Packaged snacks from the grocery? Why bother when you can be eating these sweet, crunchy and nutritious Roasted Honey Cinnamon Chickpeas!
There are so many snack foods on the market, but how many of them are actually nutritious? The shelves of most supermarkets are overflowing with a seemingly endless amount of snack food choices, the majority of which, at best, contain a good deal of salt, sugar, hydrogenated oils and more. You can’t even completely rely on the label “organic” when it comes to packaged food. Sure, it may mean what you’re buying contains less pesticides than the non-organic alternatives, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t made with additives and a host other stuff you’d rather not be feeding your family.
These Roasted Cinnamon Honey Chickpeas are my version of healthy junk food. They’re probably not prepared the way you’re used to eating chickpeas (a.k.a. garbanzo beans), which are soft in texture once cooked and traditionally used as the basis for savory dishes like hummus, soups and stews. Instead, these are super crunchy and sweetened with a light coating of cinnamon and honey, making them even more addictive than those junky snacks you can’t pry out of your child’s hands. In fact, with only three wholesome ingredients including the protein packed chickpeas, you’d be hard pressed to find another snack food that’s this good for you.
I brought a container of them with me to Chloe’s gymnastics class last week where the kids and moms camped out afterwards for their mid-morning snack couldn’t get over the fact that they were eating beans. One mom came over to ask me, “where did you buy these”? Mission accomplished!
Photo by Maren Caruso
Roasted Honey Cinnamon Chickpeas
Ingredients
- 1 15 ounce can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed (or 2 cups cooked garbanzo beans)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil
- 1 tablespoon honey
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- Place the beans between two paper towels and pat dry, loosening the outer skin of the beans.
- Remove the outer skins of the beans and pat dry to remove any other excess liquid (removing the outer skin of the beans takes a few minutes, but it’s a great job for getting kids involved).
- Whisk the cinnamon and oil in a bowl to combine, add the beans stirring to coat and place on a baking sheet.
- Roast for 40 minutes.
- Remove the beans from the oven, place in a bowl and toss with the honey.
- Place the beans back into the oven and roast an additional 7 minutes.
- Cool completely and serve.
- * Store in a covered container on your counter for up to 2 weeks
Just made these again. They do need to cook for 35-40 minutes to get crunchy, but this time I put foil down on the pan like CM did on her video. I also stirred them around every 10 minutes for 20 minutes, then every 5-8 minutes. That seemed to help a lot. Very good snack. I will definitely make them again.
I just made these and they burned. I do have an oven thermometer and baked at 400 for 40 minutes. (I have your cookbook). I didn’t get to put honey on and try them.
I would love to try this again and cut down the cooking time as they look and sound delicious.
Hey..
Chickpeas were very tasty but turned out very hard …Why is it so : /
Tina – I had the same issue – mine turned out mushy,, dry and flavorless. They look so delicious; I’d love to know how to get them crispy!
I’ve made these twice now and the first time was a bit of a disaster. They shrank and burnt so this time I have adjusted the cooking time to 20mins plus the 7 mins and they look more like your picture.
Just wondered if they should be soft on the inside or crunchy? I imagined them crunchy. I also added sesame seeds to the honey and they look quite pretty.
[…] so many more recipes that use chick peas that I always keep these in stock. My new fave is the Honey Cinnamon Roasted Chickpeas – perfect sweet snack for a nut free school lunch. Another good use of chickpeas is this […]
These are my daughter and I’s new fave snack, and perfect for her nut free lunch!! I linked these to my post “5 Pantry Must-Haves” 🙂
I’m going to have to try these. They seem perfect for a pre and post work out snack;
[…] from THIS […]
Just made these and they’re pretty good! What a neat idea! Thanks!
I made these but substituted 1/2 tblsp maple syrup for the honey….they were a big hit!!
I’m imepessrd. You’ve really raised the bar with that.
This is my son’s favorite snack. We always have a batch made in our home.
I love your site and have mentioned it a few times on my youtube channel. Thanks for all the great recipes!
Just made these for my 2 year old who loves nuts, and they turned out perfectly! I followed the recipe exactly, and it worked for me 🙂 I agree that de-skinning the chickpeas takes a bit longer than I expected.
The recipe should note that you’re going to need 2 -3 cans. One is definitely not going to last around here 🙂 Even my husband, who “hates” cinnamon loves these and has packed some for his lunch tomorrow!
I LOVE chickpeas. LOVE them. And this recipe was no exception. The house smelled delicious while they were cooking, and I only wish I had cooked more! I will caution, though, that de-skining the beans takes longer than “a few minutes” (about 25) if you don’t have help. Thanks for the simple recipe!