitely be adding this into my snack rotation!
Elisa says
I broke 2 food processors making these, anyone have a recommendation on which food processor you used and any tips any tricks?
Plant-Based Juniors says
Oh no! Have you ever tried to soften the dates first? I soak mine first in hot water and then drain, this helps to easily blend the batter