Every week I make at least one quart of homemade almond milk, if not more than that. For a while now I have been taking the leftover almond milk pulp and immediately placing it in the dehydrator and drying it out, then I give it a few quick pulses in the food processor before add it to a jar in the fridge.
I usually just add it to granolas or cereals, sometimes muffins or other baked goods, but mostly I have just been collecting a ton of this almond pulp flour, waiting to come up with the perfect use for it.
These raw chocolate chip cookie dough bars are the answer!! I have been making something kinda similar for a while now, with blanched almond flour and I would usually make a single serving in a bowl. A simple way to handle those sweet cravings at the end of the day. That is, until I came across this recipe on Pinterest, which gave me the idea to make it into bars. Which is also when I thought this would be the perfect use for all of the dehydrated almond pulp.
These cookie dough bars are grain-free, egg-free, easily made vegan, they are safe-to-eat raw, and they taste just like the real deal, usually made with eggs and butter. Now, I generally prefer to eat dairy-free, but since I am lucky to not have a dairy intolerance or allergy, I can be a bit lax on this. Good grass-fed organic butter is one of those things I keep on hand for special uses. If I am having a fried egg, I want it cooked in a teaspoon of butter, grilled corn just isn’t the same without a little melted butter and so on. But generally I prefer to bake dairy-free most of the time. That said, I have found that these bars are amazing and taste most like the real thing when they are made with some good quality grass-fed butter (local if you can find it) and for me, it is a fine time to indulge a little. I can tell you though that they are also insanely delicious with softened coconut oil, which I have made several times and really enjoy, as well. If you are vegan, you can also easily substitute your favorite vegan butter.
Raw chocolate chip cookie dough is one of those things that will forever make me happy and will always bring out the child in me. I still remember my mom making chocolate chip cookies and us begging for some of the dough. Such a treat.
I add a whole vanilla bean to my almond milk, so my pulp has these beautiful tasty flecks of the vanilla bean in it, that makes these cookie dough bars all the more better. If you don’t use vanilla bean in your almond milk, consider adding another teaspoon or two of the vanilla extract to your dough. Additionally, I found the secret to really getting these bars to taste like the real thing, is a pinch or two of baking soda, found in most traditional chocolate chip cookie doughs. That is one of those subtle nuances to this recipe that to me, takes it to that next level and really has this tasting like the traditional cookie dough you remember from being kid.
Dehydrating Almond Milk Pulp Into Flour:
In a dehydrator:
Arrange the almond milk pulp in a single layer in your dehydrator. Set the temperature to around 115ºF or so. Dehydrate until hard and dry. Approximately 8-12 hours.
In the oven:
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange the pulp in a even layer. Set the oven to it’s lowest temperature (preferably somewhere around 100ºF) 4-8 hours, checking every so often, especially if your temperature is a bit higher. Alternatively you can just leave the pulp day or two in the oven, with it turned off.
Process:
Add the dehydrated almond pulp flour to your food processor or blender and process until it is finely ground powder.
Storage:
Store in an airtight jar or container in the refrigerator
[print_this]Raw Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bars – Gluten-free with Vegan Options
makes 9-16 bars, depending on how you cut them
Inspired by this recipe from Averie Cooks
- 1/4 cup softened, not melted, unsalted organic grass-fed butter, coconut oil or vegan butter
- 1/3 cup honey (maple syrup or agave to make vegan)
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar (light brown sugar or other granulated sugars will also work)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups dehydrated almond milk pulp flour (or blanched almond flour)
- pinch sea salt
- pinch baking soda
- 1 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
Line an 8×8 inch baking pan with two pieces parchment paper going in opposite directions. Lightly grease.
In a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer or whisk, mix together the butter (or coconut oil), honey, sugar and vanilla, until it’s soft and fluffy.
Add the almond flour, sea salt and baking soda. Mix until well combined. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand.
Press the dough into the prepared pan, pressing it firmly and evenly in with a spatula or your hands.
Place into the freezer for at least 2 hours. This makes these bars super easy to cut. Once out of the freezer, allow them to come to room temperature for about 10 minutes. Cut into whatever size bars you would like.
Serve immediately or store, in an airtight container, in the fridge or freezer. [/print_this]
PLEASE NOTE: I am sure this isn’t a truly “raw” recipe, given some of the various ingredients used. This description is more referring to the dough being unbaked and mimicking traditional “raw” cookie dough.
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25 Responses
Yum! Love this use for almond pulp, ALWAYS looking for recipes using the pulp!! Thanks!
This is a fantastic idea! I love that you take a no-waste approach to cooking. I STILL have never made a homemade nut milk, but once I do, you can be sure I’ll be making these no-bake cookie dough bars immediately after. They look so tasty and would certainly bring out the kid in me too! 😀
What a great idea! I think having these in mind for using the leftovers would be great motivation to go out and make almond milk at home. 🙂
Brilliant idea + LOVE LOVE LOVE this styling!!
XO SHERRIE
Love this! One thing I’ve never understood though is why you have to dehydrate it? If I make them immediately after making almond milk and the pulp is still wet is it going to ruin the recipe? Thank for any info!
Thanks Sammie. So it’s not so much that it would ruin the recipe if it wasn’t dehydrated, but the pulp is quite saturated and wet. Since there really is very little liquid in this recipe it could end up being soggy and mealy instead of more creamy like traditional cookie dough. I haven’t tried it myself, but if you do, please report back, I would love to hear the results.
Ah I see. I’ll give it a try sometime soon and let you know!
I am curious to try this with the wet almond pulp too, maybe cut back on the honey.
All I can say is, YUM!!!
I like to eat raw cookie dough, so I’d probably like to eat this. 😉
Now I want to make almond milk just so I can use up the pulp for the recipe! What a great way to use everything with no waste.
Wendy – you totally HAVE to make your own almond milk, it is seriously soo easy and you will literally become obsessed with these bars after one batch 😉
I made raw almond milk few months ago and didn’t know what to do with almond pulp. I kept the almond pulp in an airtight container and few weeks later I forgot about it. I don’t have a dehydrator, and thank you for the oven method, Beth! Man, these raw chocolate chip cookie dough bars look amazing and yum! Thank you for sharing this recipe and tip on using the leftover almond pulp! Have a great weekend, Beth!
Thanks so much, I hope you love these as much as we do, if you make them. I am obsessed.
These look so pretty! I have a very similar recipe using my leftover almond pulp too on my blog. I just use almond butter instead of butter and I bake them! They are so delicious. Yours look wonderful raw. Delish!! Almond pulp is awesome as bars 🙂
Thanks!! Yum I love the idea of adding almond butter!!
I always wish people would wait to comment until they try it so I can see what other people think of the recipe. So here goes… I made these this morning. I used coconut oil instead of butter, almond flour/meal, a bit less honey than called for (we try to keep low-carb as much as possible) and then used 3/4 TBSP Truvia in place of the granulated sugar. To me, these taste just like a Mounds bar! What a WONDERFUL surprise! I love Mounds, but know they’re full of junk. My kids love them. My hubby doesn’t tolerate coconut oil (not a true allergy but severe tummy symptoms), so while I feel bad that he can’t have them, I’m very happy that they will last longer. 😉 The slightly grainy/nutty texture adds to the Mounds idea, too, I think. Thank you for the recipe… love it! ~Michelle
Hey Michelle, thanks so much for taking the time to leave feedback. I am so happy to hear these worked so well with your subs. Oooh I love that you said because of the coconut oil it gave these a “Mounds Bar” type flavor, that is really so true. Thanks again for sharing!! xo
I’m dying to make these NOW…right now! BUT…I have no almond flour, which I thought I did. and I don’t have the stuff from homemade almond milk bc I literally started eating like this 2 weeks ago! But I do have coconut flour…think that would work???
Jen coconut flour is much much more absorbent than almond flour and calls for a far different ratio than the almond flour in recipes so it won’t work here. If you wish to make this recipe with something other than almond flour, it will work with another nut flour or possibly a seed flour, but I would not recommend using coconut flour, at least not in these measurements.
I just whipped these up with my leftover almond milk pulp and they are AMAZING! Thank you for sharing!
I’ve been eyeing this recipe since you posted it, and I finally made it yesterday. It is delicious! I used 1/2 ghee and 1/2 coconut oil, and I substituted applesauce for about half of the honey. Thanks so much for a great recipe, and a wonderful way to use all my almond pulp! I will definitely be making this again!
Hi! I just made these and absolutely love them! They are in my freezer now! 🙂 I wanted to scoop them out and make them into balls but the batter was crumbly but they easily pressed into my pan. I made them using Dr. Bronner’s unrefined virgin coconut oil, local honey, light brown sugar, 1 tsp of Madagascar vanilla, Bob’s Red Mill blanched almond meal, no baking soda-and they were still delicious without it-, Real Salt and Enjoy Life chocolate chips. I wanted to eat the whole batter!! But I did not so my husband and son can enjoy them too! Thank you for posting them!! 🙂
Thanks so much Sarah, this makes me SOOO happy to hear! I love this recipe and how simple it is. Thanks for the comment.
What an easy and YUM-Azing recipe… I will be making almond milk weekly just to make thes bars… thank you Thank you