This roasted chickpeas recipe is an easy and delicious way to add nutrition to your toddler’s diet. This soft roasted chickpea recipe has a sweet-salty flavor that’s super yummy and makes for a healthy toddler snack option!
When my oldest daughter was 1, I picked up a kid-specific cookbook. One of the first recipes that I cooked from it was roasted chickpeas. She was going through a phase of devouring chickpeas plain and I wanted to change up how I was serving them to her to try to prolong her interest in the food. It was such a strange thing for her to love so enthusiastically, but they are filled with good carbohydrates, fiber, and vegetarian protein, so I was totally game to follow her lead. But the roasted version I made her? They were a total choking hazard.
It turns out that “kid-friendly” is not the same as “toddler-friendly”, which was something I’ve discovered many times over the years. Since toddlers are still learning to chew and move food around in their mouths efficiently, there are some textures that are too tricky for them—super crunchy and round foods being one of them. And even though those roasted chickpeas did not turn out to be a great snack for her, I discovered that by drastically shortening the roasting length and adding lots of flavors to the beans, I could still offer her a delicious snack that was safe for her to eat. These soft-roasted chickpeas are the result!
Ingredients1 14.5-ounce can chickpeas rinsed, drained, and patted dry (or about 2 cups cooked dried)
1 teaspoon canola or coconut oil
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
Method* Preheat oven to 325 F.
* If desired, rub the chickpeas in a clean kitchen towel to remove the skins. (You don’t have to do this, but you may want to if you have a toddler who’s particularly sensitive to textures.) Discard the skins
* Stir together all ingredients in a medium bowl.
* Spread on a baking sheet or baking dish and bake for 12-15 minutes.
* Serve warm or at room temperature, smashing beans slightly for younger eaters if desired.