Shredded Coconut Cookie Dough Bars Recipe

“Every time I serve these someone always asks if they can really eat the raw cookie dough. There are no raw eggs—or eggs at all—in them, so you are good to go. They taste like the real deal thanks to the vanilla-date combo, so be sure to use a good vanilla extract. Consider doubling this recipe for a crowd, because these will be the first thing to fly off the dessert table.”
—Lily Kunin, from her cookbook Good Clean Food

Shredded Coconut Cookie Dough Bars

Yield: 12 small bars
Active Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the bars
3 Medjool dates, pitted
¾ cup raw cashews
½ cup gluten-free rolled oats
½ cup unsweetened coconut flakes
¼ teaspoon pink sea salt
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
¼ cup cacao nibs or dark chocolate chips

For the chocolate sauce
¼ cup cacao powder
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 tablespoon raw honey or maple syrup, plus more as needed
Pinch of sea salt or pink sea salt

Instructions

Make the bars
Place the dates in a small bowl and pour in enough hot water to cover them; let them sit for at least 5 minutes. Line a small pan with parchment and set aside.

To a food processor, add the cashews, oats, coconut flakes, salt, and vanilla and blend until a fine meal forms. If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a high-speed blender in its place. Add the dates (make sure there are no pits!), 3 tablespoons of the water the dates have been soaked in, and the vanilla extract.

Pulse again until the mixture becomes doughy. Transfer it to a small bowl. Gently fold in the cacao nibs. Use your hands to evenly press the dough into the pan. Place it in the freezer while you make the chocolate sauce.

Make the chocolate sauce
Heat a double boiler and add the cacao powder, coconut oil, honey, and salt. Stir and adjust to taste, adding more honey if desired. The chocolate should be runny enough to be drizzled, but not too thin. For a thicker sauce, add more cacao powder; to thin it, add more coconut oil.

Take the pan out of the freezer and drizzle the chocolate sauce over the top. Place the pan back in the freezer and allow the sauce to set for about 20 minutes. Cut it into 12 squares, and enjoy! Store them in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for a few months.

Note: The raw chocolate drizzle is beautiful but optional—in fact, if I’m making these for a snack, I will usually roll them into bite-size balls, then roll them in additional unsweetened coconut flakes. Another fun variation is dipping the balls in chocolate. You can also melt dark chocolate over a double boiler in place of making chocolate sauce from scratch.

Excerpted from GOOD CLEAN FOOD, Copyright © 2017 by Lily Kunin. Used with permission from ABRAMS. All rights reserved.

Recipe credit: Lily Kunin
Photo credit: Paul Delmont