Gluten Free Cookie Bars
Gluten Free Cookie Bars are moist, chewy, and packed with chocolatey flavor! Dairy free and flourless but you’d never know they’re healthy, too!
Don’t you hate it when you want to make a batch of cookies but you really don’t want to fool with scooping the dough out into perfect shapes and making different batches of individual cookies. It’s also a great recipe to keep on hand when you need a dessert that feeds a crowd and is perfect for bake sales.
This is just one reason why we love gluten-free chocolate chip cookie bars. They are basically hassle free, made in one bowl, and clean up is super easy!
Even though one of my favorites is Gluten Free Monster Cookies, these cookie bars are even easier to make. They’re also free of dairy! Enjoy them fresh out of the oven for the most gooey cookie bars ever!
Gooey Gluten Free Cookie Bar Ingredients
Almond Flour – You will want to use super fine almond flour for the best texture! Do NOT use almond meal as it’s not the same thing and can turn these incredibly moist cookie bars into dry cookie bars.
Oats or Oat Flour – I make my own oat flour by adding oats to a food processor and blending until a powder forms. If you use oats in this recipe it will give them more texture, but if you want super gooey bars, I would use oat flour.
light brown sugar – be sure to pack it when measuring; we don’t recommend swapping for white sugar or coconut sugar. In this case, the brown sugar makes the cookie extra chewy.
Coconut Oil – You will want it to be melted and cooled. You can also sub butter if you aren’t dairy free!
Egg – Let it sit out before using so it can come to room temperature. I haven’t tested this with a flax egg, but you can try blending 1 tbsp ground flaxseed with 3 tbsp water as a substitute for a vegan option.
Chocolate – you can use chocolate disks, candy wafers, or chocolate chips. Just remember to check the label to ensure they are gluten free. Your cookie bars will be sweeter if you use milk chocolate. If you go with semi sweet or dark chocolate the sweetness will be a little less.
Dairy Free Milk of Choice – I’m using unsweetened almond milk, but you can use oat milk, coconut milk, soy milk, or any other dairy free milk. If you aren’t dairy free, you can sub any traditional cow’s milk as well.
Unsalted Natural Almond Butter – Make sure you use unsalted almond butter with no sugars or oils added! You can sub any nut or seed butter in this recipe.
Vanilla extract
Baking soda
Salt
How to Make Cookie Bars That Are Gluten Free and Dairy Free
Line an 8×8 square pan with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, cream coconut oil and sugar until light and fluffy at medium speed. Add in your egg, vanilla and dairy-free milk and mix for about 1 minute. Add in almond butter and mix again. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. If you are using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment.
Mix in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined. Fold in 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Be sure to not overmix!
Transfer the cookie dough to the prepared pan and smooth it into an even layer using a spatula. Top with remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips.
Bake for 20-23 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a knife inserted in the center of the dough comes out mostly clean. I like mine extremely gooey so I bake for no more than 20 minutes.
After about 20 minutes of cooling, remove the cookie bars from the baking pan, transfer to a cutting board, slice, and serve!
Store in the fridge for extra fudgy cookie bars!
Can You Make The Bars Thinner?
You can use a baking sheet or a 9×13 pan if you want the cookie bars to be thinner. Just keep an eye on the baking time, as they will brown quicker.
Don’t Overmix the Cookie Dough!
Most people really like to make sure the cookie dough is mixed up well. That’s fine, but you don’t want to overmix. As you mix, you are also adding air in. This can change the texture of the bars and might actually make them sink while they are baking.
Storing and Freezing
Place the gluten free cookie bars in an airtight container and store on the counter for several days. If you want them to last longer, store them in the refrigerator.
To freeze, place the cooled cookie bars in a freezer bag. Use parchment paper to separate layers if needed. Freeze for 3 months.
Thaw on the counter at room temperature in the fridge overnight for serving.
Substitutions and Variations:
GF All Purpose Flour: Bob’s Red Mill has a gluten-free flour blend that is all purpose and can be used in place of the almond and oat flour. Keep the measurements the same.
Chocolate: Any chocolate can be used including dark chocolate chips or white chocolate chips.
Candy: add M&Ms or chopped Reese’s over the top just before baking, or mix some into the batter.
Butter: If you don’t need these cookie bars to be dairy free, you can use unsalted butter in place of the coconut oil
More Cookies Bars To Try:
- Paleo Cookie Bars
- Whole Wheat Oatmeal S’mores Cookie Bars || Indoor S’mores
- Cookie Dough Protein Bars (Vegan, Gluten Free)
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Bars with Oatmeal (Vegan, Gluten-Free)
- Gluten Free Magic Cookie Bars
Gluten Free Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 2/3-3/4 cup light brown sugar packed, depending on how sweet you like your cookies! I do 2/3
- 1 tbsp dairy free milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup coconut oil melted and cooled
- 1/2 Cup unsalted almond butter
- 1 cup Super Fine Almond Flour
- Scant 1/2 Cup Oat Flour DO NOT PACK. Spoon and level gently or they will turn out dry with too much oat flour.
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt Omit if nut butter is salted
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips divided
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and Line an 8″x8″ baking dish with parchment paper. Spray with cooking spray.
- Cream coconut oil and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in your egg, vanilla and dairy free milk and mix for about 1 minute. Add in almond butter and mix again.
- Mix in flours, baking soda, and salt until just combined. Fold in 1/2 cup chocolate chips.
- Place dough into a baking dish and smooth using the back of a spatula. Top with remaining 1/4 cup chocoalte chips. Bake for 20-23 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a knife inserted in the center of the dough comes out mostly clean.
- Allow to cool for 20 minutes before removing from pan and cutting into squares.
- Store in the fridge for extra fudgy cookie bars!
These were really good! I used 2 Tbsp of applesauce and 2 tbsp of unsalted butter just to test things out. I also added some cinnamon and used 3/4 cup of coconut sugar. They were kinda squishy when I cut them, and I did let them cook a little past 25 minutes. I guess I should’ve let it cool a bit longer but that’s ok. It may have been because of the applesauce and the fact that the bars are mostly almond flour, but seriously, these were really delicious and rich 🙂
These are one of the MOST delectable things I have ever cooked and eaten. I have a dairy allergy and have not had something at home so decedent and delicious. Extremely manageable to make and had my whole family so excited. I also do not normally love almond butter but it added something so rich and delicious to the recipe. Could not rave about this more!
So good! Loved the flavor and texture!!
These were amazing! I think I forgot the milk lol but they turned out so yummy. My whole family loved them! Can’t wait to make them again!
I was so excited to try this recipe! I had everything but the oat flour, so I substituted a GF flour, turned out AMAZING. I used the smaller amount of brown sugar and it was just perfect. The key is to not over bake, they stayed soft in my fridge for three days. My new favorite cookie
These are the BEST! We’ve made them 3 times in the last 2 weeks. We’ve made them with the lower amt of sugar and the full amt. Both taste great! This is the BEST GF, Dairy Free cookie bar recipe.