Healthy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bars
Slightly adapted from a Butternut Bakery recipe, this is a healthy, vegan-ish cookie dough bar, covered with chocolate and anchored by a chocolatey “cookie” crust.Â
Ingredients
Scale
For the chocolate cookie base:
- Â 10 pitted dates (Medjool)
- â…“ cup dark cocoa powder
- 1 TBSP maple syrup
- ½ cup superfine almond flour (such as Bob’s Red Mill)
- 1 tsp Stevia-based or monk fruit sweetener (such as Truvia)
 For the cookie dough:
- Â One 14.5-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- â…“ cup peanut butter
- ½ cup superfine almond flour
- 3 TBSP maple syrup
- 1 tsp Stevia-based or monk fruit sweetener (such as Truvia; this is optional, but I think the added sweetness is nice here)
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¾ to 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
 For the chocolate coating:
- Â 1 heaping cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Spray a loaf pan with natural spray and line with parchment.
- In the bowl of a food processor, add the dates, cocoa powder, maple syrup, almond flour, and sweetener of your choice. Process until smooth and blended. Press into the bottom of the loaf pan, in an even-ish layer.
- Prep the chickpeas: You’ll need to remove the skins from the chickpeas, or else the cookie dough will taste like chickpeas (not the idea). To do this, lightly pinch/squeeze each chickpea between two fingers until the skin pops off; it’s almost like a snapping motion. This is worth doing and should only take about 10 minutes.Â
- To the (now empty) food processor, put the peeled chickpeas, peanut butter, almond flour, maple syrup, sweetener of your choice vanilla, and the salt. Process until smooth – it should come together in a doughy ball. Add the chocolate chips and pulse a few times to mix. Press into the pan, over the chocolate cookie layer.Â
- Melt the chocolate chips according to package directions, stirring occasionally, as needed. Pour all over the top of the cookie dough mixture, ensuring it reaches the edges and is even. Refrigerate for at least 45 minutes or until the chocolate on top is set. Cut into bars and enjoy.
Keywords: Healthy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bars