These Sweet Potato Chickpea Veggie Nuggets make for great finger food for infants and toddlers. These veggie nuggets are super tasty and excellent for picky eaters. Also, they're gluten-free, dairy-free, and Vegan friendly.
Start prep work; Line a large baking sheet pan with parchment paper. Drain and rinse chickpeas then pat dry. Peel sweet potatoes and cut them into fourths.
Place sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan and fill with enough water to cover them. Make sure sweet potatoes are completely submerged in water. Place saucepan on stovetop on high heat. Bring to a boil. Continue boiling sweet potatoes until they are soft and tender. Once sweet potatoes are ready, drain them and place them in food processor bowl.
Add prepped chickpeas into food processor along with cooked sweet potatoes. Pulse on high for about 30-40 seconds. Until sweet potatoes and chickpeas are well combined and smooth texture is reached. Make sure there aren't any chunks of chickpeas or sweet potatoes left.
In a large mixing bowl, combine oat flour and flax meal. Sprinkle in spices and herbs; paprika, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, pink sea salt and black pepper. Whisk together until well combined.
Fold sweet potato and chickpea mixture into dry ingredients. Using a spatula, continue mixing until all ingredients are well combined and there are no traces of flour left. You want your flour to be very well incorporated into sweet potato and chickpea mixture. You should be left with an almost doughy texture.
Place Saran Wrap over bowl and place mixture in the fridge. Allow it to chill for abut 20-30 minutes.
Once time has passed, remove mixture from the fridge. Place prepped baking sheet pan next to bowl with mixture. Preheat oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Using a spoon, start scooping out mixture. Use your hands to shape mixture into small nuggets that are about 3-4 inches long and about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Align nuggets on prepped sheet pan. Continue this process until all mixture has been shaped into nuggets. This mixture can get sticky as it comes back to room temperature. Just work through it and if it gets too sticky, sprinkle a bit of oat flour on your hands and that will help.
Once all nuggets have been prepped, place in preheated oven and bake for 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow them to cool-down and finish setting for about 10 minutes.
Serve with BBQ sauce, ketchup or your favorite dipping sauce. Enjoy!