The Healthy Dessert Ingredient You’ve Never Tried

What would a vegan diet be without chickpeas? For many of us, a day without hummus is like a day without, well, food. Updated hummus now contains everything from squash to guacamole; and recently, sweet hummus has made an appearance, too. For some reason, I haven’t been able to fully embrace the concept of “sweet” and “hummus” in the same food. To me, hummus will always connote a savory dip (and preferably one that’s infused with lots and lots of garlic). Still, I’m perfectly happy to consume every kind of sweet bean dish imaginable, from red bean pastry cookies to bean butter. So I decided to get over myself and start thinking outside the can to create a few delectable—and sweet—chickpea (or chickpea flour) based recipes.

Just don’t call it hummus, okay?

Let’s get cooking!
High-Protein Oatmeal-Raisin Cookie Dough
Applesauce Muffins
Breakfast Socca with Sweet Potato Spread and Caramelized Cinnamon Apples

Ricki Heller’s first cookbook, Sweet Freedom, is one of only three cookbooks recommended by Ellen DeGeneres on her website. Ricki blogs at Diet, Dessert and Dogs.