Naturally sweetened with dates and maple syrup, these vegan chocolate chip cookie dough bars are a great way to satisfy those cookie cravings! Soft, sweet, and made with wholesome ingredients, they’re delicious enough to enjoy for dessert and healthy enough to enjoy with breakfast.
I never thought I’d say this, but I don’t want to eat any more cookies. At least not for the next 2.5 weeks while I recover from the latest instalment of my kitchen shenanigans. I’ve eaten more cookies in the past week than I care to admit, and I can definitely attest to the fact that too much of a good thing… isn’t such a good thing. Someone please pass me a carrot. Or some kale.
But you know when you get an idea in your head that you swear would be absolutely brilliant if you could just pull it off? That’s how I felt about today’s recipe. I wanted a chocolate chip cookie that was naturally sweetened with dates, and while the taste and texture of most of my experiments were on point, they weren’t exactly going to win over the masses in the looks department…
I mean, they’re kind of cute, but they don’t have that traditional cookie look that makes people weak in the knees. Which — let’s be real — is what matters in this food blogging business. I mean, no offence to you guys, but you’re a pretty shallow bunch. Eating with your eyes. Not giving ugly food a chance. Be honest — you wouldn’t give a second thought to an award winning split pea soup if it looked like a bowl of upchuck, no matter how amazing the author said it tasted. But when it’s dressed up all nice with the proper props and lighting, then BAM… you need that in your belly NOW.
I get it. I’m the same way. I wasn’t trying to make you feel bad. The point is, the pressure is on when it comes to making food look good… which is why I scrapped the idea of making date-sweetened chocolate chip cookies and made date-sweetened chocolate chip cookie bars instead…
And how good do those look?!? Good enough to eat with your eyes, I hope. But let’s talk substance, since looks will only get you so far.
These bars are the real deal. They taste and feel so ridiculously similar to traditional cookie bars made with butter and sugar, that my taste testers had a hard time believing they weren’t made with either. Heck, I had a hard time believing it, and I was there during the whole process. But they better taste ridiculously similar considering how much recipe tweaking and consequent tasting I had to do. Like I said… I’m good on cookies for the next 2.5 weeks.
Thankfully, these cookie bars are relatively healthy as far as cookie bars go. The majority of the base is made from oat flour, which adds fiber and dense-ness, with some all-purpose flour thrown in for softness. I experimented with a few different flours (which I’ll mention in the recipe notes), and they all worked just fine, but the regular flour was my favourite as far as texture goes.
For sweetness, brown and white sugars get replaced with date paste and maple syrup. Not only does that add even more blood sugar regulating fiber, but you’re also taking in some minerals like iron, calcium, copper, magnesium, and potassium, which get stripped during the refinement of processed sugars.
Basically, these chocolate chip cookie dough bars are about as healthy as cookie dough bars get without actually tasting healthy. They’re perfectly sweet, with a slightly firmer crust that gives way to soft and chewy center. No eggs or dairy makes these bad boys vegan, and they can can easily be made gluten-free and nut-free with simple substitutions.
Happy eating!
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Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bars
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 16 bars 1x
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup Medjool dates, pitted (about 8 large dates)
- 1 1/2 cup oats, ground into a flour*
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour**
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 3 Tbsp. almond butter***
- 3 Tbsp. maple syrup
- 3 Tbsp. coconut oil, melted
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup dairy-free chocolate chips
Instructions
- Place dates in a small bowl and cover with enough hot water to fully submerge them. Set aside and let sit for about 10 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350F and prepare an 8×8 baking dish by lining it with a sheet of aluminum foil or parchment paper, leaving a few inches of overhang on the sides to allow for easy removal. Spray foil with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine oat flour, all-purpose flour, and baking soda. Mix well until fully combined.
- Drain the dates and place them in the bowl of a food processor or blender. Process until they begin to turn into a smooth paste before adding almond butter, maple syrup, coconut oil, and vanilla. Continue processing until ingredients are fully combined and mixture is smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Pour wet mix into dry mix and stir until fully incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips.
- Transfer mixture to prepared baking pan, and use a spatula or your hands to spread the mixture evenly in the pan, pressing down firmly.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, until edges begin to turn golden brown.
- Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 20 minutes before removing and cutting into bars. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
Notes
* To make oat flour, simply place regular oats into a food processor or blender and process until they become a fine powder. ** You can make these gluten-free by using a gluten-free flour mix or even something like almond or rice flour. The texture may be a little bit different, but they will still work. *** To make these nut-free, use something like soy nut or sunflower seed butter. However, please note that if you do use sunflower seed butter, your bars may turn green upon cooling as the chlorophyll in the seeds reacts with the baking soda.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
Looking for more healthy bar recipes? Try one of these!
Strawberry Banana Oat Bars
No Bake Vegan Oatmeal Fudge Bars
Soft and Chewy Protein Granola Bars
Blueberry Almond Oat Bars
Soft Baked Brownie Breakfast Bars
Thanks so much for the reply to my question, Amanda 🙂 I made them with vegetable oil and they turned out amazing! Thanks again for sharing this. Will definetely make them again.
These look amazing! I love that they’re sweetened with dates. Pinning now. 🙂
Thanks, lady! <3
I’m pretty sure this is perfection right here! Pinned 🙂
Ah I’ve been craving cookie dough but wanted a healthier option… I was so off the sweets train after marathon/post-marathon… but of course now I’m back on 🙂
wooow, these looks so good <3 I am planning on making them this weekend, but only one problem: I want to make them without coconut oil.. Will it work with a replacement? If so, what could I use for substitute? Thanks for sharing this!
Any other neutral tasting oil should work fine, Choci. Something like canola or vegetable oil
Well don’t these look amazing! They look so chewy. I want one now! 🙂
I said it before and I’ll say it again. The idea to turn these into bars was genius.
Also, I’m happy to help you out with your cookie problem because that’s the kind of friend I am.
Anything with the words “cookie dough” in the title instantly sells me! Yum!
that’s what happens to me when i have to make a ton of healthy bites. I kinda go overboard. LOL! but then i crave them again. haha. You should take these to blend or ship me the rest. just sayin…
They’ll most definitely be at Blend. But I wish you were going to be as well! <3
To me lately it is all about the ingredients…I want simple, minimal, and EASY, which is why I love a lot of your recipes. Stubborn…I feel it has gotten worse as I’ve gotten older.
I typically don’t consider myself a stubborn person for the most part, but there are certain things I may be more stubborn about than others.
These bars look fab! I think it’s awesome they’re sweetened with dates!
I am definitely an 11 or 12 on the stubborn scale.
And while looks are important, if I don’t like or don’t have the ingredients I am less likely to try recipes.
These cookie dough bars look delicious!
I totally agree. Looks are what grab my attention, but the actual ingredients is what seals the deal!
I legitimately think I will be eating these in the near future. I love chocolate chip cookies so much and these might be a nice way to mix it up. Thanks for sharing (and making them look beautiful haha)!
Yum, these bars certainly look beautiful and delicious to me! Pinning now 🙂
I tend to judge my baked goods like I judge my men: They need to have big…………. PERSONALITY. Get your mind out of the gutter, Amanda. 😉
I know you aren’t all about it, but I would love to just devour straight up cookie dough. UGH. I die.
Gutter? I was thinking they need to come with chocolate 😛
Interesting enough I notice some things about my readers as well. If I post a gorgeous salad no matter how good the pics look, they always go for the brownies, cookies or treats. Eating with your eyes is the real deal!
Oh my, these look great! I’m definatley going to make them. I don’t have medjool dates so how many of the small will I need?
Oh my, theses look great! I’m definatley going to make them. I don’t have medjool dates so how many of the small ones will I need?
Hmm. Maybe around 12-14? It comes out to about 130g if you have a kitchen scale. Or just measure how many you can pack into 3/4 cup — you have some wiggle room in this recipe 🙂
I mean, how could i pass this up!? I haven’t had cookies or cookie bars in so long! That must change!
Well I’d say these were totally worth the frustration. I’m drooling like an idiot just looking at them! I can’t believe that ingredient list came up with these. They definitely pass the good enough to eat with your eyes test. I’m going to pin these several times so that I don’t forget to make them soon! 😉
Woooo I’m excited to finally see this recipe up! And feel free to send any extras over my way ;). I feel ya, though. One recipe for SS took me 5 tries to complete (Raspberry Lemon Brownies) and I was at the end of my rope hahah. You could try freezing some of the cookie bars! When I was younger, that’s what my family would always do. Not because we couldn’t eat them all, they just get a really awesome chewy texture when you do <3.
Pinned!
5 trials?!? I’d be crying. And I totally love freezing baked goods. My family used to buy these tubs of cookie dough and I wouldn’t even bother baking it… I’d just stick it in the freezer and eat it from the tub 😛
YUM!!! Thanks for sticking with the recipe trials. These look so good!
Dying over these! I love chocolate chip cookies, esp. in a cake or bar form, so i know these are like made for me.
Giiiiirl watch talking about- even the first batch looked pretty damn delicious too…but of course the bars are in a league of its own! I will admit to being some kind of recipe snob i.e. I’m more likely to make bookmark/read a recipe that visually aesthetic…which explains why I seem to want to make each one of your recipes ;)!
YESSSSSS.
I think you should bring the self imposed ‘ugly’ cookies to blend. Use those as the pies 😉
😆 I’m pretty sure they’d take an eye out sooner than anything else. And I’m still waiting on that list…
These came out looking terrific! All of your hardwork and cookie tasting totally paid off 🙂
Omg!! This look so so so good! I’m craving horrible amounts of sweets lately { ugh mother nature }, and this just got put at the top of my list!
Haha – you are right, I would be one of those that ignored that bowl of award winning split pea soup if it looked like upchuck! But – it would be hard to avoid looking at these – dates, oats, almond butter and chocolate – yup, think I could be abandoned on a deserted island with a couple dozen of these and I would be ok – at least for a couple of days! 😉
I am like a 10 on the scale of stubbornness. I like to refer to it as “perseverance” though : ) And it’s usually a combination of looks and ingredients that make me want to try a recipe. I’m more apt to try it out if its made of healthy or healthier ingredients. But sometimes recipes full of sugar and butter are just NECESSARY : )
Yum! These look great! To answer your question, I think first and foremost the look of a recipe will catch/spark my attention, but then to determine if I will actually attempt to recreate it, I will focus on the ingredients and then make my decision.
That’s exactly how I go about deciding as well 🙂
Wow these look really good. I’ve come to the conclusion that any sort of cookie dough or cookie bar have my heart. I think I will try to make these for portable snacks soon. Thank you for sharing!
yep. Totally making these ASAP.
I was looking forward to a WIAW post…but these do look yum 🙂
Sorry, Sue! Sometimes I’ve got to switch up the schedule to fit things in.
These look scrumptious! And it’s so true – I’ve come up with a bunch of delicious recipes, but the photos just don’t do them justice and it’s a shame because I know if you just TRIED them you’d LOVE them!
These look amazing! I am already planning to make them next weekend:)
I agree that these were just meant to be bars! They looked fine as cookies too but that doughy consistency is screaming “make me a bar” 🙂 I’m very into no bake and cookie dough-like stuff lately, as are my kids! Love the maple syrup in there too!
To be honest, I like bars way more than I like cookies as well… which is probably why I almost never make them anymore 😆
I’ve been all about the cookie dough lately! I was thinking maybe some CCCD ice cream, but these may be the slightly healthier option 😉
And I’m shallow. I’m drawn in by pretty pictures when it comes to recipes. Something you seem to have absolutely no problem with when it comes to delivering on the attractive food pictures!
These look so great! I think I prefer bars over traditional cookies, so these are right up my alley. I’ll have to try these out soon 🙂 Oh and on the stubborn scale, I’m right up there with you. When I was younger (really young), I would hold my breath if I didn’t get my way and passed out quite a few times. The ER wasn’t really a fan of me. It’s been downhill from there.
You definitely win on the stubbornness scale, girl! I’m pretty sure I’d give up before making myself pass out 😛