Hi Friends! I hope you’re having a great weekend so far. I know I am because I’m done working for a few days and am about to start my actual “weekend” today. Yay for that!
Today’s recipe is inspired by my childhood love of honey roasted peanuts as well those nuts that you can get from the mall around the holidays. The kind of nuts that the scent wafts through the air and drives you insane and you just have to have them.
The kind of nuts, that once you pop, you can’t stop. Yes, those nuts that you eat a a big container at once and give yourself a belly ache because nuts are hard to digest and not to mention, peanuts have aflatoxin. Hard to digest and aflatoxins are just a couple reasons to not go too hog wild on peanuts and why my “peanuts” recipe may come in handy.
I’ve seen versions of roasted chickpeas but many recipes seem shy about using sugar. I am not. If you’re shy with sugar, then don’t make these. But you’ll be missing out. They are possibly one of the best baked foods I’ve made in ages and if you want to take $2 dollars worth of ingredients and make them taste like a million bucks, try these. It will be worth it and your house will smell divine. Plus, lots of the sugar gets stuck to the foil anyway.
Carmelized Cinnamon Sugar Roasted Chickpea “Peanuts”
1 can (15 oz.) of garbanzo beans/chickpeas
2/3 c brown sugar
1/2 c white sugar
1.5 Tsp Cinnamon (you can adjust up or down to taste)
Optional:
1 Tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
Sprinkle with course salt at the end or add salt to the cinnamon sugar mixture, to taste
Directions:
Drain and rinse your chickpeas
Pat fairly dry with paper towels
Combine dry ingredients and dredge chickpeas with sugar + cinnamon
Place on a Foil-Lined or Parchment-Lined Cookie Sheet and Bake at 375F for 40 minutes or until done.
Before Baking:
I baked mine for 40 minutes, stirring once at 20 minutes. Ovens are variable and with all that sugar, don’t burn it! Watch it and if it looks and smells done, they are.
After 20 Minutes:
….Until the sugar carmelizes
After 40 Minutes of Baking:
Allow chickpeas to cool for as long as your can take it. They will crisp up in the air, too. So even if they don’t seem as “done” or as crunchy as you’d like when you first remove them from the oven, they will crunch-up more with air time.
These were insanely good and eaten immediately. The whole batch done and gone in about 10 minutes.
They are nearly as crunchy as peanuts and if you want the sweet + salty vibe, dust with a sprinkle of salt at the end.
Close your eyes, and pretend you’re eating honey roasted peanuts.
Can i do this with dried overnight soaked chickpeas? I don’t like the taste of canned chick peas
You’d probably have to cook the beans (not just soak them) THEN you could roast them but I haven’t tried personally.
These look amazing. Do they store well?
You probably will want to eat these within a day or so.
Can this “chick pea” recipe be made with raw cashews Instead? I have a pound of them and this sounds sooo good
Raw cashews (an actual nut) will behave much differently in the baking process than a soft, already cooked bean. If you have nuts and want to make something with them, these are excellent and in the post there are related links to a few other nut recipes, too. https://www.averiecooks.com/sweet-with-heat-cinnamon-sugar-candied-nuts/
Eeek! Your kiddo is super cute. These look AWESOME, Averie! I am obsessing over your blog at the moment–so many unique recipes featuring unexpected and healthy ingredients. I’m looking to try all those wonderful grains/seeds I mentioned I’ve never had–quinoa, flax, couscous… and I’m going crazy over trying to pick the perfect recipe I like the most. For sure, though, I’m picking up chickpeas at the store today!
Aww, thanks. This post is a couple years old and she looks like a “baby” to me in these pics now :) The chickpeas are candy-like…so good! LMK if you try them!
In case anyone is wondering- THESE ARE AMAZING! The caramelized sugar and cinnamon make the chickpeas a delicious dessert like treat :) I didn’t quite bake these right (multi-tasking in my oven with times and temperatures) and they may have come out a tiny bit burnt but they were still great. My junk food loving fiance was confused enough to ask me what chickpeas were again, as if he had never had them before because they were just that good. I also made these using the breading technique Averie has as a second recipe and I liked/loved the taste of these better! I will be making these again!
So glad you loved these…yes, they are really like a dessert in a “honey roasted peanut” form, but it’s a chickpea not a peanut. Until you try them, words cannot convey how good these little buggers are. And they’re…beans. I always say to people, don’t knock it til you try it and I am not one to try to say beans taste like brownie batter or beans taste like dessert, but in this way…I think they do! Glad you like the other version, too!
Found this on pinterest and cannot wait to make these! I am a sucker for peanuts, but i have a feeling these might be awesome….
Prepare to be addicted :) LMK if you make them!
Hi, I found this site thorough Pintrest and I’m glad I did :) I’m trying your roasted chickpea recipe as I type and looking forward to when the 40 minutes are up! Also, I found a chickpea recipe that is really good that you might want to try its at this link: https://www.cookincanuck.com/2009/12/spicy-roasted-chickpeas-with-rosemary/
It turns out really well, with a sort of sweet/spicy twist to them, they are VERY addicting :)
I was referring to the chickpeas.
I am making these now for my son. He is allergic to eggs, nuts, sesame, as well as on a dairy free/gluten free diet. So, it is hard to find treats for him. This sounds like a winner. :)