Taste-tresting dessert hummus (Photos by John Houser III)

Hummus, the Middle Eastern and Mediterranean spread traditionally made up of garbanzo beans (a.k.a. chickpeas), tahini, olive oil, lemon juice and salt has been branching out to the sweeter side of the taste buds lately.

Dessert hummus (yes, you read that right) has been simultaneously intriguing, stupefying and horrifying people since it came to the collective cultural conscience of America via the show “Shark Tank” in 2017. Upon first learning about the concept, most people either think to themselves, “Why didn’t I come up with that?” or “Yuck, blech, gross.”

Delighted By, the company that was featured on the TV show, claims to be the home of “The Original Dessert Hummus,” but in the last year or so, traditional hummus manufacturers have been expanding their offerings to include the sweet stuff. Frequently, the garlic and lemon in a traditional hummus recipe is replaced by cinnamon and vanilla bean and coconut oil stands in for olive oil.

Dessert hummus is slightly more healthy-ish than say, pudding or cake batter, but the lower amount of sugar and salt can lead to a chickpea-forward flavor – an off-putting experience for some.

  • Tribe Vanilla Bean Hummus (8 oz. $3.99)
  • Delighted By Snickerdoodle Hummus (8 oz., $6.49)
  • Tribe Mocha Hummus (8 oz., $3.99)
  • Delighted By Vanilla Bean Hummus (8 oz., $6.49)
  • Tribe Dark Chocolate Hummus (8 oz., $3.99)

We’ve tasted five different varieties here from two different companies (above). While they’re growing in popularity, dessert hummus can be still be hard to find. Give it time, though, and you’ll soon be able to get your snickerdoodle hummus fix on every trip to the grocery.

Watch this video (below) to find out more about what the author thought of the dessert hummus he tasted.

John Houser III is a national and internationally published food writer who hosts the Rouxde Cooking School Podcast. “Yes, it is pronounced ‘rude’ and, no, I don’t know where you should go out to eat Saturday night.”

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