Chickpeas raw

I have to get this off my chest…when I was buying ingredients to make this savory snack, I walked the aisles of lower Queen Anne’s Safeway for 10 minutes before I realized that garbanzo beans where indeed, chickpeas!!  Sheesh… The same feeling I had when I was scratching my head in front of the herb section trying to find “coriander” for my chopped dish- duh…Cilantro!!

Anyway, these guys were super easy to make and you can add whatever spices you prefer.

You just need:

– 2 cans garbanzo beans/chickpeas
– about 2 tbsp olive oil
– and about 2-3 tsp of your own spice mix…

baking the chickpeas

I used the following:
– 1 tsp ground cumin (which I would consider using less next time)
– 1 tsp paprika
– 1.5 tsp garlic powder (I love garlic)
– 1 tsp onion powder
– 1 tsp cayenne powder
– 1.5 tsp sea salt
– 2 tsp sugar (a little SWEET and savory never hurts)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees

Drain and wash the chickpeas- it is VERY important that the chickpeas are as dry as possible.  I was a little unsure on how dry they should be so I used a hairdryer (cool setting, of course) to make sure the were perfect :0).  When washing, some of the skins will peel away…you can either remove them or leave them in the bunch for baking.

Place the chickpeas in a bowl and toss them with the olive oil…then add the spice mixture.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and evenly distribute the chickpeas.

Bake them in the oven for 50-60 minutes, stirring them around at the 20 minute mark.

Chickpeas can easily burn so you want to make sure to monitor them during the last 10 minutes.  Let them cool and enjoy!

They do taste like a corn-nut…I am going to play around with the spices next time- ranch or parmesan garlic!

Mark eating chickpeas