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.
Yum! Those bites look delicious! Thanks for all the sweets recipes, gonna check them out :-)
Looks like homemade Lara bars, but better because you can see the ingredients going in.
Yummm! I was just going to make some like these today – only like mini brownies! :)
I need a spontaneous weekend trip!
Thank you for this idea! I’ve recently had to make changes to my diet for some allergies and this will be perfect.
LOVE that you just literally left! I have such a hard time doing it but want to embrace the spontaneity more. Little man just turned one (sob!) so we’re escaping for a quick ski trip with friends but it can be hard with a little one. You’ve inspired me to keep trying to make those moments happen!
These look delicious!
These bites look delicious- love small, easy to grab treats! Also- love brasa- One of our go-to restaurants !
Love this recipe
Yummo! Just what I need for my sweet tooth cravings!
These look great! They remind me of some homemade Lara bars I made awhile back, except these are cuter, more versatile, and seem quicker to whip up on a whim! There are few things I love more than raw cookie dough, so it is nice to have something to kick that craving without feeling guilty!
1. I cannot wait until our boys are old enough for an impromptu weekend trip to somewhere other than my parents’ house an hour away. Okay, I can because I want them to stay seven months old forever, and actually quite enjoy visits to my parents’ house, but you know what I mean. Your quick trip looked so fun!
2. These “sweet meatballs” are exactly what I needed on this Monday morning. Picking up dates after work tonight!
3. Dates kinda look like cockroaches, don’t they?!
I will literally wet my pants if I win the Kitchen Aid Mixer! I never got one when I got married and would use it all the time =) Be back when the contest opens. Until then, I should whip up a batch of these c.c.b.’s. I think it’s the chocolate chips that just make me happy, they just bring out the kid in me and harken me back to happy baking memories. My daughter just turned 6 and I’ve never made cookies with her because I know the traditional ingredients are just so bad! (no one call c.p.s. on me, ok!!) But these I can feel good about making. And you’ve made them simple, not too many ingredients that I gotta run over the store to find with a cranky toddler in tow.