The (Almost) Vegetarian Foodie: Cookies Are Good for the Soul (these are good for the body too!)

Oh. Em. Gee. I have found the fountain of youth, fixed the economy, and brought on world peace. Ok, no I haven't. But I have done something equally as amazing. Well I think so, anyways. I have created a healthy cookie. Let me repeat that. A HEALTHY COOKIE. One packed with fiber, protein and even iron. WHAT?!?! The world must be ending. Oh, did I mention that these are delicious? Not like, "Oh these are delicious for something healthy, I guess" - but truly, truly delicious. More along the lines of, "Wait, you mean I can eat these and not wake up 10 pounds heavier tomorrow delicious?"

Get ready to have your mind blown. And for lots of pictures.... I got a little excited. Sorry I'm not sorry.

This is what you're going to need:

Nonstick cooking spray (not pictured, whoops)

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

3/4 stick of butter or margarine

2 egg whites

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 (16 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

12 ounce package of Ghirardelli (don't be cheap here, this makes all the difference!)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup oats

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Drain and rinse the chickpeas.

Put chickpeas in blender or food processor and chop as finely as possible. Should look something like this:

In a large mixing bowl, beat the sugar and butter until smooth. Then beat in the egg whites and vanilla.

Then beat in the chickpeas and chocolate chips (mmm, chocolate. make sure you save a couple for yourself to make sure the bag's good). Add the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt and mix until a dough forms.

Looks just like normal cookie dough, right? Go ahead, test it out. It tastes like normal, amazing, unhealthy cookie dough. No faint hint of chickpea at all. At all. So great.

Form one inch balls and place them about two inches apart from each other on your greased cookie sheets: