I am impressed today because I just upp’d the snacking game big time.  Now that most of the boy’s halloween loot has been given away or consumed, its time to get back on track and resume some healthy eating before all those Christmas treats start sneaking up on me.

Lots of people rave about roasted chick peas but they never seemed all that appetizing to me.  One day while strolling through a natural foods store, I saw some for sale and decided to buy some…they were on sale for 5.99???  I was desperate for a snack and feeling like I should buy something remotely decent.  I got back to my office, opened up the package and was very disappointed in the flavouring and overall product.  I keep seeing roasted chickpeas pop up everywhere and have always questioned what the rage was all about but maybe I just had a bad experience??

Today was the day that I was going to change my overall perception of roasted chick peas and give chick peas a chance.  All the flavours I typically see out there are either spicy or savoury, today I wanted a sweet snacking treat so I invented the Roasted Cinnamon Vanilla flavouring and was well impressed!  It’s a nice sweet taste (without being too sweet) and has a delicious crunch to it so it has the best of both worlds.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

First thing you want to do is wash and drain your chick peas.  Place them in a paper towel and dry them completely.  You want to then take each chick pea and gently squeeze the outer shell so it comes loose.  I realize this is a bit time consuming and can be a bit tedious but seriously, it was one of those afternoons that I just needed to be alone with my own thoughts and this was the perfect task for me (yup, i’m weird, I get it).

See, it’s like this measly chick pea is transforming before your eyes…it’s about to become an awesome little snack!!

See what I mean about tedious??

Make sure they are all completely dry and then you want to whisk together your oil and cinnamon in a bowl.  Place the chickpeas in the bowl and mix thoroughly until all the chickpeas are coated evenly.

Whisk the oil and cinnamon

Stir that goodness up until everything is well coated

Place on a cookie sheet and roast in the oven for 40 minutes or until they completely dry out/get crunchy.  When they are ready, remove from the oven and place in a bowl and then add vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract if you don’t have paste) and honey and make sure everything is mixed together well.

Add the vanilla bean paste and honey

Once they are mixed, place back on the cookie sheet and place back in the oven for another 6-8 minutes to roast further. Just watch them so they don’t burn.

6 minutes away from a crunchy and sweet treat

Once they are done, remove from oven and let them cool completely. Once they are cool, you can place them in an airtight container and they will last for a up to 2 weeks…but lets be honest…they won’t last that long!

The finished product

The lion completely gobbled these up and thought they were great.  I am super impressed that he was loving this crunchy and healthy snack as Chick peas are loaded with fibre, protein and all sorts of other good stuff like iron and vitamin b-6.  This is pretty much a super snack.  I wasn’t lying when I said I just upp’d the snacking game people…are you impressed yet?

Roasted Cinnamon and Vanilla Chick Peas

Roasted Cinnamon Vanilla Chickpeas

Ingredients

• 1 Large can of Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans), drained and rinsed
• 1 Tbsp of EVOO
• 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 1/2 tsp of vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F
2. Pat your chickpeas dry, between some paper towel/dish towel.  Now loosen and remove their outer skins and then pat the chickpeas dry.
3. In a bowl, whisk the oil and cinnamon together, then add the chickpeas to the bowl and mix together until they are coated.  Spread the coated chickpeas on to a cookie sheet.
4. Roast in the oven for about 40 minutes or until they are crunchy and dried out.
5. Remove from the oven and then place the chickpeas in a bowl and add the honey and the vanilla bean paste and stir to again coat the chickpeas.
6. Spread the chickpeas out on the same cookie sheet and roast in the oven for another 6-8 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven and let them cool completely.  *SAFETY TIP:  Don’t even attempt to try one right out of the oven…they are wicked hot and you will burn your taste buds off!!  Let’s just say, I might know this from experience!!
8. Once cool, you can store them in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Hope you fine people enjoy this recipe.  This is the perfect snack to make one night when you are bored and then put them in a container to take to work the next day so you will be prepared to show that snack attack who’s boss!!  Do what you can to give (chick) peas a chance!!