No Bake Black Bean Brownie Cookie Dough Bars (Vegan Gluten-Free)

These No Bake Black Bean Brownie Cookie Dough Bars combine two of the best things: fudgy chocolate brownies and sweet chocolate chip cookie dough in a delicious recipe that’s no bake, high protein, vegan and gluten-free.

You can watch the recipe video here.

I have a love for brownies and cookies together, what that’s in cookies, cookie ice cream cups or as cake, there is something so delicious about fudgy chocolate brownies and sweet vanilla cookie dough all together. For these no bake bars, I wanted to use a few surprise ingredients that keep the bars healthy, low sugar, high fibre and high protein… all made from beans!

What makes these brownie cookie bars so delicious?

These brookie bars are pretty amazing, they are:

• Rich and fudgy
• Chocolatey and indulgent
• Sweet but not too sweet
• Packed with protein and fibre
• Naturally vegan and gluten-free
• Soft enough to melt in your mouth
• Packed with a hidden caramel layer
• Easy to make in a few steps
• No bake and great for planning snacks
• Made from beans!

If you already love the sound of these bean-filled brownie bars, skip ahead to the recipe card. Or, first let’s discuss the ingredients in more detail with some swaps and tips.

What ingredients go into these brownie cookie dough bars?

The recipe has three layers; the brownie base, the caramel and the cookie dough on top.

Firstly, the brownie base:

• Black beans: these beans are so good for making brownies and while I have used them a lot to make baked brownies, I have not used them raw before, but all that changed with these fudgy bars. They keep the base moist, rich and decadent without adding too much flavour.
• Smooth peanut butter: or you can use another nut or seed butter like cashew, almond or tahini.
• Maple syrup: for the sweetness in the base and other sticky syrups like agave, date or coconut will work well as well as vegan honey alternatives.
• Oat flour: this adds the texture to the base and as these are not baked, oat flour is a great choice as it doesn’t need to be cooked. Blend up your own oats at home to make oat flour and use GF oats where needed.
• Cacao powder: for the chocolate element. This makes the No Bake Black Bean Brownie Cookie Dough Bars rich and chocolatey.
• Coconut oil: this adds to the texture and if you don’t have any, you could swap this for more peanut butter.
• Vanilla essence: for the flavour.
• Salt: because chocolate and salt work so well!
• Chocolate chips: to make these brownies even more chocolatey. You can use any dairy-free chocolate either in chips or chopped up.

For the caramel layer:

• Caramel: either use a shop-bought one or the easy no-heat caramel from my Coconut Caramel Granola Tart.

For the cookie dough:

This is a simple no bake cookie dough recipe that comes together in one bowl.

• Smooth peanut butter: or use another nut or seed butter as above.
• Maple syrup: to add the sweetness. As above, any sticky syrup will work.
• Vanilla: for the classic cookie dough flavour.
• Oat flour: to hold the cookies together.
• Ground almonds: I love the nutty sweet texture this adds to the cookie dough but you can swap this to use extra oat flour.
• Salt: to heighten the flavours.
• Chocolate chips: as above, any chocolate will work.

How do I make these No Bake Black Bean Brownie Cookie Dough Bars?

The steps are very simple and require you to make each layer in turn. Here is the recipe video.

• Make the base: blitz together all the ingredients (apart from the chocolate chips) until no lumps remain.
• Fold in the chocolate chips: and press into a lined dish or tin.
• Spread over the caramel: and chill while you make the cookie dough.
• Make the cookie dough: stir together the wet ingredients then the dry and fold in the chocolate chips.
• Tip the caramel with the cookie dough: in pieces and press down lightly.
• Allow to chill: in the fridge to set for 2-4 hours.
• Slice into bars: and enjoy.

Are these bars gluten-free and nut-free?

Yes these are naturally gluten-free, just make sure your oats are gluten-free and to make these bars nut-free, opt for seed butter like tahini or sunflower seed butter instead of peanut butter and swap the ground almonds for extra oat flour. Also check that your chocolate is nut-free. Here is where I get a lot of my nut and seed butters from and save 5% with code Nourishing5.

How long do these No Bake Black Bean Brownie Cookie Dough Bars last?

As they are no-bake and pretty sturdy, these bars keep for at least one week in the fridge in a sealed container, I also imagine they will freeze well for up to 1 month, and allow them to de-frost at room temperature.

I love no bake recipes, what else can I make?

I hope you will love these No Bake Black Bean Brownie Cookie Dough Bars and for more no bake inspiration, how about my:

• No Bake Almond Caramel Brownies
• Mini Cocolate Mousse Pecan Tarts
• Hazelnut Praline Bars
• No Bake Funfetti Cookie Sandwiches
• Chocolate Truffle Bliss Balls

I look forward to hearing what you think of these No Bake Black Bean Brownie Cookie Dough Bars so please let me know in the comments below. If you do make these, I would love to see them so please tag me, I’m @nourishing.amy on Instagram and use the hashtag #nourishingamy. I’m also on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest  – please say hello!

With no bake brownie cookie dough love x

p.s. the original recipe was sponsored by Legume Chef but all opinions are my own and this post s not sponsored.