Raw Vegan Cookie Dough Bites

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One of my favorite memories as a kid was making cookies during the holidays. Sure, the quality family time was part of the reason, but there was another reason too.  I always got to lick the bowl! And – OMG – I love cookie dough. Yes… before you email me to tell me the risks… I am aware that eating raw cookie dough was not the best idea for my health LOL. But man did it taste good!

As an adult, I’d love to sit down and eat a bowl of cookie dough, but let’s be honest- between
the salmonella risk and the overload of sugar and butter, this would not be the best decision for my health. So, I decided there had to be a way to eat what I loved, but to do it in a more nutritious way. And that’s how I created these amazing raw vegan cookie dough bites!

Your eyes are not deceiving you… You read that correctly. You can actually make a cookie dough that’s truly safe to eat raw AND offers health benefits! Oh yea… and actually tastes good too! I know it sounds too good to be true, and I will be honest, it’s not 100% like the original…

Still, these vegan cookie dough bites are delicious, super easy to make, and you can
have them every day if you really wanted to. That’s a serious win in my book!

Why you should use chickpea flour

Recipes like these seem like they can’t possibly be good for you, but it’s all about choosing the right ingredients!

The best part about this recipe is the chickpea flour (also known as gram, besan, or garbanzo bean flour). Chickpeas are packed full of soluble fiber – in fact, it’s triple the amount found in white flour. Soluble fiber has been found to help lower unhealthy LDL-cholesterol levels and improve overall blood glucose control, which may reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Chickpea flour is also high in resistant starch, a particular type of starch that isn’t broken down during digestion, and makes its way into your intestines – serving as food for your gut bacteria. This not only provides a boost to metabolism, it also improves your overall gut health, which is directly related to the immune system and many other bodily functions.

…And it doesn’t stop there! The chickpea flour used in this vegan cookie dough recipe is full of nutrients! One cup contains:

• Thiamine: 30% of the Reference Daily Intake (RDI)
• Folate: 101% of the RDI
• Iron: 25% of the RDI
• Phosphorus: 29% of the RDI
• Magnesium: 38% of the RDI
• Copper: 42% of the RDI
• Manganese: 74% of the RDI

Source

Why Dark Chocolate Is Actually Good For Your Health

This vegan cookie dough recipe calls for mini dark chocolate chips, and that makes all the difference. While milk chocolate only contains a small amount of cacao (and high amounts of sugar), dark chocolate retains far more cacao than its sweeter counterpart.

This means that dark chocolate is high in antioxidants such as flavanols and polyphenols, which have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, fight against free radicals, and may even improve brain function.

Flavanols also stimulate your body’s production of nitric oxide, which dilates blood vessels and improves blood pressure.

Still other studies (some newly emerging information), have linked dark chocolate consumption with reduced cholesterol, reducing insulin resistance, and anti-inflammatory effects. It’s also an excellent source of magnesium.

Now, dark chocolate is still high in calories, fat, and sugar – but compared to milk chocolate, it provides a range of health benefits you simply won’t get with other sweets!