Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites are naturally sweetened, vegan, and gluten free. Each protein-packed bite is the perfect cure for a cookie craving!
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and with it comes being bombarded by ALL THE SWEETS. I whole heartedly believe in enjoying a sweet treat with your sweetie on the holiday, but you can definitely do it in more healthful way with my naturally sweetened Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites.
Not only do these 5 ingredient (plus salt) cookie “dough” balls taste like Chewy Chips Ahoy (YES,) but they’re naturally sweetened with dates!
What’s Inside
Raw cashews are combined with sticky-sweet Medjool dates, vanilla extract, almond meal, and chocolate chips, then rolled into balls which not only look but taste like raw cookie dough.
Did I mention they come together in just 10 minutes?
My kids love these “sweet meatballs”, as they call them, and I feel good about giving them a naturally sweetened treat that just so happens to be filled with protein.
Healthier but still very decadent-tasting. I could not love them more!
How to Make Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites
As I mentioned, these cookie dough bites are sweetened and held together with Medjool dates. Medjool dates are super sweet and sticky, and can usually be found in the produce section of the grocery store.
Medjool dates are occasionally sold in the bulk bins but if you’re gluten-free you’ll want to avoid those because of cross contamination issues, plus the dates can become dry and hard in the bins and they need to remain really soft to hold the bites together.
Add 6 pitted Medjool dates to the bowl of a food processor along with 1 cup raw unsalted cashews, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and a pinch of salt, then process until the mixture is smooth and starts to come together into a batter.
The mixture should hold its shape when squeezed, like this!
Dump the mixture into a big bowl then sprinkle in 1/4 cup finely ground almond meal and mix with your hands to combine.
Next add 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips and mix with your hands to combine.
Last step is to roll the mixture into 10 balls then enjoy right away (dare you not to!) or store in the refrigerator for up to a week. Let the bites sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes after being refrigerated to regain that chewy texture that you’re going to flip for!
I can’t wait for you to try these healthier sweet treats this Valentine’s Day, or any time of the year!
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw unsalted cashews
- 6 pitted Medjool dates
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup finely ground almond flour
- 1/2 cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions
- Add cashews, dates, vanilla, and salt to the bowl of a food processor then process until the mixture starts to come together into a sticky batter.
- Pour the mixture into a large bowl then sprinkle in almond flour and mix with your hands to combine. If mixture is too sticky, add a little more almond flour. Add chocolate chips then mix until combined. Roll into 10 balls then store in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
Im in mpls visiting friends for the weekend & we just made our reservations for Butcher and the Boar for tonight. I thought of you and had to show them your blog post on the restaurant! I can always bring sausages back to Iowa if you’d like! ?
OMG, I just made these (finally!), and they are to. die. for. Thank you for this recipe! I’m sure I’ll be making it for years to come. :)
These look delicious! Thanks for posting!