healthy chocolate chip cookies for the specific carbohydrate diet

My go-to vegan-friendly, SCD-friendly chocolate chip cookie recipe! SO soft, sweet, and chewy …but made with beans. LOL. Trust me, you can’t even taste them!

Ever since I started following the specific carbohydrate diet to manage my ulcerative colitis symptoms, I’ve had to substitute navy beans for all of my old favorite chickpea-based recipes (since chickpeas are considered “illegal” on the SCD).

Healthy Vegan-Friendly Chocolate Chip Cookies!

I know that using beans to make cookies sounds absolutely crazy to 99.7% of people… I get it. BUT if you’re health conscious, suffering from a chronic digestive disease, or vegan, beans are a fantastic plant-based option to bake with! You know how the saying goes:

“Beans, beans the magical fruit…. eat your beans with every meal”, why not dessert too?! LOL.

Navy beans have a very mild flavor. I love using them to bake with since they easily take on the sweetness of the other ingredients and almost act as a “binder” (no eggs needed!). If you replace honey with maple syrup or agave nectar, these cookies are completely VEGAN as well as being SCD-friendly & healthy!

Navy beans are very similar to chickpeas in flavor and texture. However, chickpeas are considered SCD “illegal” due to the high amount of long-chain carbohydrates they contain. These types of carbohydrates are digested by the bacteria in our large intestine, which can be GREAT for some people! But for people dealing with an imbalance of “good” & “bad” bacteria, these long-chain carbohydrates will “feed” the population of bad bacteria… which obviously you would want to avoid if you’re already dealing with digestive health issues (like I am)!

Baking with Beans

Here’s a short & sweet list of some of my favorite specific carbohydrate diet “legal” beans & legumes I incorporate into my recipes frequently:

navy beans
black beans
red lentils
peanuts
cashews (throwing this in here since its neither a nut or legume but something in between!)

Ok so it’s not a super long list, but these 5 SCD-friendly beans/legumes have been a staple for me since being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in February. I share more about my diagnosis & remission story in this post!

Some of my favorite recipes using these beans/legumes include:

the best vegan healthy chocolate chip cookies made with beans

How to Make Navy Bean Cookies

Step 1: Preheat the oven & lightly grease a cookie sheet. Then throw all of the ingredients (excluding the chocolate chips) into a food processor.

Step 2: Blend on high for about 2 minutes, or until a very smooth “dough” forms. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Step 3: Scoop out the cookie dough, lightly pressing each cookie dough ball into the shape of a cookie (these mostly retain their shape!). Bake & let cool completely.

Store in the refrigerator for up to 10 days, or freeze.