Snickerdoodles

So I messed up on one of my experimental recipes - and my husband posted it on Facebook!  So what?!?!  If you are a cook, and you're willing to experiment with recipes, then you've been there!  I typically take a traditional recipe and tweek it to be healthier and sneak in some healthy foods for my picky kiddos!  If you have put too much salt, used too high a heat, or just plain messed it all up - then you know what I'm talking about.  Who hasn't been there?  Well I'm here to tell you that it's ok~! Sometimes when I cook I feel like I'm back at the 8th grade science fair!  I form a hypothesis on how I "think" it will turn out, use all my data to make the best choices and then cross my fingers for great results.  Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't - but isn't that the beauty of life?  We make mistakes, but if we are willing to keep trying we could come up with something incredible!
My Nana and I used to always make snickerdoodle cookies together.  I love the memories I have of those moments!  Her making the dough then rolling them into balls for me, then I would roll them in the cinnamon sugar.  I LOVED cooking with my Nana! And the smell!!!!!! The smell of these cookies is a memory in itself! So I had to try and recreate these yummies in a healthy way that still paid homage to the original.
So here's what I came up with after my SECOND attempt - and I have to say it's pretty tasty! I wouldn't post it for everyone to try if it wasn't ;)

Ingredients:
- 1  15 oz can chickpeas/ garbanzo beans drained and rinsed (until recently I wondered what the difference was - guess what - it's NOTHING.  This is the same vegetable, just in different cultures it is called different names, it is also called ceci bean, sanagalu, chana, hummus and Bengal gram. - Now ya know ;)
-  3/4 cup melted butter (yup it's a lot, but this recipe makes roughly 30 cookies give or take 5-10 or so and that's less than traditional cookies)
- 1 1/2 cups sugar ( you can try and do half and half brown sugar and white, or you can try stevia or truvia - I am one of those naturalists that just likes the real deal - so I prefer raw sugar - but feel free to experiment. The only thing that I would steer clear of is agave nectar - for this it will be way too liquidy!)
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- dash of salt ( PLEASE only use a dash!!!!!  The first time I tried this recipe I was baking with my 2 boys ages 8 & 5 - you can imagine the excitement, sheer volume of voices, and just plain 100 % energy - and I misread my reference recipe & put 2 TABLESPOONS of salt!!!  Now my cousin Beth said "You should've known better!" and I should've!  But in the moment I just went with it! It was BAD! - thus the FB blast from my hubby!)
- 2 scoops protein powder ( in this recipe I would NOT use chocolate protein powder.  I use Visalus which tastes a lot like cake mix- you could use a vanilla or non flavored powder- but you could EASILY omit this ingredient and the cookies would be equally delicious!)
- 3 cups self rising flour  (self rising is just easier - it saves the step of adding baking powder.  But if you're wanting to make this now and only have all purpose flour just add baking powder and you're good! - ALSO the next time I make this for the kiddos I will be using whole wheat flour - just adds more fiber & protein - I'll update on how that goes!)
- 2 TBsp sugar ( use white)
- 1 TBsp cinnamon


Directions:
- In a food processor ( a "sneaky" cook's best friend) combine chickpeas, sugar, & melted butter until completely smooth
- put in a large bowl and mix in vanilla, salt, eggs and protein powder ( I use a hand mixer)
- add flour and blend completely ( beware you'll have a flour explosion if you don't keep the mixer on low speed)
- in a small bowl mix 2 TBsp sugar and 1 TBsp cinnamon
- roll dough into 1 inch balls and then roll in cinnamon and sugar mixture
- place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper ( YES cover it with parchment paper or foil - you'll thank me when you're finished cooking & all you have to do is throw away the paper and put away the cookie sheets because they're clean as a whistle)
- I like to make a variety of cookies - I leave some in ball form to bake and some I flatten throughout the baking process. I prefer crispy cookies but some people like fluffy cookies - so it's your call.
- bake these babies at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes depending on your oven. I would check them at 8 minutes because they're probably done!
- IF you're wanting flat crispy cookies, take a nonstick spatula and flatten about every 2 minutes - they'll come out crisp as a fritter!
- this recipe makes 30ish cookies depending on the size - you could get up to 40 of these puppies if you make them small enough

Enjoy! But remember - these are healthy and if you're like me and your family wants a little sweetness in their daily life this could hit the spot!  I'm thinking this dough could also be frozen. Let me know if you try it & any suggestions you have!  This experiment is definitely not set in stone!  It's a recipe in motion and I love to see the evolution! :)