Vegan Desserts: Peanut Butter Cookie Bars

Prep Time: 40

Total Time: 40

Serves 16 to 25

These decadent bars are one of our favorite vegan desserts!

Ingredients

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Heaping ½ teaspoon sea salt
2½ cups almond flour
2½ tablespoons maca powder, optional
1 cup vegan chocolate chips

Cacao Layer

1½ cups walnuts
2 tablespoons cacao or cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon sea salt
10 soft medjool dates, pitted
2 tablespoons water
Flaky sea salt for sprinkling on top, optional

Instructions

Line an 8x8-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, stir together the peanut butter, coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla, and salt until combined. Add the almond flour and maca, if using, and stir to combine (the mixture will be thick). Fold in the chocolate chips and press into the pan. Place in the freezer so that it firms up a bit while making the next layer.
In a small food processor, pulse the walnuts, cacao powder, and sea salt until the walnuts are well chopped. Add the dates and pulse to combine, adding 2 tablespoons water if the blade gets stuck. Process until smooth, then spread onto the cookie layer. Sprinkle with sea salt if desired. Freeze for 30 minutes (this will help them firm up, making them easier to cut). Remove and slice into bars. Store remaining bars in the fridge.

Notes

These bars freeze well. To thaw, let sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes.

Find it online at https://dailycove.info/vegan-desserts/%3C/em%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cscript%3Ewindow.wprm_recipes = {"recipe-44704":{"type":"food","name":"Vegan Desserts: Peanut Butter Cookie Bars","slug":"wprm-vegan-desserts-peanut-butter-cookie-bars","originalServings":"16","originalServingsParsed":16,"currentServings":"16","currentServingsParsed":16,"currentServingsFormatted":"16","currentServingsMultiplier":1,"rating":{"count":124,"total":618,"average":4.9900000000000002131628207280300557613372802734375,"type":{"comment":11,"no_comment":0,"user":113},"user":0},"originalSystem":0,"currentSystem":0,"ingredients":[{"uid":0,"amount":"\u00bd","unit":"cup","name":"plus 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter","notes":"","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"unit_id":4675,"id":1371,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-0":{"amount":"\u00bd","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"}}},{"uid":1,"amount":"\u00bc","unit":"cup","name":"plus 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil","notes":"","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"unit_id":4675,"id":1975,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-0":{"amount":"\u00bc","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"}}},{"uid":2,"amount":"\u00bc","unit":"cup","name":"plus 1 tablespoon maple syrup","notes":"","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"unit_id":4675,"id":1976,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-0":{"amount":"\u00bc","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"}}},{"uid":3,"amount":"2","unit":"teaspoons","name":"vanilla extract","notes":"","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"unit_id":4682,"id":1077,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-0":{"amount":"2","unit":"teaspoons","unitParsed":"teaspoons"}}},{"uid":4,"amount":"Heaping \u00bd","unit":"teaspoon","name":"sea salt","notes":"","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"unit_id":4678,"id":1055,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-0":{"amount":"Heaping \u00bd","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"}}},{"uid":5,"amount":"2\u00bd","unit":"cups","name":"almond flour","notes":"","link":{"url":"https:\/\/www.loveandlemons.com\/almond-flour\/","nofollow":"default"},"unit_id":4669,"id":1381,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-0":{"amount":"2\u00bd","unit":"cups","unitParsed":"cups"}}},{"uid":6,"amount":"2\u00bd","unit":"tablespoons","name":"maca powder","notes":"optional","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"unit_id":4677,"id":1977,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-0":{"amount":"2\u00bd","unit":"tablespoons","unitParsed":"tablespoons"}}},{"uid":7,"amount":"1","unit":"cup","name":"vegan chocolate chips","notes":"","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"unit_id":4675,"id":1983,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-0":{"amount":"1","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"}}},{"uid":9,"amount":"1\u00bd","unit":"cups","name":"walnuts","notes":"","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"unit_id":4669,"id":1655,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-0":{"amount":"1\u00bd","unit":"cups","unitParsed":"cups"}}},{"uid":10,"amount":"2","unit":"tablespoons","name":"cacao or cocoa powder","notes":"","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"unit_id":4677,"id":1980,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-0":{"amount":"2","unit":"tablespoons","unitParsed":"tablespoons"}}},{"uid":11,"amount":"\u00bc","unit":"teaspoon","name":"sea salt","notes":"","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"unit_id":4678,"id":1055,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-0":{"amount":"\u00bc","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"}}},{"uid":12,"amount":"10","unit":"","name":"soft medjool dates","notes":"pitted","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"id":1981,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-0":{"amount":"10","unit":"","unitParsed":""}}},{"uid":13,"amount":"2","unit":"tablespoons","name":"water","notes":"","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"unit_id":4677,"id":1022,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-0":{"amount":"2","unit":"tablespoons","unitParsed":"tablespoons"}}},{"uid":14,"amount":"","unit":"","name":"Flaky sea salt for sprinkling on top","notes":"optional","link":{"url":"","nofollow":"default"},"id":1982,"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-0":{"amount":"","unit":"","unitParsed":""}}}],"originalAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0},"currentAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0}}}