Chocolate Chunk Cookie Dough Protein Bars (Vegan+GF)
You guys are probably thinking I’m obsessed with cookie dough at this point but……….wait, who are we kidding, I totally am!
Yes, give me a planet where berries are abundant, the rivers are chocolate, and cookie dough grows on trees and I’d be all set. Anybody wanna move there with me? Oh, wait I forgot peanut butter! Yes, peanut butter’s gotta be included in there somewhere.
So, it’s getting very close to marking a year since I came back to the States from Chile and it’s really hard to believe. This year has been so full of good, a little bad, and mostly unexpected things. One of the things I’ve been asked so many times is how living there was different from living here in the States.
I’ve yet to come up with the perfect condensed answer, but a small little thing is that the variety of ingredients for cooking and baking is pretty drastic. Also, I feel like I’ve been spoiled to so many options of grab-and-go options by growing up where we’ve always had so many.
Protein bars, for example, are something that I rarely (if ever) saw down in Patagonia and I’m really into having them sometimes. Depending on your familiarity with fitness and nutrition, you may not think too much about getting in enough protein, but if you then you’ve probably heard recommendations to be getting enough.
Hey, but even if you couldn’t care less about any of that, this is health-ified cookie dough we’re talking about and who could resist that?????
What I love about this recipe is that it’s pretty adaptable and it’s so simple. The oat flour can even be made by blending up some oat before starting on the rest, and if you like things extra sweet fell free to add in a little maple syrup or agave. I actually enjoy these as they are and the dates give them so much natural sweetness. As for the protein powder, if you prefer to use whey or another type those can easily be substituted and the bars should still be delicious!
Chocolate Chunk Cookie Dough Protein Bars (Vegan+GF)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup about 12 pitted dates
- 4 scoops 112g vanilla protein powder (plant-based if needed)
- 1/4 cup 64g almond butter
- 2/3 cup 100g oat flour
- 5 tablespoons almond milk or any non-dairy milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon optional
- 1/4 cup semi-sweet dark chocolate chips or chunks dairy-free if needed
Instructions
-
Grease an 8x8 inch pan or line it with parchment paper. Add the protein powder and dates to a blender or food processor and pulse until the dates are mostly ground. Add the almond butter, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, oat flour, and almond milk and pulse until completely combined.
-
Use a spatula to fold in the chocolate, then press the mixture into the pan.
-
Let cool in fridge for at least 25 minutes and then cut into bars or squares.
8 Comments
Carol Miner
I’m sorry if I missed it, but how many grams of protein per serving?
Tori
I haven’t calculated this recipe but I know there are some online resources for figuring out the nutrition facts for recipes. Thanks for reading Carol!
Bianca
Hey Carol,
I was planning on making them as well and used MFP to calculate the macros/nutrients. For 8 servings, its looking like 295calories, 12g of protein, 47g of carbs and 27g of sugar per bar.
Tori
Thanks for sharing that Bianca. I really like getting a better idea of what’s in a recipe and this is great.
Cary
How much almond milk? I didn’t see it in the recipe; only in the directions.
Tori
So sorry about that. The recipe should have about 5 tablespoons of almond milk. You may need to slightly adjust it depending on how thick the mixture seems. Thanks Cary!
Kelly
Just made these and they are very easy, tasty, and a great way to use up some of the excess protein powder in my cupboard. Thank you for posting this!
Tori
Oh, that’s great to hear. I’m so glad you liked them Kelly. Thanks!