No-Bake Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bars
- Gluten-Free
- Dairy-Free
- Paleo
- Low Carb
- Keto
- Vegetarian or Vegan
- Pescatarian
HEALTHIER COOKIE DOUGH?? With coconut??? Yes, please!!!
Y’ALL these bars are divine. Just divine. I mean, they are everything you love in a regular chocolate chip cookie dough, but better. Same amazing texture. Same sinful, decadent taste. Plus coconut. Minus the guilt. Don’t blame me if you can’t stop at just one piece 😁
Recipe Notes: This recipe is gluten free, paleo, and free from refined sugar, HOWEVER it is still a treat. I mean, it does have an entire stick of butter in it, so it’s not exactly low calorie. Just make sure to consume in moderation.
If you’re looking for a truly healthy cookie dough, make sure to check out my 5-Minute Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites! Those are great too, but just not as true of a cookie dough taste because they don’t have any butter. But yeah, they are much healthier and a good quick dessert when you have an emergency sweet tooth.
For dairy free chocolate chips I like the Enjoy Life brand. Just note that the Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips are made with cane sugar. If you want it to be strictly paleo and refined sugar-free, just use something like Pure7 honey sweetened chocolate and chop into little chunks. If you’re feeling super motivated and really want paleo chocolate chips you can also melt down your Pure7 chocolate and then pour it into a chocolate chip mold! If anyone actually does that, you’ve gotta let me know in the comments section because you win at life. You deserve a trophy or something.
To make it low carb and keto-friendly just replace the coconut sugar with Lakanto Golden Monkfruit Sweetener (my fave!) and use a sugar free brand of chocolate chips like Lily’s Dark Chocolate Chips!
Make sure to refrigerate these cookie dough bars and serve them cold for the best texture. One thing I love about this is the thick hardened chocolate topping that gives you a nice bite as you dig in. The texture of the cookie dough will be off and you won’t get that bite from the topping if you serve these at room temperature.
One last tip: I recommend using an unsweetened shredded coconut that is not super dry. Most brands of unsweetened shredded coconut can be a little dry and unappetizing in my opinion. Especially as a topping like you have in this recipe. For the best results I recommend Anthony’s Organic Shredded Coconut because it has more moisture and a nice chewy texture. Plus the bag is huge and lasts forever!
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No-Bake Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bars
- Gluten-Free
- Dairy-Free
- Paleo
- Low Carb
- Keto
- Vegetarian or Vegan
- Pescatarian
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- 1/2 cup 114g unsalted grass-fed butter or ghee, softened
- 3/4 cup packed 128g coconut sugar (see notes for keto/low carb)
- 1 1/2 cup 225g packed almond flour
- 1 cup 75g unsweetened shredded coconut (brand recommendation in notes)
- 1/4 cup 60mL coconut milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 cup 175g dairy free chocolate chips (see notes for keto/low carb)
Topping
- 1 1/2 cup 262g dairy free chocolate chips
- 2 Tbsp 28g unsalted butter or ghee
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 1/4 cup 19g unsweetened shredded coconut
Instructions
- Line an 8x8" brownie pan with 2 overlapping sheets of parchment paper (trimmed to fit the pan).
- Start by making the chocolate topping: In a double boiler, melt together the 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips, 2 Tbsp butter, and sea salt, stirring occasionally.
- While chocolate is melting, you can begin to make the cookie dough layer.
- When it's all melted together and smooth, remove from heat and set aside to cool.
- To make the cookie dough layer: In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or using electric beaters, cream together softened butter and sugar on high until the mixture has lightened in color and is a bit fluffy.
- Add almond flour, shredded coconut, coconut milk, vanilla, and sea salt. Beat on medium until well combined.
- Mix in chocolate chips by hand.
- Place dough in lined pan and spread out into an even layer using lightly greased fingers or a small piece of parchment.
- Once the chocolate topping has cooled to room temperature, pour on top of the cookie dough layer and spread it out evenly with a spatula (make sure to seal the edges).
- Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup of shredded coconut.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight (or for at least 6 hours) until completely hardened.
- Remove from pan using the parchment overhang, place on a cutting board, slice into 16 squares.
- Store under refrigeration for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 6 months.
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xx Kit
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Hi Kit! Was curious if I can’t use butter could I use coconut oil for these squares? I don’t really like the flavour of ghee in my baking products. Any suggestions?
You could try it but I don’t think the texture will be right and I think it may turn out a little oily. I would recommend trying with organic palm shortening instead. I haven’t tried it myself (so I can’t guarantee it will turn out well), but if I were needing to choose a substitute I would go with the palm shortening!
I don’t know what Idid wrong but this turned out great. Not the prettiest but tastes fantastic. Made for goody night (last Tuesday night religious meeting of the month). I brought quite a bit home. Just finished off a week ago. Going to make more tomorrow.
Hi, Bob! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I have a question about the coconut milk. Do you use the kind in a can or carton? And if it’s the canned kind, should it be kept in the refrigerator before you use it or does it not matter?
Hi, Karla! Good question! I usually use the canned kind, but when I lived in Europe I used the kind in the little cartons. Not the kind in the refrigerated section though. I like the Native Forest brand and the Thai Kitchen brand. Just make sure you’re buying full fat coconut milk, not the reduced fat kind. No, it does not need to be refrigerated for this recipe. If you refrigerate then it will usually separate into a thick coconut cream and coconut water. This is actually useful for other recipes of mine that just use the coconut cream though like the pina colada dipping sauce that goes with my Crispy Coconut Chicken recipe ☺️