I finally made some time to play in the kitchen with a new baked good recipe and boy am I glad I did. I have been craving chocolate chip cookies like crazy lately but rather than another cookie recipe, which there are a ton of all over the internet, I wanted to make cookie bars. These tasty beauties are soft and chewy and the chocolate just melts in your mouth. They satisfy that craving for chocolate chip cookies, and then some.

I made these with coconut oil, since that is what I had on hand, but I cannot wait to try it with palm shortening, since whenever I have made cookies with it they are always extra incredible. But, these are definitely not lacking in any way! These bars would be great with other goodies added like dried cherries, chopped walnuts, coconut, etc.

I cannot wait to share these with my parent’s tonight after dinner. I made these last night and I couldn’t try them until today after I took photos and the anticipation was killing me. As much as I don’t necessarily want to share these, I am quite happy to not only have other recipe testers around, but also a few more mouths to eat my creations, to save me from sitting down and eating ALL of them! Also two more people to judge me if I am a pig and eat ALL of them in one day. Ooh it’s so tempting.

[print_this]Grain-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars – Gluten-Free + Dairy-Free

• 2 1/2 cups blanched almond flour (I use Honeyville)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 extra-large local farm fresh brown eggs
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted (grass-fed butter, palm shortening or ghee will also work)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened non-dairy milk (I used almond)
• 3/4 cup dairy-free gluten-free semi-sweet chocolate chips (I like Chocolate Dream or Enjoy Life)
• 1/4 cup walnuts (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350º F and lightly grease the bottom and sides of an 8″ square baking pan with coconut oil.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients. In a smaller bowl, add all of the wet ingredients. Mix well with a hand mixer or a whisk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix very well with a hand mixer. Then fold in the chocolate chips and nuts (if you are including) with a spatula.

Pour all of the batter into the greased pan and spread evenly with a spatula or your hands, gently press in.

Bake for 20 – 25 minutes until the top is nice and golden brown and the center is no longer doughy. Allow to cool 10-15 minutes before cutting into bars or they could fall apart.

*These keep best in an air-tight container in the fridge. You could put these in the microwave for a few seconds when serving to take the chill off or to get them slightly warm. [/print_this]