Chickpea Puppy Chow

A long time ago, I tried roasted Chickpeas.  This was before I got too much into recipe testing and new-to-me "healthy living" foods.  They were curry flavored based off some recipe and were good, but not good enough to stick with for that long. 

Fast forward nearly 6 years and I am at it again.  We love Puppy Chow in our house, but haven't made it in quite a few months.  I had gone on a brownie and girl scout cookie fix and we didn't always have the ingredients to make it.  It actually wasn't even in my thoughts until we simultaneously stocked up on Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chips that I had the hankering again.  The only problem, we still had no Chex or Crispix in the pantry.  I did, however, have two cans of Chickpeas that had been collecting dust for a couple months. 

Have you ever Googled "how to roast chickpeas"?  Yikes, some of the results almost scared me away from trying this, with lots of steps and issues if they weren't followed just so.  Have no fear though, there is a super easy roasting method from Chow.com (how fitting...haha!).  400°F for 40 minutes. The rest was easy peasy, pretty much like the original Puppy Chow recipe, but this version packs in a powerful protein and fiber punch.  The roasted chickpeas give this treat a nice crunch too!

Chickpea Puppy Chow

Ingredients

2 Cans Chickpeas
Spray Oil
1/2 Cup Chocolate Chips
1/4 Cup Peanut Butter
1 Cup Powdered Sugar + a possible 1/2 Cup for extra coverage

Instructions

Roast Chickpeas:  Heat oven to 400°F.  Drain and rinse chickpeas, then pat dry.  Line jelly roll pan with foil and lightly coat with oil.  Place chickpeas in a single layer on the foil and spray to lightly coat them as well. Roast 40 minutes.  Turning after 20 minutes and again at 30 minutes.  Allow chickpeas to cool.

Prep Chocolate Coating:  In a small bowl, melt chocolate chips and peanut butter together.  About 30 seconds in the microwave, stirring 1/2 way through.  Mix cooled chickpeas and chocolate mixture.

Coat with Powdered Sugar:  The goal is to just get it all evenly covered.  The easiest way is to sprinkle 1/2 cup of powdered sugar into a gallon size bag, then add chocolate covered chickpeas and the top with the other 1/2 cup of sugar.  Seal bag and shake to cover.  Add more powdered sugar as needed for coverage.




Before roasting.




After.  Major shrinkage. 




Close up.  The darker ones are crunchier.





The good stuff!



Ready for poppin!



Happy Birthday to my very favorite Brother!!!