Cookie Dough Hummus (Dessert Hummus Recipe)

A chocolate chip cookie dough hummus recipe made with chickpeas, peanuts, dates, and brown sugar. The best dessert hummus recipe!

What Inspired This Cookie Dough Hummus?

I love chickpeas (a.k.a. garbanzo beans) in all of their many forms. Chickpea salad, chana masala, veggie burgers, pasta e ceci, minestrone soup. I also enjoy adding these mild-tasting, fiber-rich legumes to green salads, sandwich wraps, rice bowls, curries, and shakshuka for an easy vegetarian lunch or dinner.

Of all of the chickpea-based dishes, hummus—a Middle Eastern dip made with tahini, lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil—definitely ranks at the top of my list. I’m a big fan of savory hummuses made with pine nuts, red peppers, or roasted garlic toppings, but I love a good dessert hummus, too.

Chickpeas in dessert might sound a little bit unusual, but there are plenty of recipes combining garbanzo beans with sweet ingredients. Chickpea water, or aquafaba, frequently replaces egg whites in vegan versions of meringues and macarons, while chickpea flour (gram flour) is a staple ingredient in Indian sweets like barfi and ladoo. You can grind the beans into a base for chickpea blondies, brownies, or cookies; use them in protein balls; or toss them in honey and roast for a sweet snack. (Google even turned up a recipe for chickpea ice cream, although I’m not sure how I feel about that one!) And of course, you can turn chickpeas into chocolate chip cookie dough hummus.

Made with peanuts, dates, and brown sugar, plus a touch of vanilla bean paste and plenty of chocolate chips, this dessert hummus makes a tasty dairy free, gluten free, and vegan-friendly treat. Serve it with cookies, graham crackers, or pretzels for a sweet appetizer, or pair with sliced fruit and berries for a protein-rich snack.

What is Dessert Hummus?

Dessert hummuses like this one offer a sweet twist on the traditional savory, chickpea-based dip.

Instead of flavors like tahini, garlic, and paprika, dessert hummus recipes incorporate sweet ingredients such as cocoa powder, vanilla bean paste, peppermint oil, ground cinnamon, and maple syrup. Popular dessert hummus recipes include brownie batter, snickerdoodle, pumpkin spice, and vanilla bean.

Instead of pita chips and carrot sticks, typical dessert hummus accompaniments include fruit, animal crackers, marshmallows, and cookies.

Cookie Dough Hummus Recipe Ingredients

To make this dessert hummus recipe, start by gathering the following ingredients:

• Chickpeas – You’ll need about 1 1/2 cups of chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained. If desired, you can save the chickpea water to make vegan meringues or macarons.

• Peanut Butter – I recommend a creamy peanut butter. Commercially-made peanut butters (Jif, Skippy, etc.) work better for this recipe than “natural” peanut butters, which can produce an overly oily hummus.
• Almond Milk – I developed this recipe with plain, unsweetened almond milk, but unsweetened vanilla almond milk will also work. If using a sweetened version, I suggest reducing the amount of brown sugar to taste.
• Dates – You’ll need about 40 grams, or 6-7 whole dates. Make sure you’re using pitted dates—dates with pits will break your food processor, and your teeth!
• Brown Sugar – I tested this hummus with light brown sugar; feel free to substitute dark brown sugar if you prefer deeper notes of caramel and molasses.
• Almond Flour – Opt for finely ground almond flour, rather than coarse almond meal. (If you have some left over, I suggest making my flourless orange almond cake recipe, or trying your hand at a French macarons!)
• Vanilla Bean Paste – Vanilla creates depth of flavor, so avoid cheap artificial flavorings. I recommend Nielsen-Massey vanilla bean paste, or the scrapings of a whole vanilla pod.
• Kosher Salt – I test my recipes with Diamond Crystal kosher salt. Fine sea salt will also work.
• Chocolate Chips – You’ll need 80 grams (about 1/2 US cup) of semi sweet chocolate chips to stir into the hummus, plus more to dot on top of the dish.

How to Enjoy Chocolate Chip Hummus

For dunking, serve cookie dough hummus alongside digestive biscuits, Nilla wafers, pretzels, graham crackers, mini rice cakes, or animal crackers. Or, go totally meta and serve your chocolate chip cookie dough hummus with homemade or store-bought chocolate chip cookies.

For a lighter alternative, dip apple slices, strawberries, bananas, or grapes, or spread on toast, bagels, or waffles for a sweet, protein-forward breakfast.

Recipe Adjustments and Substitutions

This recipe is highly adaptable to fit your own tastes and dietary preferences. For a nut-free dessert hummus, replace the peanut butter sunflower seed butter; the almond milk with another plant milk such as oat or soy; and the almond flour with oat flour.

Or for alternate sweetener options, replace the brown sugar with coconut sugar, muscovado sugar, or sugar in the raw.

Make-Ahead and Storage Suggestions

Store leftover cookie dough hummus in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Other sweet dip recipes you might enjoy:

Strawberry Fruit Dip
Pumpkin Dip
Hot Cocoa Dip

And if you do make these, or any of my recipes, don’t forget to tag me @bastecutfold or use the hashtag #bastecutfold on Instagram. I always love to see what you’re making!

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