Chocolate and Pistachio Cookie Dough Bars (Vegan GF)

Thick and sticky raw cookie dough bars studded with chocolate chips and crunchy roasted pistachios all topped with a layer of creamy chocolate. These cookie dough bars are naturally sweetened with dates and packed with oats – a vegan, gluten-free and easy no-bake recipe.

Once again, I am back with a simple no-bake recipe which are proving very popular with my friends and family – and I like them, too, as there’s no need to switch on the oven. Cookies, cookie dough and vegan bars/slices are a few of my favourite things to make so I thought to combine them all together and keep them no-bake, too. With an emphasis on simple, wholesome ingredients, these Chocolate and Pistachio Cookie Dough Bars make a delicious and indulgent snack that actually has some goodness to it!

Chocolate and Pistachio Cookie Dough Bars

Here’s what we need:

• Dates: these are key to bind the cookie dough bars, to add the classic squidgy and chewy flavour and to add the natural sweetness to the bars. Medjool will always be my favourite, but they are the most expensive, so you can also use dried pitted dates, just soak them in boiling water as per the instructions.
• Almond butter: adds texture and a mild flavour to the bars and helps the dates achieve a really silky-smooth consistency almost like caramel! You can opt for another nut butter or use seed butter, too.
• Maple syrup: adds to the stickiness of these Chocolate and Pistachio Cookie Dough Bars and it is not a lot of syrup at all for the entire batch. It helps to bind them and adds to the sweetness, after all, these are cookie dough-like!
• Vanilla and salt: these both add flavour to the bars. The vanilla adds the classic cookie dough flavour and the salt adds a great contrast. I am obsessed with chocolate and salt, so add a sprinkling more on top, too.
• Oats or oat flour: I like to blend up a batch of oats every week or so to make oat flour ready to go. Simply add the oats to a blender and whizz until a fine flour forms. It is really that easy! This keeps the recipe wholesome and gluten-free (check your oats if you are coeliac) and is a great alternative to white flour, as oats are safe to eat uncooked.
• Chocolate: I use two different chocolate for this recipe – I save the chocolate chips for the cookie dough bars themselves and use regular chocolate to melt for the topping. Use your favourite flavours and milk/dark chocolate here and all will be great. The chocolate chips may start to melt in the cookie dough batter depending on how warm the blender gets, this is totally normal!
• Pistachios: essential for the pistachio element of these Chocolate and Pistachio Cookie Dough Bars! They are so delicious and crunchy yet sweet and delicious and especially great when teamed up with chocolate and cookie dough. I used roasted ones here for even more flavour and de-shelled them by hand, but use whatever you have.
• Coconut oil: just a small amount of this added to the chocolate topping makes for a really shiny and glossy chocolate layer that’s easier to cut and has more melt-in-your-mouth factor!

Chocolate and Pistachio Cookie Dough Bars

 That’s all there is to it! Blend all the base ingredients together, pulse in the chocolate chips and pistachios. Press down firmly into a lined dish before topping with the chocolate glossy layer, a few more pistachios and a sprinkling of salt before allowing these bars to set.

I hope you will see just how easy, wholesome and delicious no-baking vegan treats can be with these Chocolate and Pistachio Cookie Dough Bars. They are plant-based and gluten-free and can be refined sugar-free depending on the chocolate you use. They are dense, chewy, sticky, sweet and salty, just like a thick slab of cookie dough. Stuffed with lots of chocolate chips and lovely pistachios, these bars are real crowd-pleasers. Serve them with a cup of coffee mid-morning or after dinner with some tea, they are great all day long.

Chocolate and Pistachio Cookie Dough Bars

If you are looking for more no-bake recipes, how about my:

• No-Bake Cookie Dough Bites
• Chocolate Covered Banana Pops
• Chocolate Cherry Almond Butter Cups
• Double Biscoff Caramel Bars
• Easy Vegan Rocky Road

Chocolate and Pistachio Cookie Dough Bars (Vegan GF)

• Servings: 8
• Time: 15 minutes plus cooling
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Thick and sticky raw cookie dough bars studded with chocolate chips and crunchy roasted pistachios all topped with a layer of creamy chocolate. These cookie dough bars are naturally sweetened with dates and packed with oats – a vegan, gluten-free and easy no-bake recipe.

Ingredients

• For the base:
• 200g pitted dates (medjool or dried)
• 55g almond butter
• 4 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 pinch of salt
• 200g oats or oat flour
• 50g chocolate chips
• 50g pistachios
• Topping:
• 100g chocolate (chips or bar, broken up)
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 55g pistachios (chopped) 

Directions

1. Add the pitted dates to a bowl and cover in boiling water. Allow to soften for 10 minutes before draining and adding to a high-speed blender or food processor. Blend until jammy and sticky. Now pour in the almond butter, vanilla essence and a pinch of salt and blend until smooth.
2. Gradually add in the oat flour, blending to combine.
3. Add in the chocolate chips and pistachios and pulse to combine. If the mix is getting warm, the chocolate may start to melt, this is OK.
4. Line a dish (approx. 10x20cm) with parchment paper and transfer the cookie dough mix and press down firmly to form an even base layer. Transfer to the freezer to set for 30 minutes.
5. Melt 100g chocolate with 1 tbsp coconut oil until smooth. Pour over the base layer, sprinkle some chopped pistachios and set in the fridge for 30 minutes.
6. Remove from the fridge and carefully slice into 8 bars. Serve and store at room temperature (or in the fridge if it is warm).

Chocolate and Pistachio Cookie Dough Bars

I look forward to hearing what you think of these Chocolate and Pistachio Cookie Dough Bars so please let me know in the comments below. Tag me in your no-bake creations, too. I’m @nourishing.amy on Instagram and use the hashtag #nourishingamy. I’m also on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest  – please say hello!

With cookie dough bars of love x

The original recipe post on Instagram was sponsored by POM Wonderful and POM Pistachios and Almonds – this post is not sponsored, I just love the recipe!