For a few years as an undergraduate in college, I worked in an organic chemistry research lab on campus. Our head professor’s wife also led a lab in the same department, so each summer, the two of them hosted a BBQ potluck for their research groups in the park behind their house.
The couple provided the entrées — a variety of regular and veggie burgers, hot dogs, and sausages, all which my boss cooked fresh to order over the communal grills in the park — and the students brought appetizers, sides, drinks, and desserts. With over twenty grad students, undergrads, and postdocs in each group, most of whom brought family or significant others too, we always ended up with more than enough food to feed a small army!
Because I loved baking just as much then as I do now, I signed up to bring a homemade dessert the first year I attended. Knowing one of the grad students in our lab was allergic to every fruit except berries and citrus, I baked a double batch of lemon bars with a crunchy shortbread crust and silky smooth citrus filling, and I cut them into tiny bite-sized pieces, assuming people would feel more inclined to grab a smaller square so they would still have enough room to sample everything else at the table too.
When I arrived, I set the paper plates on the dessert table alongside the store-bought cupcakes, brownie bites, and Oreos. Although most people waited until after finishing their entrées to reach for anything sweet, a few grad students reached for a lemon bar as soon as I peeled back the foil. By the time we left, all three paper plates were completely empty!
The next year, I planned to do the same thing for the summer BBQ, but I completely forgot to buy lemons at the store… So that morning, I hurriedly whipped up two batches of dessert bars using a classic chocolate chip cookie recipe, cut them into small squares again, and dashed over to the park.
My homemade treats disappeared much sooner than the store-bought ones again, yet I still felt bad… I hadn’t realized that a few of the new grad students’ significant others were gluten-intolerant, so they couldn’t eat any of the desserts at the potluck.
So in hindsight, these Healthy Flourless Chocolate Chip Almond Butter Cookie Bars would’ve been the perfect BBQ dessert for me to bring! They’re naturally gluten free, and they’re also incredibly quick and simple to make. You just need one bowl and a fork!
These cookie bars are made with no eggs, butter, oil, dairy, or refined sugar, yet they’re still incredibly soft and chewy with a fudgy brownie-like texture (so irresistible!!). I know it sounds crazy — but it’s 100% true!
HOW TO MAKE THE BEST HEALTHY FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CHIP ALMOND BUTTER COOKIE BARS
Let’s go over how to make the best ever healthy chocolate chip almond butter cookie bars! As you’ve probably noticed, you only need one mixing bowl to make this easy recipe. From what I’ve gathered, you really like my growing collection of healthy one-bowl recipes. I love them too — especially since they usually result in fewer dishes to wash!
As the first ingredient, you’ll need homemade creamy almond butter. This is my super simple recipe. You just need 2 ingredients and a blender! It’s also fine to substitute store-bought creamy almond butter, as long as it’s the natural drippy-style kind. The only ingredients on the label should be almonds and salt!
Tip: Do not substitute crunchy almond butter! Those “crunchy” almond bits take up space in your measuring spoon, so you end up with less of the creamy part of the almond butter… Which means your cookie dough will end up dry. So for the best soft and chewy cookie bars, make sure you use creamy almond butter!
As I previously mentioned, these healthy flourless chocolate chip almond butter cookie bars contain no eggs. Instead, you’ll use unsweetened applesauce! The applesauce adds moisture, and it also gives these cookie bars a more chewy texture, very similar to fudgy brownies. Yum!
Tip: I like to keep a bunch of these single-serving cups in my pantry. They’re so handy! You’ll need about half of one of those.
Then you’ll also mix in a bit of unsweetened vanilla almond milk to help add moisture, just like the applesauce, and bind the dry ingredients together. It’s my family’s favorite non-dairy milk (and I also love unsweetened cashew milk — it’s so thick and creamy!), which is why I tend to use it in many of my recipes. However, any milk will work, so just use whatever you have in your fridge!
Hint: By using unsweetened vanilla almond milk and applesauce, your healthy flourless chocolate chip almond butter cookie bars are naturally vegan, dairy free, and egg free! (Along with butter free and oil free too!)
To sweeten your healthy chocolate chip almond butter cookie bars, you’ll actually use two ingredients: pure maple syrup and liquid stevia. Because someone always asks, yes — they’re both necessary! And here’s the nerdy reason why…
If you just used pure maple syrup, then you’d need to add almost ¾ cup to achieve the right sweetness level to make these healthy almond butter cookie bars taste like a true dessert. However, that would add way too much liquid to the cookie dough… And your dessert bars would therefore end up with a bready or cakey texture, rather than fudgy and chewy. Not good!
But if you only added enough pure maple syrup to achieve that perfect fudgy and chewy texture, then your cookie bars wouldn’t taste nearly sweet enough… They’d taste more like muffins, scones, or plain ol’ sandwich bread. Also not good!
So that’s where the liquid stevia comes in! Stevia is a plant-based, no-calorie sweetener that contains nothing refined or artificial (aka it’s clean eating friendly!). It’s also highly concentrated — and that’s super important!
By adding 1 ¼ teaspoons of liquid stevia to your cookie dough, you add the sweetness equivalent of over ½ cup of pure maple syrup. That means your healthy flourless chocolate chip almond butter cookie bars taste perfectly, deliciously sweet and have the best chewy and fudgy texture! Win-win!
Tip: Not all stevia products have the same sweetness level, so for the best results, I highly recommend using the same one that I do! I buy it online here because that’s the best price I’ve found, and you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!
As for the dry ingredients, you’ll need oat flour and a teensy bit of baking soda. Oat flour is literally just really finely ground oats, but “powdered oats” doesn’t have quite thee same ring to it. 😉 Therefore, I wasn’t sure whether to call these “flourless” or “practically flourless,” but either way, these healthy chocolate chip almond butter cookie bars taste absolutely delicious!
As tempting as it may be to simply dump the baking soda on top of the oat flour — please don’t! Instead, sprinkle it over your oat flour. Sprinkling helps prevent clumps, which results in the best texture in your healthy flourless chocolate chip almond butter cookie bars!
And now for the last ingredient — the mini chocolate chips! I love using mini ones because their smaller size ensures every bite contains at least one morsel of chocolate… If not more! These are my standard go to mini chocolate chips, and these are my favorite vegan and allergy-friendly ones.
One last tip for you! For the absolute BEST EVER fudgy and chewy texture, you must let your healthy flourless chocolate chip almond butter cookie bars cool completely to room temperature in the pan and then wait another 6 hours for them to set before you slice them into bars. Yes, I know it feels like pure torture to wait this long… But the longer they rest, the fudgier they become. (They’ll have a more cakey texture if you cut into them sooner, but their flavor will still remain the same!)
But once you’ve (im)patiently waited that full amount of time…
Enjoy every single bite of your healthy dessert bars! 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 flourless chocolate chip almond butter cookie bars!
Healthy Flourless Chocolate Chip Almond Butter Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 5 tbsp (80g) homemade creamy almond butter
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ tsp liquid stevia
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ cup (56g) unsweetened applesauce
- ¼ cup (60mL) unsweetened vanilla almond milk, room temperature
- 3 tbsp (45mL) pure maple syrup
- 1 ½ cups (180g) oat flour (gluten free if necessary and measured like this)
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 3 ½ tbsp (49g) miniature chocolate chips, divided
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°F, and coat an 8”-square pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, stir together the almond butter, vanilla, stevia, and salt. Stir in the applesauce until fully incorporated. Stir in the almond milk 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 11-13 minutes (see Notes!). 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.
Notes
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ Healthy One-Bowl Flourless Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookie Bars
♡ Healthy One-Bowl Flourless Chocolate Chip Blondies
♡ Healthy One-Bowl Flourless Almond Butter Cookie Bars with Chocolate Frosting
♡ Healthy One-Bowl Carrot Cake Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
♡ Healthy Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars
♡ Healthy Cinnamon Roll Cookie Bars
♡ Healthy Flourless Peanut Butter Cookie Bars with Chocolate Frosting
♡ …and the rest of Amy’s healthy dessert bar recipes!
These look delicious! I don’t have any liquid Stevia, what can I use to substitute it?
I’m honored that you’d like to try making these cookie bars, Amber! I’ve actually covered why it’s important to use the combination of liquid stevia and maple syrup in the text of my blog post above the recipe. I know it can be easy to miss! 😉 If you’re staunchly against using liquid stevia, then you can substitute ½ cup of coconut sugar or brown sugar for the stevia AND the milk, but it’ll change the texture of your cookie bars.
I can’t wait to hear what you think of these bars if you try making them!
I would have loved to be at this BBQ potluck!! I would have eaten all of your desserts though, and surely the other students would have been annoyed. I just have no control when it comes to nut butter desserts!
If I knew you were going to be at the BBQ potluck, then I would’ve made an entire plate just for you so you wouldn’t have to share any, Brittany!! ♡ I’m the same way with nut butter desserts… and even jars of nut butters. Hide all of the spoons or else I’ll finish them off all by myself! 😉
I’m curious about this statement in your recipe: ” 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 oven for 1-2 hours once they’ve reached room temperature to speed up the process!” Just curious why you would put them back in the oven.
I’m anxious to try this recipe.
Thank you SO much for catching that typo, Roberta!! All fixed — it should read “refrigerator,” not “oven.” You’re absolutely correct; putting them back in the oven makes zero sense! 😉 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these cookie bars!
Flour less, but contains flour. OK. They still look good though.
I did struggle using this page on my phone. There was just way too much writing and adverts before finding the actual recipe. Could you add a jump to recipe button? Because honestly I’m not reading all of that. I will be trying your recipe though.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Cay! I actually covered why I call these “flourless” in the text of my blog post above the recipe. It sounds like you skipped right past that, but I promise that explanation is there! 😉 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these cookie bars once you get a chance to try making them!
Hi Amy! This recipe is awesome, like all your other ones! I have a question: if I sub the oat flour for the bean flour, would that work? It’s just my thinking with the vegan desserts is that it’s always good to boost the protein amount in them a bit! And you’re the best when it comes the chemistry behind all the baking! So what do you think? Is that a good idea? Thanks!
I’m so honored that you’d like to try this recipe and that you’d ask me for advice, Liza! What’s the exact flour that you’d like to use in place of oat flour? There are many different bean flours to choose from, so I want to make sure I give you the best possible advice! 🙂
Hi Amy! Yes – I actually really think that your blog is the best healthy baking blog around! All your recipes are so well-balanced, which in my mind is the most important aspect! 🙂 As about the flour: I was thinking the garbanzo flour because it’s the easiest one to find! I haven’t tried the pinto bean and other bean flours yet, which may have less of the bean-y flavors… But I have been baking the the garbanzo flour a lot because of its high protein content! 🙂 THANKS! 🙂
Awww you’re going to make me blush, Liza! That truly means a lot!! ♡ In all honesty, I’m not a huge fan of garbanzo bean flour, mainly because it means I can’t taste the raw batter or dough (without tasting that strong bean flavor!), so I don’t bake with it very often… But based on the few times that I have, I’m fairly certain that it’ll work in these cookie bars as a substitute for the oat flour.
I also just did a side-by-side comparison of the nutrition information of oat flour and garbanzo bean flour. In 1 cup of each, oat flour has about 21g of protein, whereas garbanzo bean flour has about 24g of protein (whereas whole wheat flour has about 16g of protein). So it really isn’t that much of a difference, unless you happen to have a special type of garbanzo bean flour with a super high protein content.
I hope that helps, and I can’t wait to hear what you think of these cookie bars! 🙂
Oh, that nutrition analyzes is actually really helpful! Wow! I didn’t know that about the protein in the oat flour! I also somewhat dislike that bean flavor as well, but for vegan recipes I’ve been sticking with it because I thought it’d be the only way to boost the protein content! I LOVE oat flour! What a great piece of info about it to keep in mind! 🙂 Thanks! 🙂
You’re welcome, Liza! I’m always happy to help — and hopefully that gives you more non-bean-flavor options for boosting protein content in vegan baked goods too! 😉
hi there ! love you recipes !! was wondering if i could skip applesauce or if there is another alternative to that ? thanks .
I’m so honored that you’re enjoying my recipes, Sasha! That truly means a lot to me! 🙂 If you’d rather not use the applesauce, then I’d recommend using almond butter to make this recipe of mine instead (it has almost the exact same ingredients — just no applesauce!). I think that the applesauce makes these cookie bars a teensy bit fudgier and slightly more fudgy-brownie-like, but my other recipe has almost the same texture as well. And it’ll have the same flavor as these, as long as you use almond butter instead of PB! 😉 I’d love to hear what you think of the cookie bars if you end up trying them!
Hi!!! Can I use peanut butter instead of almond butter?
As long as it’s the natural kind (that just includes peanuts and possibly salt — but nothing else!), then yes! That’s perfectly fine! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these cookie bars!
Hi Amy, I want to try making these but I don’t want to make a whole lot. Is it possible to half the recipe and still end up with a good product?
I’m honored that you’d like to try making this recipe, Maya! If you have an 8×4″ loaf pan, then it’s possible to halve the recipe without making any modifications. However, if you don’t have that exact pan size, then I do recommend following the recipe exactly as written for the best results. 🙂 What are you most nervous about? Are there any questions I can answer that would help you feel more confident in trying this recipe?
I am not a big fan of stevia as it has an after taste but I really wanted to try your recipe so I went ahead and made it 🙂
It was actually not enough because my husband, my son and I absolutley loved it! I think it would be even better without the stevia, maybe with more maple syrup?
I plan on making it again very soon 🙂
Thank you Amy!
I’m SO glad everyone enjoyed these cookie bars, Maya! That’s such a huge compliment if you thought there weren’t enough cookie bars and already want to make them again. 😉 Thank you for taking the time to let me know! If you’d like to make the cookie bars without liquid stevia, then substitute pure maple syrup for the milk. They won’t taste as sweet as if you made them with the liquid stevia, but they should still taste delicious!
I’d love to hear whether you like that stevia-less version any better, if you end up trying it!
Hi Amy, so I made this recipe again and omitted the stevia. Instead, I added an extra tablespoon of maple syrup. It came out really delicious!! Thank you 😊
I’m so glad that worked, Maya! Thank you for taking the time to let me know — that truly means a lot! 🙂
I’ve been making bars for WEEKS to find a recipe my picky eater will like & this one was officially approved by the whole family 🎉 ! I actually subbed the almond butter for pecan butter & it turned out delicious! Next time I want to try almond flour instead of oat flour. Do you think they’d turn out?
I’m so glad you and your family loved these cookie bars, Audrey! That’s such a huge compliment, knowing that you have a picky eater in the family. Thank you for taking the time to let me know — it made my day! 🙂
In this particular recipe, almond flour should work in place of the oat flour! It’s not quite as absorbent, so you may need to add a touch more (ie 1-2 tablespoons) to get the same texture in your fully baked cookie bars. Since you’ve already made these with oat flour, I’m guessing you know what the consistency of the cookie dough should be, so aim for that same consistency! Does that make sense?
Hi Amy,
I made this recipe a few days ago and it was really delicious. I can’t wait to make another pan…
Just a quick questions: would it be possible to substitute the chocolate chips with some kind of fresh fruit, apples for example? Adding also some cinnamon could taste like an apple pie but without the calories???
Love from Athens, Greece xxx
I’m so glad you enjoyed these cookie bars, Elda! Finely diced apples and cinnamon should work just fine. I love that idea! I’d recommend ½ cup (63g) of finely diced apple (aim to make the pieces the same size as miniature chocolate chips so they soften while baking!) and 1 ½ teaspoons of cinnamon (or a bit more, if you’re as big of a fan of cinnamon as I am! 😉 ). I’m so excited to hear how your fun “apple pie” version turns out!