Most people will agree that cookies are delicious, cookie dough is even better and that cookie dough bars may just be the portable pinnacle of a seriously satisfying treat, steeped in childhood sentimentality and a true party for the tastebuds. Combining the indulgence of cookie dough bars with nutritious ingredients like chickpeas, oats and dates is the ultimate win in my opinion – the pursuit of which is how these bean-based babies were born.

The original peanut vanilla version (version 1) is topped with melted dark chocolate. Its inverse alternative (version 2) is a chocolatey cookie dough bar topped with a peanut white chocolate drizzle. Either is a perfect snack for on the go, at home with a hot drink or even as a cheeky breakfast bar. I’ve been loving having one with my morning matcha or with a mylky cup of rooibos tea as an afternoon pick-me-up. The cookie dough ingredients are the same for both with one exception (marked below). The two icing alternatives are listed separately and can be paired with either bar.

If you’re craving the full on cookie dough experience feel free to check out my Chickpea Chocolate Cookie Dough recipe, which uses chickpea, banana, dates and peanut butter to make an unbelievably indulgent tasting healthy snack or treat.

Chickpea Cookie Dough Bars

Makes: 4 bars

Ingredients: Cookie dough

• 50g oat or millet flakes, ground
• 100g chickpeas (drained weight, skins removed), mashed or blended to a crumbly paste
• 50g dates, blended to a paste*
• 2 tbsp peanut powder** (version 1) or 2 tbsp cacao powder (version 2)
• 1 tsp ground vanilla bean (especially important for version 1, as the dominant flavour)
• pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp liquid sweetener (I used agave nectar)
• 15g cacao butter (ca. 1.5 tbsp) melted

• Optional: raisins (I love the juicy burst of a sweet raisin; you can also skip them or add chocolate chips)
• Optional: dehydrated berries, crushed, to sprinkle on top. You can also add fresh berries, jam, hemp seeds, peanuts, etc.

Ingredients: Chocolate drizzle

• ca. 30-40g chocolate, melted (or more if you want to coat the bars more fully in chocolate; I used 80%)

Ingredients: Peanut white chocolate drizzle

• 15g cacao butter (ca. 1.5 tbsp) melted
• 15g (ca. 3 tbsp) peanut powder**
• 1 tbsp liquid sweetener (I used agave nectar)

Method

1. Line a loaf tin, Tupperware or dish with cling film (allows for an easy removal of the bars). I used a loaf tin with a width of 9 cm, resulting in bars of a 4.5 cm width.
2. In a bowl, mix together all of the cookie dough ingredients until well incorporated and the dough can be pressed together, adding the raisins or chocolate chips at the end. Note: I rinse the tinned chickpeas, once drained, and rub them to remove most of the skins. After picking out the skins I put the chickpeas on a kitchen towel to pat dry and remove the skins of the more stubborn chickpeas. I then transfer the chickpeas to the grinder attachment of my hand-held blender to easily process them. Alternatively you could use a fork, just make sure that the resulting paste is fine and even.
3. Pat the mixture down into your tin, using the bottom side of a large spoon to create an even surface and pop into the fridge or freezer while making the drizzle. I’d recommend keeping the cookie dough in the fridge for a good 15 minutes at least.
4. Gently melt the chocolate (chocolate drizzle) or melt the cacao butter and stir in the peanut powder and sweetener until smooth (peanut white chocolate drizzle).
5. Remove the hardened cookie dough base from the tin and slice into bars. Drizzle with the chocolate and/or peanut white chocolate drizzle. Any excess chocolate can be poured into mini paper cups and left to harden (I like adding some granola or dried fruit and nuts) for a perfect little treat.

*I love the Sukari soft dates from Dattelmann. They’re already pitted and, as the name says, (super) soft. Perfect for snacking or using in baking/cooking. Using their pre-prepared date paste is even easier! You can get 15% off items not already on sale with the discount code “blueberry15” {brand collaboration}.

**I ordered this Peanut Butter & Co one. I’ve also tried the PB&ME one available in the UK. I love it for making peanut white chocolate (see my Dark & Peanut White Chocolate Granola Cups recipe). If you don’t have peanut powder I’d suggest trying a drizzle out of peanut butter, liquid sweetener such as agave nectar or maple syrup and mylk until you reach the desired consistency. For the cookie dough bars themselves I could imagine that replacing the peanut powder and the cacao butter with peanut butter might work. I have not, however, tried this yet.

Enjoy! 

Feel free to tag @blueberrysmiles22 if you share your creations on Instagram, so I can share in the joy 🙂