Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie Bars: a simple vegan and gluten-free recipe for thick, chewy, super-chunky chocolate chip cookie bars.
Okay, can I see a show of hands for people who love the warm, comforting smell of cinnamon, maple syrup and chocolate all beautifully mixed together?
‘Cuz… if I could bottle this scent and carry it around with me in my purse, I would. ?
But you know, only for the really rough times. Like, for when your coworker/frenemy passive aggressively tells you your outfit is actually cute today. Or, when you realize you left the extra-special 7-layer birthday lasagna in the oven 30 minutes too long. (Well, in this case, you’d probably need to air out the kitchen first before you could smell anything but smoke…) Or, when–oh, you get the idea.
Are you sensing that baking/eating/fooding is therapeutic to me? (Yep, fooding.) Woah, did I just sense a nod of mutual agreement on your end? A-ha! I’m not the only one. 🙂
Just one whiff of this worry-melting aroma and you’re happy as a clam. That’s what these Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie Bars are all about. Once you pop these guys in the oven, the baking process just spreads this blissful scent all throughout your abode.
Bonus? They’re incredibly easy to make, full of simple ingredients and sweet-tooth nourishing. Yep, nourishing. P.S. If you’re looking for a sugar-free cookie bar, try this totally droolworthy Magic Cookie Bars recipe from All Day I Dream About Food. To make then vegan, use vegan butter, vegan chocolate chips and coconut condensed milk. And enjoy!
Check it out, these Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie Bars are…
- quick and easy to make
- super chunky, with generous portions of walnuts and chocolate chips
- vegan and gluten free
- perfectly sweet, with a light cinnamon kick
- thick, chewy and deliciously satisfying
The best part is, this recipe and I go waaay back. It was one of the first recipes I ever tried that was made from better ingredients (i.e., not ingredients referred to as Those That Shall Not Be Named). Back then, I was putting all my efforts into making something healthier for my mom and just trying to figure out the difference between good calories and bad calories. *Sigh* Cue The Barbra belting out “Memories… like (light?!?) the corners of my mind!!!!”
Anyway, years later, I’m a little less clueless about the whole Good vs. Bad ingredients business, and this recipe still kicks butt. At least according to my mom.
So before you even think about figuring out how to bottle this scent, make these Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie Bars first. Don’t worry, we can figure out the scent as a team (and sing like it’s the last thing we’ll do on this earth). After all, us weirdos have got to stick together! 😉
In the meantime, let’s make some more gluten free treats! I’m particularly drooling over these Gluten Free Sugar Cookie Bars from Flippin’ Delicious. They look soooo yummy and my friend Brianna (the genius blogger behind Flippin’ Delicious) even included vegan options in the recipe! Woohoo! Next up, I’m gonna be making my Gluten Free Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies and my Easy Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies. 🙂
More Gluten Free Vegan Cookies & Desserts: Best Moist Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Recipe, Almond Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, Easy Gluten Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies.
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
- 3 tablespoons unsalted, natural nut butter
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup gluten-free rolled oats
- ¼ cup gluten-free oat flour
- 2 tablespoons ground flax
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¾ cup chopped walnuts
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup vegan chocolate chips
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper or greased foil. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: coconut oil, nut butter, maple syrup, sugar and vanilla.
- In a large bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients: oats, flour, flax, cinnamon, walnuts and salt.
- Pour the wet mixture over the dry mixture. Stir together until well-incorporated. I like to fold the mixture together with a rubber spatula. Fold in chocolate chips.
- Pour this mixture into your baking pan. Using a rubber spatula, spread into an even layer.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes. Keep in mind that the bars will harden as they cool.
- Allow to cool on a cooling rack. Slice into 16 bars. Enjoy!
- You can easily swap out the nuts for another ingredient, like cacao nibs or dried fruit. 🙂
- Adapted from Oh She Glows.
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Try my Healthier Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies. I mean, can you really resist these?
And for my fellow chocoholics out there, try my Double Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies (Vegan) They’re out of this world. ? ?
Question of the Day
What’s your favorite kitchen scent?
I can’t wait to hear your responses. ❤ demeter
Oh Demeter!! These look so good! I can only imagine the smell permeating through the kitchen when these are made. I agree with you about bottling the scent…just imagine. It would be a best seller, I’m sure;) All of your treats look so good and I love how they are made with ingredients like coconut oil and flax. That means I can eat extra, right ?! Hehehe. That’s totally what I’m telling myself anyway. These are definitely on my to-make list for sure. Happy Easter girl!!
Aw, thank you so much Dawn! 🙂 If this scent could be bottled, the world would probably be much happier. 😉 YES! You can eat extra! Haha. They’re just like healthy granola bars. Hope you get a chance to make them! Happy Easter, Dawn! xoxo
These are incredible, AGAIN! You’ve done it again. Isn’t your mom a lucky mom to receive cookies like these….
And I am so with you on the whole therapeutic thing: I bake when I’m stressed (Whisk whisk whisk!) I eat when I’m sad and I cook the best dishes when I need a pick me up.
Anyway, great recipe Demeter. I can’t wait to hear more of your personal stories!
Thank you so much Vivian. 🙂 I just really wanted her to feel like she wasn’t deprived (she’s got a HUGE sweet tooth.) Food fixes everything. 😉 More to come. Thanks, Viv! xoxo
Hahaha! Girl I’ll bake and bust out into song with you anytime… just beware I can’t carry a tune and I’m notorious for singing the wrong lyrics. And Fooding? Umm you need to copy-write that! I’m with you – baking/cooking/eating is all seriously therapeutic to me as well AND I happen to love a good waft of cinnamon and maple throughout the house. Love these bars, Demeter!! And you know what? I can actually work with this! I’m totally going to sub out the chocolate for white chocolate and eat ALL the deliciously vegan, gluten free bars my tummy can handle! Yayyyy! Pinned! Cheers, girlfriend and Happy Early Easter! xo
Haha. How am I not surprised? Well then, let’s do this! Just make sure someone puts all of the animals away before you and I scare them all. LOL. Woot woot on you being able to eat this! No cocoa for Cheyanne, no cocoa for Cheyanne! 😉 Thanks for pinning and your usual brassy awesomeness. Happy weekend, Chey! xoxo
Baking is definitely therapuetic for me, too! I just love being in the kitchen…it’s my happy place! And the smell of cinnamon, maple and chocolate is just heavenly. I will gladly join your team to learn how to bottle the scent! 🙂 These bars are absolutely gorgeous, Demeter! I love how thick and full of flavor these are. I wish I had a whole stack to munch on right now! Pinned!
Baking/Food/Cooking = Happiness. *happy sigh* Alright, now we’ve got a few members to this team. Let’s do this1 😉 Sending you a virtual stack. Thanks for pinning and visiting, Gayle. xoxo
These look really GOOD! I can practically smell and taste them through my computer screen, your photos look delicious!
Thanks so much Amanda! 🙂
Those chocolate chunks!!!! <3 LOVE that you used oat flour..it's one of my favorites!
Oat flour is the BEST! I make almost everything with it! Thanks, Jennifer. 🙂
These are just perfection, again! Your sweet treats are always so rich and luscious, love them all ♥︎
Also, I laughed so much reading about your rough times. Oh, those frenemies…. 😀
Aw, thank you so much Evi. That means a lot to me. 🙂 Rough times are so much better when we can joke about ’em, dontcha think? 😉 Thanks Evi! xoxo
Oooo these make me want to be fooding hard! 😉 Now I’m inspired and ready to do some therapeutic baking this weekend…making it the same as every weekend…ha!
Haha! Let’s do fooding together! If we stand in a group, people won’t judge us. 😉 YAAS! Same here! To us, the therapeutic Fooding/Baker/Foodies! Thanks, Liz. 😉
I love how these bars are chock full of healthified ingredients! Walnuts and chocolate are my love language. Making these straightaway after I get home from vacation as my first comfort food. Food in bar form is the best. Maybe I’ll just steal a few of yours!
It’s the good stuff, Laura! 😉 Let me know if you end up making them–it would make my day! Come on over and I’ll bake ya a whole tray. 🙂 Enjoy you vacay!! (Omigosh… did that whole thing just rhyme? *blushing*). xoxo
I’m just waiting for that stack of deliciousness tipping my way! They look amazing.
Nice! 😉 Let me nudge some in your direction. Thanks Julie! 🙂
These look so good, they have me craving a late night sweet treat
Right on! 🙂 Thanks Dahn!
Sounds like thia easter day will be something amazing with this recipe pn my dinning table. Love this preparation??
That’s wonderful, Sherly! Enjoy. 🙂
Baking and cooking is totally therapeutic for me as well! And I can totally relate to how you wa t to bottle the scent up. One of my favorite parts of the baking process is when the smell forst reaches me and the anticipation really kicks in! These bars look absolutely delicious. 🙂
Right? Wohoo for therapeutic bakers (is that a thing now?) 😉 The scent is totally half the fun. Thanks Ashlyn! 🙂
demeter, can you PLEASE bottle up that scent and i will buy a bottle. 🙂 I love hearing your personal stories and
these bars look so yummy! i love baking too (as you can tell, because i have made some of your fantastic recipes!)
baking helps melt most of the stress away. i’m going to make these cookie bars soon! i can’t wait to try them!
Workin’ on it! 😉 Would you like to join the Scent Team? Haha. Thank you so much for your sharing your thoughts and trying out so many bb recipes. Can’t wait to hear all about it! Take care. xoxo
Dear Demter, you have done it again!!! What a gorgeous looking vegan and gluten-free cookies. I’d like to hoard these and eat them all by myself. Chocolate chip and walnut is a great pairing. Happy weekend to you! Cheers! xo
Aw, Anu! As always, it’s a joy to hear from you. 🙂 Hoarding: Yes!! Great idea! Haha. Hope you enjoyed a very Happy Holi. Cheers back to ya, Anu. xoxo
I love baking! And fixing my baking fails! These look gorgeous! So thick and delicious! Pinned!
Agreed! Thanks so much for commenting and pinning, Mira. Cheers! 🙂
Don’t be jelly but I naturally smell like cinnamon, maple syrup and chocolate. Just sayin’…hahahaha! I do love this recipe and not because it has all my favorite flavors, but because it has all my favorite flavors AND it’s healthy. What?!?!? Yes, please and I’ll take the whole pan while you make yourself (and everyone else) another batch…Happy Easter weekend to you and Erik 🙂
OMG. Time for you to come over here and join the Magical Scent Team. Like, stat. Haha. Those smells just… I don’t even know how to explain it. So glad that you love this recipe! I’ll get right on making like 15 batches. 😉 Happy Easter weekend to you too, Karrie! xoxo
Well since these are full of healthy ingredients, I might just go ahead and eat the whole batch. 😉 You make eating healthy so easy Demeter!
If you find a way to bottle the lovely scent, I will be a very loyal customer to you! Good luck.
Yeah! Hehe. My biggest goal is to make healthy eating accessible and delish, so thank you for saying that. <3 Haha. I'm workin' on the scent! Big hugs to you, Natanja. Have a great Easter weekend! xoxo
I love that these are gluten-free! And the walnuts are perfect for some extra omega-3 brain power! I for sure am gonna give these a try.
Love your blog by the way!!
Thanks! Super ingredients, I say. 😉 Let me know how it turns out if you do try them. Thanks Morgan! 🙂
Ugh! I love dessert bars especially cookie bars. If only I could get a hold of that ground flax. That nowhere-to-be-found ground flax! About the nut butter, is almond butter okay?
P.S. If that bottled scent was put into the market, it will be the best perfume ever!! Well at least for weirdos like us ?
Have you tried Amazon? I usually buy my flax online, tbh. 🙂 Yup! You can use almond butter, peanut butter, cashew butter. It’s up to you. Haha! Us weirdos have GOT to stick together. Thanks, Sheryl! <3
I see. I’ll go check Amazon. Oh I’ll try peanut butter first 🙂 What a great post-workout treat! Thanks Demeter!
PB’s the best! 🙂 No, thank you Sheryl. xoxo
Demeter!! I think the aroma of these, which by the way I can almost smell through my computer screen due to GORGEOUS PICTURES, could pretty much be the cure for anything. Even the drippy chilly Monday morning outside my window at this very moment! Must make, must make. Meantime…happy Monday! xo
Kate!!! Haha. Thank you so much! Riiight? What’s up with the wretched weather… it’s supposed to be Spring! Glad you enjoyed the pics. Happy Monday! xoxo
I finally tried these, but subbed cranberries for the chocolate chips! I’ve been having them for breakfast, will you judge me? Such a perfect recipe. Thanks Demeter! xoxo
Oh yummy!!! Cranberry just taste sos yummy in everything. Word of the day: yummy. Lol. I am the last person to judge you–in fact, scoot over–I’m gonna go ahead and help myself to some breakfast cookie bars too! xoxo P.S. Thanks for reporting back, Megan. <3
Hi Demeter!
This recipe looks delicious – I’d love to try it this week but I’m running out of oats.
Is it possible to replace all of the oats with flour? And I don’t have flax seeds, so could I perhaps replace them with apple sauce or apple cider vinegar?
Many thanks!
Hi Victoire! For this recipe to work, you’re definitely going to need the oats. Sorry about that! If you do have the flour, you could try this recipe: https://beamingbaker.com/healthier-vegan-chocolate-chip-cookies/ And, substitute the flax eggs for chia eggs. Let me know if you have any more questions. Hope this helps! 🙂
Thanks so much!
My pleasure! Let me know if you need anything else. 🙂
They were easy to make and are absolutely delicious!
That’s wonderful! Thank you for letting me know, Emily. 🙂
hi,
i made these as published and something seemed off.
made them again this morn and made up 2 flax “eggs’ instead of 2 tbsp flax meal added dry. i like them much better this way, takes on more of a cake texture, much fuller body.
also, didn’t add the brown sugar either time. i think these bars are plenty sweet with just the 1/3 C maple syrup. one more thing i did was cooked them for 40 minutes/ 350 degrees.
other than that, added some chopped dried cherries.
will make these bars often, thank you for the recipe.
A cake-like texture for cookie bars sounds intriguing! It sounds like you had such a great time experimenting with these! Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback. I truly appreciate it, Fred! 🙂
I love these bars! I’ve made them many times already but haven’t posted a review. They’re so good. I love making them to have a yummy snack during the week. I only just cut back on the sugar a bit, I use 1/4 cup maple syrup and 1 TBS coconut sugar. I find that amount of sweetness works best for me 🙂 thank you for all of your great recipes!
Wonderful! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed my recipe, Julie. 🙂 Great idea to reduce the sugar to your liking. I really appreciate you taking the time to let me know how these worked out for you. Happy baking! 💕
What is the nutritional value of these cookie bars as far as carbs, fat and protein? Thanks!!
Hi Kristen! I’m currently in the process of adding nutrition info to all of the recipes on the site. It’s a slow process, so thank you for your patience! 💕
Hi,
What could I use in place of the oat flour? Thank you!!
Hi there! I’ve had many readers use a 1:1 AP gluten free flour blend with good results. Let me know how they turn out!