Pecan Brownie Cookie Dough Bars (Vegan GF)

These Pecan Brownie Cookie Dough Bars are rich, fudgy and packed with wholesome ingredients. With swirls of cookie dough, brownies, chocolate chips and pecans, these are also vegan and gluten-free.

When you crave cookies and brownies, the only thing to make is a brookie. Aka a cookie-brownie (these are different to my brownie-style cookies, which are fudgy cookies) as these have both cookie dough baked into a vegan, rich and chocolatey brownie. Throw in some chocolate chips and pecans, and these bars are great for dessert, snacking and for high-fibre, high-protein meal prep.

Why will I love these bars?

These are divine, they are:

• Rich, chocolatey and fudgy
• Golden, chewy and gooey
• Combine fudge brownies and delicious cookie dough
• Packed with pecans and chocolate chips
• Made with wholesome ingredients (no butter or refined sugars)
• Naturally vegan, gluten-free, high in fibre and protein
• Easily nut-free (skip the pecans!)
• Easy and quick to make
• Great for all the family
• An ideal dessert, snack or afternoon tea delight

If you are already obsessed with these bars then skip ahead to the recipe card below. Or, first, let’s discuss the recipe in more detail.

What ingredients do I need?

The ingredients are listed below with an explanation of why we use them and ideas for swaps, but see the “shop the recipe” for my favourite products and continue onto the recipe card for exact amounts. There is also a lot of cross-over between the brownie and cookie ingredients:

• Tahini: make this is runny and smooth for the best textures. Or you can use runny, smooth peanut, almond, cashew or sunflower seed butter.
• Coconut oil: this helps the brownies and cookie dough to set firm but with enough fudgy texture and is naturally vegan. You could try vegan butter but I have not used this myself.
• Maple syrup: for sticky sweetness and other syrups like agave or oat syrup will work as well as vegan honey.
• Oat flour: I love using oat flour as it makes recipes wholesome and delicious. You can make your own by blending up oats to a fine flour texture and make sure they are gluten-free, where needed.
• Cacao powder: to make the brownies rich and fudgy I use cacao powder or cocoa powder. Please ensure it’s 100% cocoa/cacao rather than hot chocolate powder which has added sugars and other ingredients.
• Vegan protein powder: I use the Macromike vanilla protein powder for the cookie dough to add sweetness, texture and a delicious flavour, too. You can save with my code AMB-AMY off everything (they now ship from within the UK meaning no high shipping fees). If you are not using protein powder, I recommend more oat flour or try ground almonds/almond flour although I have not tried this myself.
• Dark chocolate: for the cookie dough we need chocolate chips and then the brownie recipe uses melted chocolate to create really fudgy brownies. You can use whatever brand or flavour you like, making sure it’s vegan and nut-free, where needed.
• Pecans: for adding crunch and delicious nutty sweetness. If you are making these nut-free, skip the pecans and for other nut suggestions try walnuts or hazelnuts.
• Ground chia seeds: when mixed with water, this forms a chia gel (or you can use ground flaxseed and form a flaxseed gel) and replaces the need for an egg in the brownies. I buy my chia and flaxseed whole and blend them up to a fine flour texture and keep them in jars for 2 months.
• Coconut yoghurt: for fudgy, rich and moist brownies, the coconut yoghurt is perfect. Make sure it’s really thick and creamy, my favourite brand is Cocos Organic as the high fat content adds tons of moisture and helps to bind the batter, too.
• Spices: for something slightly warming, I love adding cinnamon and cardamom to the brownie mix.
• Raising agents and salt: some bicarbonate of soda and salt for rise and flavour.

How do I make these?

This recipe is easy to make in a few steps:

• Start with the cookie dough: stir together all the wet ingredients then add the dry ingredients and fold in the chocolate chips and pecans.
• For the brownie batter, make the chia gel and melt the chocolate: and whisk together all the wet ingredients.
• Sift and fold in the dry ingredients: to make a smooth, thick brownie batter.
• Press some of the cookie dough into the base: of a lined tin, it does not need to cover it all.
• Pour over the brownie batter: to fill in all the gaps.
• Press on the rest of the cookie dough: leaving some brownie poking through.
• Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until browning on top: although the brownie may seem underdone and squidgy, but this is perfect.
• Allow to cool firstly in the tin and then on a wire rack: for about 50 minutes.
• Slice into bars and enjoy: straight away or allow to cool fully.

Are they nut-free and gluten-free?

Yes these are nut-free if you leave out the pecans (tahini is a sunflower seed “butter” so is nut-free) and check that your yoghurt and chocolate do not contain nuts. To make these bars gluten-free, check that your oats/oat flour do not contain gluten.

How long will they last?

If you’re lucky, they’ll last an afternoon as they are so delicious. But, if you can resist, they will keep for 3-5 days in a sealed container, I pop them in the fridge overnight and enjoy at room temperature throughout the day. You can also freeze them for 1 month and allow to defrost before enjoying.

What else can I make?

If you are looking for more bars and brownie, how about my:

• Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies
• Vegan Protein Snickers
• Triple Chocolate Fudge Brownies
• Pecan Chocolate Fudge Cookie Dough Bars
• Double Chocolate Tahini Fudge Bars

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Stay in touch

I look forward to hearing what you think of these Pecan Brownie Cookie Dough Bars so please let me know in the comments below and leave a star review above. If you do make these, I’d love to see 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 brownie cookie love x