• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

HealthyHappyLife.com logo

  • about
  • RECIPES
  • LIFESTYLE
  • BLOGGING
  • VIDEO
  • SHOP
  • Cookbooks
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Recipes
  • Lifestyle
  • My Books
  • Videos
  • About
  • holiday
    • Bloglovin
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » recipes » dessert » No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Bars

    by Kathy Patalsky · updated: Jun 1, 2022 · published: Mar 26, 2017 · About 5 minutes to read this article. Leave a Comment

    No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Bars

    Jump to Recipe


    Sorry I have been MIA with new recipes this week guys. I have been immersed in a fun brand project, developing a bunch of recipes. My kitchen has gone from polished and clean to complete culinary-warzone-style chaos, dirty spoons and dishes stacked across messy counters and ingredients everywhere. But part of the fun of cooking is playing and making a big mess. Clean up is the tricky part. But whenever I am cleaning up in a hurry I think of the end scene in Adventures in Babysitting, you know the one where she is rushing to clean up the kitchen before the parents get home. #80sMovies = life

    No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Bars. Today, a recipe that is easy, sweet and actually pretty healthy for you! Just five basic ingredients! I was attempting to make peanut butter eggs for Easter, but ended up loving the texture of this peanut filling so much that I just made it into bars and used a bit of the leftover as a tasty crumble. So if you love all things peanut butter, chocolate, cookie dough and bake-free, give these a whirl!..

    And you will be happy to see that these are pretty darn good for you too! Healthy treat..

    UPDATE: Yup these bars are addictive. After a long Saturday at the beach I came howe and devoured a falafel rice bowl (quickly) because all I really wanted was one of these bars! There is something about sunshine and/or beach days and chocolate and peanut butter, amiright?

    Some of my beach pics from today..

    Love love love Sandpiper birds. So adorable scurrying along the foamy waves.

    (back to the orig post…) 🙂

    These bars are really easy and fun. I love playing around with coconut flour because it helps me make no-bake desserts with a baked texture.

    Date-Sweetened. These bars actually have two versions. The one using Medjool dates and one without the dates, just using regular vegan sugar – raw or coconut sugar. You could also play around with maple or agave syrup if you’d like.

    Note: In the photos, I used the ‘alternate’ sugar version as the crumble topping and the date-version for the filling/bar part, but both versions work for both uses (crumble and filling.)

    Peanut Butter Egg Version. If you want to get fancy, you can roll the filling into egg-like shapes, freeze them, then dip them in the melted chocolate for vegan ‘Easter eggs.’ I did this for a few and loved them. Actually I think the sugar version works well with this because it is slightly sweeter than the date-sweetened version.

    Egg-shaped version:

    So anyways, I am just really glad to get a recipe up this Friday afternoon! There is a bright yellow late afternoon sunbean peaking through the window and the kittens are lazily napping. MrWhite has learned to find his little late afternoon sunbeam that lands right on his kitty bed. It is one of those beds that uses suction cups to stick to the sliding glass door. The cats love it.

    And this weekend I have a lot of photo editing to do and hopefully some time to play in the sun.

    Happy spring everyone!

    Alternate version, using regular sugar instead of Medjool dates:

    ¾ cup vegan sugar (raw or coconut are two options)
    3 tablespoon hot water
    2 tablespoon virgin coconut oil, melted
    1 cup peanut butter, softened
    ¼ cup coconut flour
    ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
    pinch of sea salt

    Directions: Combine the warm oil, hot water and sugar. Stir briskly to melt the sugar. Fold in the peanut butter. Then fold in all the remaining ingredients. Add more or less coconut flour to create a cookie dough texture. If your dough ends up a bit too dry, add in a few more spoonfuls of water or oil. Follow the same directions above after step three.

    No Coconut Flour? Sub with shredded coconut or you could also try oat flour.

    More beach pics..

    No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Bars

    These tender peanut butter cookie dough bars are sweetened with dates and are a no-bake dessert! Gluten free and vegan. 
    5 from 1 vote
    click the stars to rate
    Print Pin
    Prep: 10 mins
    Cook: 15 mins
    Total: 25 mins
    Servings: 4 large bars

    Ingredients

    Peanut Butter Filling:

    • 6 Medjool dates
    • ½ cup peanut butter, creamy/salted (softened)
    • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste (optional)
    • 3 tablespoon virgin coconut oil, melted
    • ⅓ cup warm water
    • 2-3 tablespoon coconut flour

    Chocolate:

    • ¾ cup vegan chocolate chips
    • 1 tablespoon virgin coconut oil

    Topping:

    • reserve 1-2 tablespoon of filling for crumbly top.
    • optional: sprinkle of coarse or fine sea salt (fleur de sel would be perfect!)

    Instructions

    • Remove the pits from your dates and soak in warm water for 2 minutes. Drain water and add dates to blender.
    • Add peanut butter, vanilla extract and water. Blend from low to high until smooth – this will take a few minutes. If the mixture is too thick for your blender you may need to add a few more spoonfuls of either oil or water.
    • Pour the peanut butter mixture into a medium bowl and add the coconut flour. Fold and stir until a cookie dough-like texture forms. You want it nice and moist though – not too dry.
    • Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Pour the cookie dough onto the parchment and smooth out with your palms. You can make the bars as thick or thin as you'd like. (Remember to reserve a bit of the filling for the crumbly top.)
    • Place the peanut butter baking sheet in the freezer for about five minutes, just to cool a bit.
    • Chocolate: Warm your coconut oil and chocolate and stir briskly until melted. You can use the microwave or a double broiler method.
    • Remove your peanut butter baking sheet from the freezer and pour the chocolate over top, and crumble the filling over top. Place the baking sheet back in the freezer. Chill for about ten minutes.
    • Finally, do a final drizzle of chocolate over top, along with some optional coarse sea salt. Place back in the fridge for five minutes.
    • Remove the bars a final time, slice and serve!
    recipe author: Kathy Patalsky
    baking, Dessert
    American
    bars, chocolate, coconut flour, cookie dough, dessert, gluten free, no bake, peanut butter, vegan
    Did you make this?Snap a pic + tag me! @KathyPatalsky

    More recipes you may enjoy

    • Carrot Cake + Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting
    • On Healing… Patience. Uncertainty. Optimism. And Everything In Between.
    • Bread & Butter Pickle Tempeh-Bacon Toast
    • Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream

    About Kathy Patalsky

    Hey there! I'm Kathy, lover of kitty cats, weekend baking, 90's movies, travel, beach fog and foamy lattes. Since 2007, I have been sharing my vegan recipes and photos. My goal is to make your cooking life a little easier, delicious - and plant-loaded - while sharing some LIFE and conversation along the way.

    Vegan Linzer Cookies

    5 Ingredient Vegan Chocolate Pie

    Vegan Pumpkin Bread with Streusel Topping

    Vegan Oatmeal Cookies, Lunchbox-Ready

    Primary Sidebar

    • Bloglovin
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

    newsletter:

    Trending

    my cookbooks

    my cookbooks

    Disqus Latest Comments

    1. s

      s: Absolutely one of the best things I've ever baked. Used dairy butter…

      Commented on: Cinnamon Toast Morning Muffins, gluten-free and vegan

    2. JanetS

      JanetS: Neither of those non-grain flours will substitute for oats or wheat. As…

      Commented on: Cinnamon Toast Morning Muffins, gluten-free and vegan

    3. disqus_LfP7ofaP87

      disqus_LfP7ofaP87: Earth Balance brand HAS PALM OIL, as do most of the vegan…

      Commented on: Sticky Banana Bread Quinoa Breakfast Bowl

    about kathy

    kathy patalsky

    featured: peach coconut water smoothie

    browse recipes

    Breakfast  |  Entrees  |  Desserts  |  Smoothies  |  Sandwiches  |  Salads  |  Beverages  |  Soups |  Appetizers |  Snacks  |  Sauces  |  Sides   /  Cooking Videos  |  Round-Ups  |  Fan Favorites  |  Holiday  /  All the Recipes

    browse:

    • reviews
    • travel
    • vegan topics
    • people
    • videos
    • beauty
    • wellness
    • Mom Life

    my ttc + baby journey

    Footer

    BROWSE BY:

    Category:

    DATE:

    looking for something?

    contact   |   about   |   kathy’s cookbooks  |  press  |  findingvegan  |  meal plans  |  shop  |  vegan recipe index  |  privacy policy  | start a blog

    • Bloglovin
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Services | Work with me