Spicy Baked Chickpeas

On Friday, my friend Meghan of Travel, Wine, and Dine posted a guest blog post featuring Janel Ovrut of Eat Well with Janel.  This is the same Janel whose giveaway led me to the recipe for Egg White Veggie Bites.  The guest blog post featured a recipe for Baked Crunchy Chickpea Snack that I knew I wanted to try immediately and whipped up a batch on Saturday to snack on while watching a movie.

The recipe is really easy and straightforward.  I of course modified it a little to give it a spicy kick! 

First, I doubled the recipe and used two cans of garbanzo beans since I wanted to make a huge batch for the week and to share with my friends during the movie.

I rinsed and drained the cans of chickpeas.  I gave them a lot of spins in the salad spinner to help dry the chickpeas quickly.

I gave the beans a final pat down and put them in large bowl.  I put in two teaspoons of roasted chili oil, one teaspoon of garlic powder, one quarter teaspoon of chipotle powder, a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes and a pinch of salt.  I actually meant to put in a half teaspoon of garlic powder but I wasn't paying close attention.  In the end the extra garlic powder gave it a nice zest and it tasted just fine.  This just goes to show you how versatile the recipe is! 

I tossed all of the ingredients together.

I pre-heated the oven to 400 degrees.  I lined a baking tray with parchment paper and laid the chickpeas out in one layer.  I picked through and tossed any excess chickpea skins.

I baked the chickpeas in the oven for fifteen minutes, stirred them up, baked for another three minutes, stirred it up, baked for another two minutes, stirred it up and let the tray sit in the oven with the heat off.  The chickpeas already tasted crunchy straight out of the oven but it definitely got more crunchy after cooling it down in the refrigerator for about half an hour.

I loved adding a spicy kick to the baked chickpeas and I can't wait to try this recipe again using different seasonings and spices.  White truffle oil?  Herbs de Provence?  The possibilities are endless.

What has been inspiring you lately in the kitchen?