Don’t let the name of this muffin recipe scare you away! These cinnamon raisin chickpea muffins will confuse you in the best possible way. These muffins are soft and fluffy and yes, made with a base of chickpeas! I’ve used chickpeas before in sweet recipes (have you tried my breakfast cookie dough recipes?! There are tons of flavors such as chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, pumpkin (perfect for the fall season!), monster cookie, and brownie batter. So many options, and yes, I eat these edible, no-bake cookie dough recipes for breakfast! Perfect recipe to meal-prep and portion out for breakfasts during the work week if you ask me. ?

Anyways, while I have used chickpeas in sweet recipes before, I never in a million years thought using chickpeas in a baked good would result in a fluffy, soft texture. I assumed they would be more dense, perfect for brownies or cookie bars (this recipe is so good!). Another thing about this recipe that will confuse you…there is ZERO added sugar. None, zilch, nada. But they taste sweet and no, no artificial sweeteners (or protein powders) are used either. These cinnamon raisin chickpea muffins are sweetened with…dates!!! If you haven’t been able to tell by now, I LOVE using dates in recipes. Anything from no-bake recipes (like these 3 ingredient Nutella no-bake energy bites), cookie dough, and I also recently made this frosting which was INSANE. (I never even used the frosting to frost a baked good; I literally ate it straight from the fridge with berries and peanut butter yogurt. See here for reference. SO GOOD.

Of course, I love using chickpeas in savory recipes too, some favorites being this honey mustard hummus and this salad. But now I’m so excited about this new-found discovery of using dates to sweeten not only no-bake recipes, but baked goods as well!

This recipe was inspired by and adapted from the lovely Ambitious Kitchen, who created these peanut butter chickpea muffins. I immediately knew when I saw that recipe I had to try it, but as I oftentimes do I wanted to switch things up a bit and put my own spin on it. While obviously peanut butter in anything is delicious (in my opinion), I honestly make SO many desserts and recipes with peanut butter in it (recent favorites being this peanut butter bread and this peanut ginger sauce  on ALL the things). I wanted to switch things up a bit. My husbands favorite cookies are oatmeal raisin, so I was thinking of creating a recipe that reminded me of oatmeal raisin cookie flavors and these muffins absolutely fit the bill!

Let’s talk a bit more about the ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe!

Ingredients and Substitution Ideas

Chickpeas

As the title gives away, yes, these muffins ARE indeed made with a base of chickpeas.  I absolutely, 100% promise they do NOT taste like beans. You’re just going to have to trust me and try for yourself. Since these muffins are made with a base of chickpeas, this means they are MUCH high in both fiber and protein than your standard muffin made with white/all-purpose flour. This means that they will keep you more satisfied and fuller longer than a typical muffin! Using chickpeas also means these muffins are naturally gluten and grain free too!

Eggs

While chickpeas are the main ingredient in these muffins, the eggs play a very important role. I do not have any vegan flax/chia egg substitution ideas here this time for this recipe. The eggs help provide structure to these muffins and play a very important role in achieving the fluffy, muffin-like texture. Think of how cakes often have more eggs than a brownie recipe; similar concept here to help the muffins rise.

Almond Butter

Instead of using peanut butter like the original recipe, I decided to use a more neutral-flavored nut butter (almond). The almond butter goes SO well with the raisins here. Another idea would be to use cashew butter. Of course, you can use peanut butter like the original recipe but that wasn’t the flavor profile I was going for this time. The nut butter (just like the chickpeas and eggs) help provide structure and texture in replacing the flour in these muffins. In fact, it’s quite amazing how even nut butter along can replace flour in many recipes (I recently made this pecan apple spice cake) or cookie recipe.

Medjool Dates

I mentioned these muffins have NO added sugar…instead, I used Medjool dates to sweeten this recipe! I love naturally sweetening recipes using fruit. Dates are seriously amazing in recipes and SO versatile. I used 8 Medjool dates; if you use smaller dates such as Deglet-noor, I highly recommend soaking them in hot water first for a few minutes and then draining off the water before using. Medjool dates are much softer, sweeter, and larger than other dates. I always find Medjool dates in the produce section of the grocery store, usually near the bananas. Other varieties of dates (which I don’t recommend as much) are found in the dried fruit aisle near the raisins. The original recipe uses 1/2 cup pure maple syrup or honey, so you could try using that too. I wanted to create a no added sugar version though, and I was so happy with this end result!

Maple (or vanilla) Extract

I actually used pure maple extract in these muffins, which made for a delicious flavor with the cinnamon and raisins! However, you can definitely substitute pure vanilla extract instead. If you’re wondering what else to make if you buy the maple extract, I highly recommend this no churn maple pecan ice cream.

Baking Powder

Helps the muffins rise!

Salt

Brings all the flavors together. Trust me, don’t omit. Salt actually brings out the sweetness in recipes and food will taste lacking/bland/unsweet without just a bit of salt. You don’t need much at all; just ¼ teaspoon for this entire batch!

Cinnamon

I LOVE cinnamon so I used a full 2 teaspoons; feel free to cut back if you want. The cinnamon really pairs well with the almond butter and raisins for an oatmeal raisin, warming spice flavor profile here.

Raisins

The raisins also provide sweetness to these chickpea muffins! I really love the raisins here, just like in this cinnamon raisin oat bread. If you don’t like raisins, you can use chocolate chips like the original recipe, or sub other dried fruit.

Serving Suggestions

These cinnamon raisin chickpea muffins are truly delicious any time of day. With breakfast, snack, as dessert with maple pecan ice cream, brunch, etc. So many options! I am happy to report, like with most baked goods and muffin recipes, these muffins are very freezer friendly and make a great meal-prep option to have on hand. I do recommend storing these in the fridge versus room temp to keep fresh!