chocolate chickpea spread

Chocolate Chickpea Spread – Is Homemade Better Than Store Bought?

About a month ago, all three of my kids told me they hated chickpeas. This chocolate chickpea spread recipe is one in a series of experiments to determine if I can change their minds. In my not-so-secret mission, I am exposing them to types of chickpeas that I think will appeal to them. Once “chickpeas” is no longer a bad word in their minds, then the goal is to continue expanding their palates even further.

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Does your local store sell a chocolate chickpea spread? Mine did not.

First, I went shopping. My local grocery store didn’t sell anything even remotely resembling a spread like this. Not to be deterred, I went online. Amazon sells this one called The Amazing Chickpea that is pretty good. I’m also planning on trying this one later since it also got good reviews: Field Trip Chickpea Butter Chocolate Spread.

While the ingredients weren’t bad on these (I could pronounce all the of them, so that’s always a good sign), they were a little on the expensive side, so I also decided to try and make my own as well.

Side note: When doing a taste test with my kids, two out of three liked The Amazing Chickpea spread. While not great, it’s very rare to find something that all three of my kids like, especially when I have one kid who doesn’t really like chocolate at all (I know – I don’t understand it either).

If you do decide to check out the store-bought variety of chocolate chickpea spread, here’s a couple of things to keep in mind.

Advantages of The Amazing Chickpea Chocolate Spread

It’s simple and quick. No recipe needed.

It’s shelf stable, even after you open it, so it will last longer than the homemade variety.

It’s very creamy and smooth.

Ships right to your house, so don’t even have to go to the store.

Some Concerns to Watch Out for with the Store Bought Spread

It will separate during storage, so you’ll need to mix thoroughly before using. (Very similar to peanut butter or soy butter in this way.)

It’s very oily and full of fats. This makes it taste great, but not as healthy as the homemade variety.

It’s really hard to use this without making a mess. Maybe it’s just me, but I almost always ended up with sticky chocolatey hands when using this.

Will homemade chocolate hummus taste as good as the store bought variety?

I found some good recipes online for chocolate chickpea spread (also called chocolate hummus). Many of them had peanut butter in them though, which we don’t do in our house since I’m allergic. I did find two recipes that looked interesting – one from A Couple Cooks and another from Running on Real Food. I tried them, and then made my own modifications and came up with a recipe that my family loved. It’s a little bit sweeter and saltier than the recipes originally were. To quote my husband, it has a “strong flavor”, which paired really, really well with the Honeycrisp apples I served it with.

I used a high powered blender to make it, because, honestly, it’s kind of a pain to pull out my food processor and put all the parts together. My blender though, sits on the counter and gets used almost every day for one recipe or another. This works well in a blender, although it is thicker than most blender recipes, so you should either have a high powered blender like this one, or should use the food processor.

Cost Comparisons

I paid $17.98 for two 12 oz jars of The Amazing Chickpea spread on Amazon. This equates to $0.75 per ounce of spread.

For the homemade version, I paid $0.79 for a can of chickpeas, $5.79 for tahini (of which I used about a fifth of the jar), $6.99 for maple syrup (of which I used about a tenth of the jar), $7.18 for cocoa powder at Sams Club (of which I used about a tenth of the jar as well). I also used negligible amounts of salt, water, and vanilla extract. One batch cost $3.37 for about 16 ounces of chocolate hummus spread. That equates to $0.21 per ounce of spread.

Overall, the homemade, even with the high cost ingredients of tahini and maple syrup, costs about about a third of the price of the store version ($0.21/ounce compared to $0.75/ounce). I will still use both in my home, depending on my needs at the time – is it more important to save money or to have the convenience of the store-bought variety.

Want Even More Chickpea Recipes for Kids? Check out these recipes.

Ranch Air Fryer Chickpeas

5 Great Chickpea Recipes for Kids

Conclusion

The homemade chickpea chocolate spread was fun to make, and even more fun to eat. It was also loved by the kids – I had to remind them several times to wait for me to take photos of it before they could dig in. Then, once I said it was ok to eat, the entire plate only lasted about three minutes. Overall, a success. I also like that the homemade version is a little healthier, and a lot more affordable than the store-bought one. However, I do plan to have at least one jar of the store-bought variety on hand for when I’m running low on time.

I love both of these spreads with apples for dipping. They are also good spread on toast as a morning snack. What food do you love to dip in chickpea chocolate spread?

chocolate chickpea spread

Chocolate Chickpea Spread

Use this as a dip or spread. Pairs well with apples, pretzels, toast, and is also pretty yummy straight off the spoon (don't ask how I know that).
Prep Time 5 mins
Cook Time 0 mins
Total Time 5 mins
Course Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine American, Mediterranean
Servings 8

Equipment

  • blender or food processor
  • Can Opener

Ingredients
  

  • 1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans) 1 can is about 1.5 cups if using beans you cooked yourself.
  • 3/8 cup maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup tahini can substitute soy butter as well for a more nutty flavor
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 2 Tbsp water can also use the water from the chickpea can
  • 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions
 

  • Drain and rinse chickpeas. (If using the liquid, drain into a bowl to preserve the liquid.)
  • Add all ingredients to the blender or food processor.
  • Blend until desired texture. I like mine chunky, but if you want a smooth, creamy texture, just keep blending.
Keyword chocolate chickpea spread

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