I’m partnering with Bob’s Red Mill® to bring you today’s recipe! I absolutely love all of their products and use them every day. Bob’s Red Mill products are so perfect for baking!
During my junior year of high school, one of my close guy friends planned a special Valentine’s Day date for his girlfriend. Since I knew her really well, he shared his thoughts with me ahead of time to double check she’d appreciate his surprises: a bouquet of red roses, a dainty gold necklace, and a giant cookie cake from Mrs. Field’s.
I immediately reassured him that she’d love all of them, so around midday on Valentine’s Day, I headed over to the mall with him to pick up the special dessert. When we walked up to the bakery’s register, someone brought out a huge red box from the back and flipped open the lid to show us his customized treat.
They had scripted “I love you” along with her name across the center of the massive cookie cake in red icing, piped white frosting ruffles around the edge, and sprinkled the border with teeny heart-shaped sprinkles. I looked at my friend and smiled, quickly telling him that she would absolutely adore his sweet cookie cake gesture.
As we carried it back to his truck, he mentioned that he had a tough time picking out the cookie flavor. He debated between plain chocolate chip and peanut butter with chocolate chunks, but in the end, he thought the simplest option would be best.
I nodded my head in agreement. Classic flavors always taste delicious, especially when they’re as soft and chewy and gooey as that oversized store-bought cookie…
But I still secretly wondered how the peanut butter version would’ve turned out.
The other thing I thought about that afternoon? How smart it was to bake cookie dough in a cake pan! Up to that point in my life, I had always assumed homemade cookie dough needed to be prepared exactly as cookbook recipes instructed, as individual mounds of dough on the baking sheet… And a single massive cookie, like the one he had custom ordered, could only be made by fancy bakeries.
Yet when I considered how much easier it’d be to skip shaping individual cookies from homemade dough, I decided to try baking my own jumbo chocolate chip cookie in a cake pan back at my own house. I used the ingredients list from an older cookbook on our shelf, and although it wasn’t one bit healthy, that big cookie still tasted delicious, especially the center squares… Those slices were so ooey, gooey, and massively chewy—exactly the way I love my cookies!
And now, far too many years later, I finally created a healthier version: these Healthy One-Bowl Flourless Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookie Bars! They’re incredibly soft and chewy with lots of sweet peanut flavor and rich chocolate morsels. They’re also really easy to make—no mixer required!
Unlike the store-bought version, these healthy cookie bars contain no eggs, dairy, butter, oil or refined sugar… And they’re just 92 calories!
I confess… I immediately reached for a second bar the moment I polished off my first. They’re that good!
HOW TO MAKE HEALTHY ONE-BOWL FLOURLESS CHOCOALTE CHIP PEANUT BUTTER COOKIE BARS
Let’s go over how to make these healthy one-bowl flourless chocolate chip peanut butter cookie bars!
In your mixing bowl, you’ll start by adding homemade creamy peanut butter and unsweetened cashew milk. This is my homemade creamy peanut butter recipe. You just need 2 ingredients (peanuts + salt), 5 minutes, and a blender. It’s so easy to make! And unlike many store-bought peanut butter options, your homemade version contains no added sugar, oil, or any other funky ingredients.
Unsweetened cashew milk is actually one of my favorite non-dairy milk options! Many of my family members are lactose intolerant, so unsweetened cashew milk and unsweetened vanilla almond milk are my two standards. While we love both, I think that unsweetened cashew milk has a thicker and creamier texture, close to that of whole milk. It’s also just 25 calories per cup!
Both of these first two ingredients work double duty in this recipe! In addition to that irresistible nutty flavor, the homemade creamy peanut butter replaces the butter or oil in these healthy one-bowl flourless chocolate chip cookie bars. The unsweetened cashew milk adds moisture and also replaces the eggs.
Tip: Any milk will work! But… By using cashew milk (or almond milk!), these healthy one-bowl flourless chocolate chip peanut butter cookie bars are dairy free, egg free, and vegan!
Once you’ve stirred those two ingredients together into a creamy and even mixture, you’ll stir in a pinch of salt, vanilla extract, liquid stevia, and pure maple syrup. No refined sugar in these healthy flourless chocolate chip peanut butter cookie bars!
Yes, you do need both the liquid stevia and pure maple syrup. Here’s why!
If you just used pure maple syrup as the sweetener, then you’d have to add about ¾ cup to the cookie dough to make these healthy flourless cookie bars taste as sweet as traditional recipes. However, that would add way too much liquid to the bowl, and your cookie dough would have the same texture as muffin batter. That would make your cookie bars taste bready and cakey. Not good!
But if you scaled back and only added enough maple syrup to give your cookie bars the perfect soft and chewy consistency, they wouldn’t be nearly sweet enough. They’d taste more like bread rolls. Also not good!
So that’s where the liquid stevia comes in! Liquid stevia is highly concentrated. By adding a mere 1 teaspoon of liquid stevia, you add the sweetness equivalent of ½ cup of maple syrup!
When you use both pure maple syrup and liquid stevia, your healthy one-bowl flourless chocolate chip peanut butter cookie bars are perfectly sweet, soft, and chewy. It’s the best of both worlds!
Tip: I actually buy my liquid stevia online here, and you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!
Another Tip: Pure maple syrup isn’t the same thing as pancake syrup! Pure maple syrup comes directly from maple trees, and the only ingredient is—you guessed it!—maple syrup. (No corn syrup or artificial flavorings!) It usually comes in thin glass bottles or squat plastic jugs like this!
Instead of the refined all-purpose flour found in those store-bought cookie cakes, you’ll use Bob’s Red Mill® Whole Grain Oat Flour. I’m obsessed with it! It’s literally made by finely grinding whole oat groats. Nothing added and nothing removed!
Hint: Groats = the whole grain, including the oat’s germ, bran, and endosperm. It’s just a fancy way of saying you get all of those added health benefits and micronutrients from the whole grain oats!
In other words, Bob’s Red Mill® Oat Flour is basically just finely powdered whole grain oats, but… Somehow, “powdered oats” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as “oat flour.” 😉 As a result, I’m never sure whether to call these healthy chocolate chip peanut butter cookie bars “flourless” or “practically flourless”… But either way, they’re extremely delicious!
Before you stir the oat flour into your bowl, sprinkle a teeny bit of baking soda on top! I prefer to sprinkle it, rather than dump it all in one place, because this helps prevent clumps. Clumps of baking soda lead to uneven baking, but if you sprinkle it over the flour and stir both of them into your mixing bowl at the same time, your healthy flourless chocolate chip peanut butter cookie bars should bake evenly and beautifully!
But of course, you still need to add the chocolate! I use mini chips (I love these!) so that every bite contains at least one morsel of chocolate. I also reserve some to press into the tops for a pretty presentation. I think it makes them look even more irresistible!
Although… That might be dangerous. 😉
One last thing! Well, maybe two…
First, do not overbake these cookie bars! They’ll actually be done when the edges look firm but the center still looks glossy and a bit underdone. The center will continue to cook through from the heat of the warm pan while you let the pan cool completely to room temperature on the counter.
And since these don’t contain eggs, it’s totally fine to underbake them—that’s what I usually do!
Second, you must let these healthy cookie bars rest for at least 6 hours once they’ve reached room temperature. I know. It feels impossible. And like pure torture. However! These healthy one-bowl flourless chocolate chip cookie bars actually turn fudgier and chewier the longer you let them rest. (If you cut into them too early, they’ll be more cakey.) I promise that ooey gooey texture is totally worth the wait!
Then if you figure out how to stop at just one, please tell me your trick… Because I definitely failed at that! 😉 And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! 🙂 ) I’d love to see your healthy one-bowl flourless chocolate chip peanut butter cookie bars!
| Healthy One-Bowl Flourless Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookie Bars | | Print |
- 5 tbsp (80g) homemade creamy peanut butter
- 6 tbsp (90mL) unsweetened cashew milk, room temperature
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp liquid stevia
- ¼ cup (60mL) pure maple syrup
- 1 ½ cups (180g) Bob’s Red Mill® Whole Grain Oat Flour (Gluten Free Oat Flour if necessary and measured like this)
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 3 ½ tbsp (49g) miniature chocolate chips, divided
- Preheat the oven to 300°F, and coat an 8”-square pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, stir together the peanut butter and cashew milk. Stir in the salt, vanilla, stevia, and maple syrup. Pour in the oat flour, and sprinkle the baking soda over the oat flour (to prevent it from clumping!). Stir in the oat flour and baking soda until just incorporated. Stir in 3 tablespoons of miniature chocolate chips.
- Spread the mixture into the prepared pan. Gently press the remaining miniature chocolate chips on top. Bake at 300°F for 12-15 minutes. Cool completely to room temperature in the pan, and let the bars rest for at least 6 hours once at room temperature for the best taste and texture before slicing and serving.
Any milk may be substituted for the unsweetened cashew milk.
I highly recommend using the liquid stevia! I buy mine online here, and you’ll also use it in all of these recipes of mine. You cannot substitute additional pure maple syrup for the liquid stevia because the cookies require a precise balance of wet and dry ingredients.
Honey or agave may be substituted for the pure maple syrup.
Bob’s Red Mill Organic Ivory Wheat Flour, Organic Whole Wheat Pastry Flour, Organic Whole Wheat Flour, or Organic Unbleached White All Purpose Flour may be substituted for the Whole Grain Oat Flour. Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour also works just as well!
Remember to measure the oat flour using this method or a kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I own!) Too much oat flour will make your cookie bars dry and crumbly.
The cookie bars are done when the edges look firm but the center still looks glossy and underdone! The heat from the pan continues to cook the center while they cool. If the edges of the cookie bars pull away from the edges of your baking pan within 10 minutes of pulling them out of the oven, then you’ve baked them for long enough!
If you’re too impatient to wait for 6 hours once your cookie bars are at room temperature, then you can stick the pan in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours once they’ve reached room temperature to speed up the process!
{gluten-free, vegan, dairy free, egg free, clean eating, low fat, lower sugar}
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
This post was sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill®. As always, all text, opinions, photographs, and recipe are my own. To find Bob’s Red Mill® products at a store near you, use their handy store locator here!
Hint: I’ve used Bob’s Red Mill® Whole Grain Oat Flour in many of my recipes! Truffles (here and here), other cookie bars (here and here), cookies (here, here and here), cookie dough bites (here and here), and more. Their Gluten-Free Oat Flour works just as well in all of those recipes, too!
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ Healthy One-Bowl Flourless Chocolate Chip Blondies
♡ Healthy Raspberry Crumble Bars
♡ Healthy One-Bowl Chocolate Chip Cookies
♡ Healthy Peach Crumble Bars
♡ Healthy One-Bowl Fudgy Chocolate Chunk Brownies
♡ Healthy Carrot Cake Cookie Bars
♡ …and the rest of Amy’s healthy dessert bar recipes!
This looks so delicious! Is it possible to use powdered peanut butter? I know the amount of milk or other wet ingredients would need to be modified. What do you recommend for the amount of powdered PB can be used? Thanks!
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Trisha! I haven’t tried using powdered peanut butter in these cookie bars, and I’m actually not sure that I’d recommend it. There’s a good chance that it’ll make the cookie bars turn out cakey, rather than chewy and fudgy, because of the consistency and lower fat content of powdered peanut butter (even when mixed with water or milk). I’d love to hear what you think if you decide to try making these cookie bars! 🙂
Hi Amy,
I made these cookies/brownies and they are delicious. I used Agave syrup in place of Stevia, almond flour in place of the oat flour and crunchy almond butter. Thanks for sharing a great recipe. Happy baking
I’m so glad you loved these cookie bars Brenda! Thanks so much for sharing your recipe modifications — I always love hearing what tweaks work! 🙂
Please consider adding a “jump to recipe” option for readers to click on who want to get to the recipe directly. Love your blog and I know we can just scroll down to the bottom but it’s convenient for the readers and most blogs I have checked out so far has that option.
I’ll bring it up the next time I speak with my website developer! 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you try making these cookie bars Kathy!
I can’t use stevia. What else can I use in it’s place, agave?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Patricia! I’ve actually gone over why other liquid sweeteners like maple syrup and agave won’t work in place of stevia in my blog post above the recipe. I know it can be easy to miss that! 😉 If stevia really won’t work for you, then you can substitute ¾ cup (144g) of coconut or brown sugar for the liquid stevia AND the maple syrup AND the milk. (If the cookie dough seems dry when you mix everything together, then add a little milk 1 teaspoon at a time until it forms a smooth dough.) The texture may be a little different, but the taste should be about the same! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these cookie bars!
Hello. I’m wondering if sun butter (made from sunflower seeds instead of nuts) would work in place of the peanut butter? I’m also wondering if extra virgin olive oil would be an okay substitute for the coconut oil in your recipes? I can’t wait to try many of them!
I truly appreciate your interest in my recipes Wendy! That means a lot to me! 🙂 Yes, olive oil should be a good substitute for coconut oil in most of my recipes. I haven’t worked much with sunflower seed butter before, but I think it’s worth trying. I’d love to hear how your cookie bars turn out if you try that!
Hi can I use spelt flour Instead of oat flour
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Abbey! I think that should be fine. I can’t wait to hear what you think of these cookie bars!
Hi Amy ! Can’t wait to make those !
My peanut butter is getting a little dry, it’s okay but not SUPER smooth, would it still work ?
I’m so honored that you’d like to try making these cookie bars Caty! If your peanut butter is a little dry, then I’d recommend two things: {a} warming it up a bit (that helps with the consistency!) and {b} adding a touch more milk to compensate if the cookie dough seems dry. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these!
I finally made them !! (I was waiting to open a new jar of all natural peanut butter to make sire they’ll be great !)
They just came out of the oven, I’ll let you know how they turned out in 6 hours ! Can’t waaaait ????
I’m so honored that you made this recipe Caty! 🙂 I’m really excited to hear how they turned out!!
Well, DELICIOUS as always !! ????
Yay!! I’m so happy that you loved them Caty! 🙂 As always, thank you for taking the time to let me know!
That’s the least I can do !
Thank YOU again for everything you’re doing
Awww it’s my pleasure Caty!! ♡