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.

Read the rest of this entry »