Decadent dark chocolate dotted with chewy chunks of vegan gluten-free cookie dough makes the perfect easy treat for holiday sharing!


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If cookie dough > baked cookies (which it is, duh), then cookie dough BARK is 100x > baked cookies. And arguably better than peppermint bark too, but I don’t want to get TOO controversial too quick.
Think: Chewy salty-sweet bundles of chocolate chip dough nestled into rich melted dark chocolate and drizzled with more chocolate then chilled until it snaps apart into perfect snack-able or share-able shards.
I say SHARE because we are kind people who want to give the joy of Cookie Dough Chocolate Bark to the ones we love. And I say SNACK because this stuff is really really hard to part with. So you should probably make 2 pans. Minimum.






In my opinion, the best kinds of gifts are either a) experiences or b) homemade. And this particular recipe is the perfect edible holiday gift for sooooooooo many reasons:
- The holidays are all about cookies, and cookie dough is the best part of baking cookies.
- It’s not peppermint bark. Because peppermint seems to be a love/hate topic, but I’ve never met someone who hates cookie dough.
- It’s easy to make. You can double/triple/quadruple and give it to everyone you know. It’s no bake, since we are all a little exhausted with oven things by now.
- It’s vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, and can be nut free in case you’ve got some picky people (myself included!) on your list.
- The recipe makes a little bit more cookie dough than you necessarily need for topping the bark. And that, my friend, is for you.


This recipe was created in collaboration with Nielsen Massey Vanillas and their always so flavorful vanilla extract. For this particular recipe I used their Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract made from high-quality hand-selected Madagascar vanilla beans and cold-extracted to preserve all that sweet vanilla flavor.
I’ve used their extracts and powders and flavors for years for all my holiday and year-round baking. Because in life and in cookie dough, it’s the little details that make all the difference.
This Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract is one of a delicious trio of holiday extracts along with Pure Peppermint and Pure Almond in their Holiday Flavors Bundle. Snag all three and you could be making chocolate peppermint mousse and almond shortbread cookies to gift (or eat!) with your cookie dough bark.


My go-to cookie dough recipe is this one with coconut flour. But the holiday spirit had me feeling adventurous, so for this recipe I went with oat flour and adjusted the ratios until I found the perfect moist but not sticky cookie dough consistency.
I also used peanut butter for the cookie dough (highly recommend!), but other nut butters will work too. Or sunflower seed butter or tahini for a nut-free option.
For the chocolate bark, I used semi-sweet chocolate chips, but darker would be good too. I do recommend mini chips for the cookie dough, full size will get in the way of cutting those little dough chunks.


My favorite part of baking is not the eating but the process. Whether it’s with friends or family, being together in the kitchen creating something delicious is one of the best was to connect anytime but especially during the holidays. Which a recent survey found is true for most Millenials – it’s not about the taste it’s about the time spent with people you care about.
So visit NielsenMassey.com for more #BakeToShare recipe inspiration to make with or give to the good people in your life. And stock up on festive baking ingredients like their Holiday Flavors Bundle so you can bake your holiday heart out all December long!
And if you recreate this Cookie Dough Chocolate Bark, I want to see – tag me @feastingonfruit and @nielsenmassey on Instagram.




Cookie Dough Chocolate Bark
- Prep Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 20 pieces 1x
- Category: candy
- Method: no bake
- Cuisine: american
Description
Decadent dark chocolate dotted with chewy chunks of vegan gluten-free cookie dough makes the perfect easy treat for holiday sharing!
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup (105g) maple syrup
- 1/3 cup (85g) nut or seed butter
- 1/4 cup (60g) unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tsp Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1–1 1/4 cup (120-150g) oat flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup (55g) mini chocolate chips
- 2 cups (300g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Whisk together the maple syrup, nut/seed butter, applesauce, and Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract.
- Add the oat flour, salt and mini chocolate chips. Stir to combine.
- Press the cookie dough into a flat rectangle on a sheet of parchment or wax paper.
- Freeze 1 hour until firm.
- Cut into small square chunks. Freeze again.
- Melt the remaining 2 cups chocolate chips.
- Spread most of the melted chocolate into a thin rectangle on a pan lined with parchment paper (reserve a little bit for drizzling on top).
- Top the melted chocolate with the cookie dough chunks.
- Drizzle with remaining chocolate.
- Refrigerate until set.
- Break into chunks and eat or share!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 piece
- Calories: 238
- Sugar: 17g
- Sodium: 31g
- Fat: 16g
- Saturated Fat: 8g
- Carbohydrates: 28g
- Fiber: 4g
- Protein: 4g
Keywords: vegan, holiday, no bake, easy, gluten free, candy, vanilla, chocolate chip, healthy
This looks amazing. I will definitely try it. Question though… I have had trouble in the past with melted chocolate getting those white spots after it hardens again after a day or two. Any suggestions on preventing that?
I think that depends mostly on the type/quality of chocolate. I kept this in the fridge for 3-4 days and never had that problem. Maybe fridge vs room temp helps too! But high quality chocolate should help 🙂
This is pure geniusness Natalie! I’m totally crushing on cookie dough right now, so I just gotta make this asap! 🙂
Honestly I’m never not in the mood for cookie dough, and after all the cookie making lately something simple and no-bake like this is a lovely break😅 Hope everyone is feeling better in your house!