Addictive Crunchy Roasted Chickpeas

Crunch, crunch! These chickpeas are amazing!  I’ve made this recipe several times before but this exact batch was the best one –  all because of a complete fluke! Don’t you love a happy accident?! This recipe is so easy, and I’ll give you the cool trick that made it even better!

Crunchy Roasted Chickpeas Recipe – Sweet & Spicy

Ingredients: 

• 1 can of chickpeas (or soak dried chickpeas overnight)
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 4 tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions: 

• rinse your chickpeas fully, then place in the fridge for at least 20 minutes to make them cold
• and don’t pick out the skins – that’s the best part!
• preheat the oven to 170 c
• blend together the coconut oil, maple syrup, salt and cayenne until well combined
• take out the chickpeas and make sure they are fully dry
• pour the mixture over them

Now, did you spot the trick that made this batch so good? No? Keep reading…

• combine everything and place in the oven for 20 minutes. Stir, then give it another 20 minutes. 
• at this point watch your chickpeas until you get a nice brown color, about another 5-10 minutes. It’s ok if they’re still a little soft, they’ll harden once they cool. I actually prefer it a little softer on the inside rather than too crunchy – they can get really hard if you leave it in too long!
• let them cool – sprinkle a little extra salt, cayenne or even coconut sugar to taste
• enjoy!

Ok, so here’s the trick and how it happened: in the middle of rinsing my chickpeas, I got pulled away and couldn’t finish the recipe so I popped them into the fridge. When I came back to it, the chickpeas were now cold. When the coconut oil and maple syrup mixture got poured in, the coconut oil immediately hardened. Usually what happens is that the mixture is runny and pools a bit. Not this time! Every chickpea was fully coated, making it better than ever! So put your chickpeas in the fridge first (but this will only work with coconut oil, which hardens easily when cold).