Healthy Cookie Dough Protein Bars (+ Video!)
I’ve always been pretty good about sitting down and setting goals for the new year, but this year is a bit different. This year has involved a lot more “adulting” than usual — I bought a car, got my own health insurance, and am getting ready to apply for a mortgage (eek) — and haven’t had as much time to set aside for myself OR my business. I’m currently sitting in an airport in Wisconsin and will have to sit here for the next 8 hours (yay). What better time to think about 2019 goals, right?? Buuuuut I’m procrastinating and would rather help YOU with your health goals.
What do you hope to get out of 2019?
Eat better? Consume less sugar? Exercise more? Gain muscle?
I could go for all of the above.
Once I get back to Austin I’m gonna whip up 5 batches of protein bars. This way I can have a batch (10 bars) in the fridge and 40+ bars in the freezer all set and read to go for breakfasts, grab and go snacks, and sweet nighttime treats.
I always, always, ALWAYS make these Cookie Dough DIY Protein Bars first, then the Peanut Butter Fudge. I’ll probably make my Matcha Green Tea DIY Protein Bars next, then the PB&J and Mocha.
These Healthy Cookie Dough Protein Bars are the perfect snack for when you’re craving something sweet and chocolatey, but don’t want the excess calories, sugar, and fat that would be in regular cookie dough.
Made with only 7 ingredients and NO baking required, these homemade protein bars will be your new go-to snack when you’re running out the door. Buuuut they’re also a good staple to have handy in the fridge when the sweet tooth monster strikes 😉
These are sugar free, gluten free, dairy free, and vegan, with only 190 calories per bar, plus a whopping 17g of protein!
Perfect for the new year and our health goals. So why not celebrate with a giveaway too??
THREE winners will receive a copy of my DIY Protein Bars Cookbook, a tub of protein powder, and a brownie pan to get you started!
Just wanna make 2019 a little bit easier on ya 😉
DIY Protein Bars Cookbook Bundle Giveaway
I used to eat raw cookie dough by the tub. THE TUB. Like, the 36oz tubs… from Costco. Yeahhh, those tubs. I’ll let that sink in a little while I cringe at myself. I’m really surprised that I’ve never gotten sick with Salmonella…
Now, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss turning on a movie and plopping myself down on the couch along with a spoon and a good ol’ tub of cookie dough… so I found a solution: these easy, no-bake Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Protein Bars! It’s like cookie-dough-meets-protein-bar. It’s like heaven.
These Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Protein Bars are sweet, buttery, and delicious — just like the cookie dough you’d buy from the store, only these are healthy!
If you are always busy and the on-the-go type, slice the protein bars and store them in plastic sandwich baggies in the fridge. That way, you can easily grab one (or two!) out of the fridge as you rush out the door. Oh, and these are also freezer-friendly! Let ’em thaw for a few hours at room temp and they’ll be the perfect consistency when hunger strikes.
When I look at my calendar and I know I’m going to be busy and pressed for time, I’ll always make a batch of protein bars. Knowing that healthy snacks are on hand keeps me sane. Especially at the busiest and most stressful times… you know, where all your brain could handle is opening the fridge door and grabbing food that’s already prepped and ready to go? I’ve been there, you’ve been there, we’ve all been there.
When life happens, these Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Protein Bars will have your back 🙂
Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Protein Bars
Ingredients
- 128g (½ cup) Roasted Almond Butter
- ¾ cup + 3 tbs Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
- 1¼ tsp Vanilla Crème-Flavored Stevia Extract
- 1 tsp Natural Butter Flavor
- 168g (1¼ cups, lightly packed) Vanilla Brown Rice Protein Powder
- 90g (¾ cup) Oat Flour
- ¼ tsp Salt
- ¼ cup No-Sugar-Added Dark Chocolate Chips or Mini Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
Instructions
- Line an 8x8” brownie pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In an electric stand mixer bowl tted with a beater attachment, add all of the ingredients. Mix on low speed until everything is fully incorporated.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix on medium speed for one last mix. Mixture should be thick and fudgy, like cookie dough.
- Scoop the mixture into the brownie pan and atten it out. Tightly cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
- Lift the mixture out of the pan. Slice into 10 bars. Individually wrap the protein bars in plastic sandwich baggies. Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or stash them in the freezer.
This Cookie Dough Protein Bar recipe is 1 of 48 protein bar recipes in my DIY Protein Bars Cookbook!
With flavors like Snickerz, Chocolate-Covered Strawberry, Caramel Macchiato, and S’mores, you’ll never buy protein bars from the store again.
To learn more about the book and see some sneak peeks, see this page.
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These Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Protein Bars are soft, fudgy, and chewy with the occasional crunch from the mini chocolate chips. They don’t taste healthy in the slightest. You need to make ’em!
This isn’t limited to just protein bars… you can roll the dough into balls too. Or you can snack on it straight out of the mixing bowl. Just keep it in the fridge, you know, for emergency snacks… emergency snacks that MUST. CONTAIN. CHOOOOCOOLAAATTTEE!!
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Watch me make these Cookie Dough Protein Bars on camera:
Does this look healthy to you? Nah, I didn’t think so 😉
I’d choose these Cookie Dough DIY Protein Bars over a tub of cookie dough, store-bought protein bars, and junk food of any kind, ANY DAY. I’m pretty sure you will too 😉
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Be happy.
Live fully.
Eat protein bars.
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With love (and healthy dessert),
– Jess
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Indulge − no strings attached!
OMG.
….that sums it up.
OHMIGOOOD!
Can you use whey isolate protien??
I’ve tried making these with whey but it turns very gooey rather than cookie-dough-like. However, my friend them with pretty good results using !2/3 cup of soymilk rather than 1c+2T of almond milk (I guess mine didn’t turn out well because I used too much liquid)
If you try these with whey I would mix all the dry ingredients together, mix in the almond butter + extracts, THEN add the almond milk 1 tbs at a time until you get a cookie dough consistency.
Good luck! I’m crossing my fingers this works 🙂
This is awesome to know! For the longest time I put off purchasing non-whey protein powders and continued to try and make your protein bars (the recipes available via web) with a sticky result. They were fine straight from the fridge but I wouldn’t be able to take them to work or anything like that.
Love that you’re giving everyone an opportunity to win your books again!
Jessica, these look AMAZING! I so have to give them a try! And I will… soon!
I just tried making these and instead used pea protein powder. They are in the fridge, but they were pretty crumbly. Thoughts? Should I add more liquid? Thanks 🙂 Can’t wait!
Hi Sarah, it could be the pea protein. I’ve used a couple protein powders with pea protein as a main ingredient and they usually end up with a crumbly texture. The dough should be like cookie dough and should form a bar. I would try adding more almond butter or maybe even some liquid sweetener to help hold together, say ~1/4 cup? I’m crossing my fingers they hold together, but most of all I hope they taste good 🙂
yum..yum…want to reach out and take a bite.
This looks so amazing. I’m obsessed with chocolate chip cookies, so to find healthier versions is always exciting. I absolutely love your recipes/pictures/blog!
Yeah I used whey and it did not work out very well. Still tastes good though!
Just found your blog.. great stuff. Thanks for figuring this all out… and sharing your yummy results! I think this will be my first recipe to try. 🙂
Wow – one little bar sure packs a punch in the protein department! Definitely my type of “on the way to the gym” type of snack. Would love to get my hands on a non-whey protein powder to give these bad boys a go. I absolutely love how you give us health-foodies something BEAUTIFUL to drool over, cupcakes don’t really do it for me anymore eh 😀
Great recipe. Just a question regarding fibre – is it possible to up the fibre by adding psyllium and if so, how many grams?
I haven’t tried this, but I would add 1 tsp of psyllium powder + 3 tbs almond milk. Mix it in a bowl first then add it with the almond butter and almond milk 😀
OMGoodness, I made these over the weekend and they are soooooooooooooo GOOD!!!
I used oat flour instead of old fashioned oats (didn’t have that much on hand), I added some ground psyllium, half the stevia (I’m hit or miss with stevia, sometimes it makes me feel weird and sometimes I’m ok- so to be safe I went with half)and some agave (again, this is what I had on hand)
I’ve eaten one every single day as part of my lunch and WOW, it really has helped keep me stay full before my after work work-out = ) thank you so much for sharing!!!
I’m so glad you liked the protein bars Melissa!! Maybe I’ll try adding psyllium to my next batch 🙂
-Jess
I made these and they are in my fridge now, firming up! I can’t wait to eat them! I know FOR SURE that I won’t be able to sleep tonight, knowing that they are in the kitchen waiting for me… Gosh I wish the morning would hurry up already so I can bite into their savory goodness!
Can I use something instead of Brown Rice Protein Powder? Can I use Skim milk powder in place of it and if so would I use the same amount? Thank you! Cant wait to make them.
Hmmm, I’m not sure if dried milk would work… you would need a lot more than the protein powder since it dissolves easily and it will taste too “milky.” You can try a combination of dried milk and your favorite flour(s) though (I would try a combination of flours, my favorites are oat flour, brown rice flour and coconut flour). I hope these substitutions work for you, make sure to give the dough some taste tests as you go along to see if it needs anything else! Good luck 🙂
Hi!! I love your blog so much! I have made these and the peanut butter fudge protein bars so many times! I even know both recipes by heart… I always have them on hand, and I make at least 1-2 batches a week. I just wanted to thank you for posting this recipe and all the others on your blog! I am addicted to these bars I think…SO GOOD! 🙂
What about adding gaur gum for fibre?
I haven’t tried these adding any gums but I sure hope it works! If you try it let me know how it turns out 🙂
And instead of adding normal almond butter and peanut butters would it be possible to incorporate pb2, to save on the fat content?
Again, I haven’t really tried deviating from this recipe. If PB2 can create an authentic peanut butter texture, try it out and I’m crossing my fingers that it works!
I made these with a few minor tweaks and ah! So good!
I used 1/3c erythritol + some liquid vanilla stevia, added a bit of cinnamon, and used vanilla casein and some plain pea protein powder (don’t have rice protein!). Worked out lovely 🙂 The nutritionals on mine are a bit different (260kcal/12th of the batch, 160/16th of the batch) but hey, it’s all good healthy stuff 🙂
I made these one morning and they were all gone by the end of the night! Thanks for the great recipe! The only issue I had was one friend cannot eat oats…would almond meal work in its place?
Almond meal or almond flour should work just fine, however the bars might be a little bit delicate to handle because almond meal/flour tends to produce a crumbly texture. I’m glad you liked the recipe!!
-Jess
How much is a scoop for the protein powder? 1tsp? 1Tbsp?
A scoop of the brown rice protein powder is about 3-4 tbs 🙂
-Jess
Could you replace the oats with something? I’m celiac and can’t handle them 🙁
I’m not sure if there is a good replacement for the oats since there is so much used in the recipe. Oat flour absorbs a lot of liquid and tends to bind things together. But, you can try using almond flour. I’m not exactly sure how much you will need, so I would start out by using 3/4 cup. After step 5, if the cookie dough is too “wet” looking, add more almond flour.
I hope this substitution works out for you! 🙂
-Jess
Is the butter extract necessary or could I use vanilla extract instead?
Nope, the butter flavor is just there for that yummy buttery flavor typical to storebought cookie doughs. You can definitely use vanilla extract instead! I hope you like the recipe 🙂
-Jess
Hi, this recipe sounds amazing! Cant wait to try it 🙂
Just wondering if you have ever tried using egg white protein. I have both whey (chocolate) & egg white (vanilla) available at home at the moment. Do you know if I would use the same amount or need to add/subtract any liquid? Thanks!
Thanks so much! I haven’t tried egg white protein here but I don’t think it’ll work. I haven’t had luck making protein bars with whey protein and casein protein, and whey, casein and egg white protein are pretty similar. I think brown rice protein powder is the only protein that will work here.
-Jess
Have you tried any of your recipes with soy protein?
I am a vegetarian and prefer soy protein over other plant-based protein powders because of the higher protein content and it is the only complete plant-based protein.
Thanks!
No, I’m afraid I haven’t tried using soy protein in my protein bar recipes. I haven’t found a brand I like yet… what brand do you use?
While brown rice itself is not a complete protein, brown rice protein powder is. However, soy protein has a higher bioavailability, so maybe I’ll try using soy on my next batch 🙂
Thanks!
-Jess
I use the Optimum Nutrition Soy protein vanilla. I haven’t tried any of the other flavors yet but I found that the Optimum Nutrition isn’t chalky like a lot of other soy protein powders. I haven’t used it for baking though, only smoothies.
All I know is that whey, casein and egg don’t work in my protein bar recipes… but I have yet to try the soy version! Maybe I’ll try those sample packets, the ones that are like one scoop per packet, so I don’t have to buy a whole tub.
If you’re up for some recipe testing you can give it a shot! I’m crossing my fingers the protein bars turn out for you! 🙂
-Jess
Hi! I buy truvia in a small container instead of packets. How many tsp is 10 packets?
Thanks!
10 packets should be about 7+1/2 teaspoons of Truvia (or 2+1/2 tablespoons) 🙂
If you ever need help converting the packets –> spoonfuls, here’s the conversion chart: http://truvia.com/recipes/conversion_chart
I hope you like the recipe!
-Jess
I’m looking to minimize carbohydrates and I am aware that the carbs in flax meal are mostly fiber, could I swap flax meal for the oats/oat flour??
Yes, flax is minimal in net carbs 🙂
I haven’t tried replacing the Oats and Brown Rice Flour in this recipe with Flax so I can’t be sure, but I guess it’s worth a shot! I used Ground Flaxseed in one of the protein bars in my Cookbook and it worked really well (although the recipe was quite different). Note that Flax absorbs liquid and tends to turn gelatinous with too much, so be careful when adding the Milk.
I’d say, substitute the Oats and Brown Rice Flour with 1-1+1/4 cups of Ground Flaxseed. After mixing, the mixture should look like cookie dough. I hope this works out for you!
-Jess
Would love to try these. Perfect for our new meal plan. Quick question first. I absolutely loathe the taste of artificial sugar. Anything with sucralose in it just tastes awful. I know stevia is different, but do these still have that “fake sugar” taste? can you leave the sweeteners out entirely?
Stevia is all natural, not artificial, but some people still aren’t a fan of the flavor… I love it though! I don’t think these have a fake sugar taste, but if you’re new to stevia I’d recommend using 1/4 tsp of stevia (or omit and just use more packeted sweetener) and 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips 🙂
-Jess
hey i really want to make this but i have a lot of problems digesting truvia/ stevia is there anything i can use in place of that other than artificial sweeteners?
such as coconut sugar, honey or agave?
Sorry to hear about that Lyanne! Coconut sugar (or any other dry sweetener, like sucanat or maple sugar) will work just fine 😀
I hope you like the recipe!
-Jess
Hi Jess,
Is there a way I can substitute the protein powder with oat flour entirely? I am not into protein powder and stuff but would love to try these bars.
Thanks
I haven’t tried replacing the protein powder with oat flour here… the protein powder is the main ingredient and has very particular properties (it absorbs A TON of liquid, creates a fudgy texture, etc.).
If you want to test it out, feel free! I’m crossing my fingers it works for you! 😀
-Jess
I made these using whey protein powder one scoop for me was 38 grams but I still used eight scoops. I added the milk last and had a lot of trouble mixing it by hand so I used a hand held mixer and it was really crumbly so I added more and more milk until the dough would stick togheter I added up using a cup. They taste really good, and held their shape fine, but they are really really REALLY chewy I feel like I’m eating a caramel they stick to my teeth so much. I want to make these again but can you think of any way to make them less chewy? I don’t think I used too much milk but if I did can you think of anyway for me to mix the dough without a cup of milk?( I don’t have a stand mixer )
Whey (and casein and egg) protein powders just don’t work, sadly 🙁
I recommend using brown rice protein powder and avoiding ingredient subs! 😀
-Jess
Just made your chocolate chip cookie dough bars! They are in the fridge and look amazing
Who needs quest??
Just came across this website… I thought these 11 recopes were online?? Is there a place to get amounts of ingredients? Or even…. Just the smounts of the main ingredients? How much almond butter, oat flour, and protein powder used?
How many bars does this make?
Hi Scarlette!
This recipe makes 10 protein bars. You can find the full recipe (quantities of ingredients and instructions) in the DIY Protein Bars Cookbook 🙂
Best,
-Jess
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Hello
love your site and I plan to try this recipe
have you ever made a (Probar Chocolate-Coconut-Meal-Bar-) like bar …
I love these things and I want to see if I can make this.
I’ve never had a ProBar before so I’m not sure how they taste, but I found some pictures and the ingredient list of the chocolate-coconut flavor you mentioned. I’ve made some pretty similar things before, so I hope one of these is a good ProBar-substitute for ya! 🙂
–Healthy White Chocolate Coconut Fudge Petit Fours
–Healthy Chocolate Coconut Granola Clusters
-Protein Powder-Free Protein Bars from my DIY Protein Bars Cookbook
–Healthy Almond Joy Candy Fudge
–Healthy Almond Joy Krispy Treats
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I’ve been looking for a plant based protein bar recipe because I’m trying to lose weight for my wedding and I’ve got lots of work travel ahead of me. And then I stumbled upon your amazing page. I’m definitely going to make your bar recipes!! Thank you for sharing all of these yumminess! New subscriber! Woot!
Awwww thank you so so much! I hope you love every single recipe you try 😀
Congrats on getting engaged, and have an AMAZING wedding! <3
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I’d like to make the Death by Chocolate or Chubby Hubby protein bars!
Smores! perfect summer flavor
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Oh my gosh- I totally would try making the caramel macchiato bar first. Fingers crossed on the giveaway so that I can! Subscribing now for these babies! 🍫❤🍫❤🍫❤🍰
I would love to make the s’mores protein bar!!
I will be making the Snickerz bars first! I am crossing fingers I win a copy of the cookbook! Yeaaaa!
Healthy? Chocolate cip? Protein bar? All in on? YUM! I want it noooow!
I might make these first!