Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars (vegan)

I am not particularly the kind of person that gets really excited for the 'superbowl'...but it is an excuse to make some good food and share a fun night with friends. So I guess I don't really care about the quarterbacks and who's going to win, but care more about what kind of food there's going to be and what kind of other fun will happen along with the glowing light of the game. 

Chili seems to be a great idea for the game night and why not pair that with some delicious cornbread and maybe some cookie bars for dessert. That is a lazy-man's (woman's) kind of meal with lots of goodness and no one knows you took the easy road out. 

Some of my favorite chili recipes...

Hearty Veggie Chili, 

Butternut Squash Chili 

or how about some of this delicious looking 

Grass-Fed Beef Stew from Whole Life Nutrition.

Some of my favorite cornbread recipes...

Maple Country-Style Cornbread

Pumpkin Cornbread Muffins

The great thing about these cookie bars is that yes, you could in fact take your sweet time and make cookies with this nice recipe. You know, the rolling and pressing and baking and repeat. Yeah that is fun  some days. Or to make this treat in a jiffy, you could just make this recipe and press it nicely in a pan once and then you're done. Clean up your kitchen and your hands because it's a one time job, baby.

Cookie bars are a treat for me this weekend because I have been keeping it more simple in the month of January without baking too many extra sweet treats and have been keeping stevia as my main source of sweetness. Mostly this was in response to a very full month of treats in December and there was a need to just swing the pendulum to balance things out. But after a month of chia mousse, milkshakes, and biscuits- a cookie bar is exactly what sounds delightful. Of course, I can't help but keep things healthy and add all of my favorite ingredients. 

Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookie Bar Recipe (vegan)

2/3 cup of sweet sorghum flour (or brown rice flour is a good sub here)

2/3 cup of organic millet flour

2/3 cup of tapioca flour

2 TB of chia seed meal

2/3 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut 

3/4 cup of sucanat or coconut palm sugar

1 ts. of baking soda, baking powder and sea salt (a good cookie baking mixture)

2/3 cup of natural sunflower seed butter (or other nut butter)

1/2 cup of room temperature organic extra virgin coconut oil (or vegan butter of choice)

1/4 cup of pure maple syrup (or agave nectar)

1/2 cup of non-dairy milk (So Delicious coconut is the best!)

20-25 drops of liquid pure vanilla stevia (I used NuNatural's)

1 cup of dairy-free chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life's chunks and chips)

Some recipe notes and adjustments:

-If you want to sub the listed flours for a GF flour baking mix, I have made it this way before as well, it turns out just about the same and there should be no issues because a mix is meant to be well blended to use in most recipes. I would just check to see if your flour  blend contains baking powder and salt and if it does then either omit or add have the amounts of my recipe of the baking powder, baking soda and salt. 

-If you want to add eggs to this recipe instead, then you can omit the chia seeds and half of the milk and add 2 eggs instead. So you will add 1/4 cup milk and 2 eggs instead of 2 TB chia and 1/2 cup of milk. 

-I cut the sugar in half and used stevia to replace it. But if you choose, you could omit the stevia and just use 1 1/2 cup of coconut sugar or sucanat (or a brown sugar) instead of adding stevia. 

-I used a natural sunflower seed butter so that is contains it's natural oils. But I am sure any seed or nut butter would work here. Whatever your preference is or what you have available. 

In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients together first, then add the coconut oil and sunbutter. Lastly add the milk and stevia and mix well with a rubber spatula to make sure there is no remaining flour pockets. Then, lastly add half of the chocolate chips to the batter and save about half for the top of the bars before baking. Or if you choose just mix all the chips in the batter. Oil a 9x13 pan and press the whole better to the bottom of the pan. It doesn't have to look too pretty, but make sure that the bars are pressed evenly for the best results. 

Then, bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes until browned. They may seem a tad gooey, but let them cool and they will end up being chewy and not gooey. For best results, let them cool for a half hour before cutting into them. Then you can cut about 20 bars in a 9x13 pan (4x5 bar size). 

Serve with a cup of hemp milk or hot cocoa or just as is. A perfect on-the-go treat or dessert to make for the game party or hanging out with friends. 


Well, I hope you have a great weekend-full of fun and games. Whether that be about game watching or whatever games you can come up with to play. I'm a Settler's or card playin' kind of gal...especially when it's winter and there isn't any snow to play in outside. Seems like Spring will come sooner than later this year!

Much love to you!

This post is linked up to Weekend Wellness at Diet, Dessert and Dogs!