The good thing about roasted chickpeas is that it lasts 2 weeks at room temperature. I accidentally left a small batch of roasted chickpeas in the oven for a few days (?) and I just had chickpea/mushroom meatballs the night before so upon re-discovering the chickpeas in the oven for the nth time today, I decided to turn it into a dessert. I still have an Auro Chocolate hangover (currently my favorite local/Filipino brand of chocolate — the one with cocoa nibs is so good) so I decided to make my own chocolate bars.
Chickpeas are a good source of protein and fiber so I don’t get the #momguilt after giving it to my kid as a 3pm snack. The addition of honey cornflakes dials up the sweetness a notch or two plus it gives the chocolate bars an added crunch. I’m sure puffed rice will work as well.
The chickpeas are a bit on the too-crispy/probably carcinogenic side which adds a lovely smoky flavor to the chocolate — no, I’m not kidding. Smoked chocolate is one of my favorite flavor combinations. So if you want a less smoky/crunchy/carcinogenic chickpea bar, check the chickpeas at the 30 minute mark.
I got the whole idea of turning crispy chickpeas into chocolate bars after seeing something similar on Pinterest. Not an original idea but this is my own take on it. This makes for a good gift/quick dessert!
(Used a silicone cookie sheet and it worked fabulously — peeled off like a dream)
Ingredients
1 small can chickpeas, drained and towel/tissue dried (225 grams)*
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cup chopped chocolate (I used Beryl’s bittersweet)
a few drops of butter and maple flavoring to amp up the smoky flavor profile
1/4 cup honey cornflakes
Directions
1. Drain and towel dry the chickpeas. Make sure it’s completely dry before drizzling the oil. I used a combination of paper towels and a kitchen towel to make sure that it’s completely dry and crisps up nicely. At this point, you can choose to toss the chickpeas to a bowl or straight to a silicon cookie sheet/parchment paper. I don’t use a bowl anymore because I’m lazy.
2. Drizzle the oil and add the salt. Make sure to coat evenly.
3. If you used a bowl, transfer to a parchment paper/silicone cookie sheet and bake at 200 Celsius for 40 minutes to an hour.
4. Let cool. You can roast the chickpeas in advance. You can also double the amount of chickpeas/oil so you can munch on the chickpeas or add to salads as a substitute for croutons.
5. Melt the chocolate over low heat/bain marie setup/microwave. Don’t let it get too hot. Once there’s only a few bits remaining, turn off the heat. Mix in the flavouring if using.
6. Add cornflakes to the roasted chickpeas.
7. Drizzle the melted chocolate on top of the chickpeas/cornflakes. If you have chocolate molds, you can use that. I didn’t mind the free-form look so… 😀
8. Pop in the fridge.
9. Eat. Or put in tins and give as gifts if you’re feeling nice.
Notes:
*The brand is RAM and I don’t think it’s available outside the Philippines. This is roughly half a can of regular-sized tins.
**the addition of flavoring is basically an attempt to mask the not-so-high-quality chocolate I used.
