Yes, you read that right. Low Carb Vegan Protein Cookies. I don’t mean to brag, but they’re basically magic. Why vegan, you may ask? Well, I realized that I depend pretty heavily on dairy, and started to think that maybe the persistent red splotches on my face (super attractive) may have something to do with that. So, I’ve challenged myself to give up dairy for at least a few days.
I thought I’d make a dairy free low carb protein bar, and then decided I might as well go full vegan. After all, I remember when I first started on keto (back in 2012!!!) and I was fully vegan, that there were virtually no options available for low carb vegan anything. I ended up eating a lot of macadamia nuts back in those days, and very little else for snacks. I also relied pretty heavily on processed soy. How times have changed!
Anywho, these low carb vegan protein cookies are of the chocolate chip variety, and are actually a little bit on the higher end of carbs, but if you’re a vegan attempting keto, you’re probably used to that. I remember the vegan keto days of realizing that 20g was a far cry from possible unless I ate nothing but coconut, macadamia nuts and spinach soaked in olive oil. So, the higher carb count isn’t really the worst thing in the world.
Notes on Making Low Carb Vegan Protein Cookies
- This uses unflavored pea protein, but I would imagine that you could sub that for 60g of unflavored rice protein, or a blend.
- You could literally use any chocolate you’d like for this. I happen to be obsessed with Lily’s, and used that, but you are in no way obligated to do the same!
- Adding in a 1/4 cup of ground flaxseed, and 2 tsp of cinnamon would make these into chocolate chip oatmeal cookies – yes, please.
- This can easily be made nut free by using sunflower seed butter (so good) in place of the peanut butter. You could also use almond butter, or pretty much any nut butter you’d like.
Ingredients
- 1 can of chickpeas (or 2 scant cups soaked/cooked chickpeas)
- 1 cup of peanut butter (or nut butter of your choice)
- 2 tsp of vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup of water
- 1/2 cup Swerve, or other granulated sweetener
- 60g of unflavored pea protein powder
- 1/2 bar chocolate, chopped up
Method
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Drain chickpeas and process in a food processor with water, sweetener and vanilla.
- Pour/scoop the chickpeas into a bowl and mix in peanut butter until thoroughly combined.
- Mix in protein powder. The dough started to get a little stiff here, and you kind of end up mashing things together. Mash until combined.
- Repeat mashing process with chocolate chips.
- Scoop dough into little balls (I used a tablespoon for uniformity) and flatten into 1/2" disks.
- Place disks on a cookie tray. They won't spread, so they can be fairly close together. I use a silicone baking mat, to keep them from sticking to the cookie tray!
- Bake for 18 - 20 minutes. Let cool. Enjoy!
