These crispy, high protein baked falafel muffins are completely vegan and gluten free! Naturally low in fat, these healthy savoury bites are low in fat and the perfect snack or meal addition.
There are two foods which are constantly used in recipes, meals and daily eats around the healthy living blogging world which I have never been the biggest fans of.
1. Sweet Potato
2. Chickpeas
It’s not that I despise eating either of these or avoid them like the plague- If they were the last foods on earth, I would happily tuck into it. Actually, that doesn’t say much.
When it comes to the sweet potato, I prefer to eat it’s white family member. I don’t need to profess my love for the white potato. It’s not unusual for me to eat a kilo of these white spuds in a day. Heck, it even happened where I ate a seven kilos within a week. When I was in America for the first time, I was fortunate to be there during Thanksgiving and was given a sweet potato with marshmallows and brown sugar. I think that put me off them just a tad.
Let’s now talk chickpeas. Chickpeas, especially chickpea flour (garbanzo/besan flour) is something I did grow up with. Many of my mum’s traditional cooking involved using chickpea flour (expect an amazing recipe to come in the new year!) and there are a plethora of Persian stews which are based on slow cooked chickpeas. I love hummus but over the last few years, I’ve found the more basic the chickpea is, the more stomach pains. What does that mean? Well let’s put it simply.
A can of chickpeas eaten straight = A pregnant male look.
A falafel deep fried to a crisp = Yes. So much yes.
Safe to say, when I’m cooking for myself or out to eat, sweet potatoes and chickpeas are often overlooked. When I asked on Facebook what kind of recipes you guys wanted, Vegan and traditional family recipes were popular ones. For long time readers, you’d probably think it bizarre for me to post a vegan recipe, knowing my love for the animal protein. Ironically, one of my all time favourite recipes by mum is her pan fried Persian style falafel which is almost vegan!
I’d always know whenever she’d be making these delicious patties because the house would smell insane- A combination of curry spices mixed with copious amounts of liquid gold. No, not coffee- Oil.
When I stole graciously obtained the recipe from her and looked through the list, I was surprised to realise how simple it was. Instead of pan frying it like mum usually does, I wanted to see if they would work baked in the oven as ‘muffins’. This was because I was lazy and didn’t want to stand over the stove. It worked out well and formed perfectly! The other edit I did to her recipe was vegan-ise it by using a flax egg (hence the puuuuurty black spots throughout). A warning though- Make sure you grease the muffin tins VERY well– Let’s just say my first trail, I ate them with a fork straight out of the muffin tin….
So while I may not be the biggest fan of sweet potatoes or chickpeas- Together, I’m their personal cheer leader. Especially when they are fried.
Baked Falafel Muffins (Vegan)
Ingredients
- 2 x cans of no salt added chickpeas drained (400 gram cans)
- 1 large sweet potato cooked and mashed (400-450 grams pre cooked weight)
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/2 onion
- 1 tablespoon flaxseeds
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 teaspoon pepper
- Oil for coating pan*
- Spray oil for coating muffins
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Generously coat a 12 count muffin tin or 18 count mini muffin tin with oil and set aside.
- In a food processor or high speed blender, combine the chickpeas, garlic and onion and blend until a very course texture is made. Add the cumin, red pepper flakes, sea salt and pepper and blend once more.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the chickpea mixture with the mashed sweet potato and flaxseeds and mix very well until fully incorporated.
- Distribute the batter evenly in the greased muffin tin. Generously spray the tops of the muffins with more oil and bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown on top. Remove from oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes in pan. Serve immediately or allow to cool completely before refrigerating or freezing. Muffins should easily slip out of the tray if greased generously.
Notes
If desired, these can be pan fried- Simply coat a frying pan generously with oil and fry on medium-high for 3-4 minutes, flip, and repeat until golden brown.
These muffins can be refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 2 months.
Are you a fan of chickpeas?
Can you handle legumes well?
What is your favourite way to eat a sweet potato? Maybe I’ll become a fan.
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The only sweet potatoes I really like are the Okinawa purple sweet potatoes….hard to find but I can find them in asian markets. They are purple skin and bright purple flesh. I think they are close to white potato consistency but have a really cool flavor….different, definitely different…delicious though!
Really? Is it still sweet though? I’m intrigued!
Can’t believe you realy post a recipe with sweetpotato and chickpeas 😀 I love sweetpotatos, I love chickpeas (yes, triple chickpea salad!!!) I love falafel, I love this recipe.
Wait. .. how did I never know you’re a fellow sweet potato naysayer? More power to the mighty white potato 🙂 !
Onto this recipe. It might be the most enticing savoury recipe you posted so far for me and that’s saying a lot because all [vegetarian] ones look good. Legumes have been my best friends since going vegetarian more than 10 years ago and chickpea is my second name. That’s because I still need to share it with Jenn’s little one. But really: I can polish off a whole can in a day without any troubles – or musical happenings ;).
I need to try this out with white potatoes!
I’m so glad you made it already, Juli! That means so much haha!
Whaaat – you don’t like sweet potatoes?? Can we still be friends?? I’m just messing but seriously though, try roasting them and then dipping them in peanut butter- that might just change your mind! I am not a fan of kidney beans but chickpeas? love them, especially in hummus form…that’s a given though ;)!
I know, I know but…I need them deep fried and then I can do that ha!
I am actually craving hummus right now.
Am I a fan of chickpeas? Heck yes! I love chickpeas and am sorry you have to suffer male pregnancy looks after eating chickpeas, haha. These sound delish! I really like that you used a flax egg. Pretty dots throughout indeed!! Happy Monday Arman 🙂
Thanks heaps, Gen! I’ll trade you a dozen for a loaf of beer bread. 😉
I LOVE falafel and all thinks chickpea related! I am so excited to try a baked version.
I love making sweet potatoes as baked fries with salt, and cayenne pepper
oh yum, that sounds delicious Bridget- I’ll have to try it!
I LOVE how simple these are!!
Thanks Angela! Hope you try them out 🙂
If I do decide to introduce chickpeas back into my diet this is the recipe I am going to first off! They look great Arman!
Hope all is well with you. Woke up to the news in Sydney – scary scary times.
Thanks Jenn! Hopefully you can adapt your diet to include them soon!
this is genius! Delicious!!
Thanks Brittany!
Yum!! I love falafels but I’m so lazy and just buy them already made. I’ve always wanted to try one of those sugary sweet potatoes you see at Thanksgiving, so I’m sad to hear you didn’t like it. Way to ruin my food bucket list.
Dude, it’s the worst. Seriously.
I just went to a doner kebab place and got a side of falafel for tomorrow. Oops.
Holy cow.. I don’t know how you come up with this stuff! But I’m glad you do. This sounds awesome…
Thank you so much! 🙂
YUMYUMYUM. Except I love chickpeas forever and always but I suppose we can’t have EVERYTHING in common..
That reminds me! I sent my sister your chickpea recipe (the baked ones) to make for me when I’m down in Melbourne, but told her to add a tonne of extra oil and burn them lol. Maybe no stomach pains then.
I love chickpeas and sweet potatoes, so this recipe looks perfect to me! 😀
Also I love that your mom has always cooked with chickpea flour – she’s like the original HLB haha.
LOL. My mum started the paleo trend when she used to eat fried eggs with dates. I’m not kidding.
I’m always a bloaty gassy mess when I eat legumes. Owell, they are too good and I am totally single. HAHA. This makes sleeping alone worth it. I LOveeeEEee sweet potatoes, yup so totally do. With things in them like almond butter, or baked beans (more gas!) or in a scramble of sorts. OR in dessert!
I got so excited talking about gas and sweet taters I didn’t even comment on the recipe. YUM!
Oh i LOVE white potatoes with baked beans, cheese and bacon. DO IT.
I must say, since being in Tel Aviv. I am all about chickpeas. But only in hummus and only if THEY make it – it is simply amazing. But yeah, I have a hummus baby in the 9th month whenever I eat it.
Falafel was also a common food when I was there and I SO love them!! Genius to make them as muffins – I had to laugh about the situation with eating them out of the muffin tin with the fork. Oh, how MANY times I did that!! 🙂
YESSSSSSSS. After eating authentic Lebanese food, all hummus tastes like lies. LIES.
Look at you cooking with sweet potatoes! I don’t eat chickpeas very often. I don’t hate them, but I don’t get excited about them, either.
Haha, that made me laugh. You getting excited over chickpeas. They don’t excite me either. Silly legumes.