Chewy cookie bars overstuffed with tart raspberries and sweet nibs of white chocolate. The perfect easy valentine’s (or anytime) dessert!
Finally getting around to writing these chewy cookie bars for the blog just a little late for valentine’s, but as we slowly inch closer to spring/summer baking I think a berry treat this easy and yummy will be apropos many other days of the year too. No wrong day for love, and no wrong day for chocolate plus berry baking!
Baking The Perfect Berry Cookie Bars
We’ve already given ourselves a big head start by opting for cookie BARS instead of cookie cookies – quicker to make and gooier chewier to eat? Umm…WIN WIN. But besides that exceptionally wise decision, this recipe is still really simple to make…
Raspberry White Chocolate Cookie Bar Ingredients
These bars are entirely vegan and gluten-free, with a grain-free option too. You will need:
- Applesauce. Unsweetened please, and you can swap in yogurt instead.
- Coconut sugar. Or brown sugar will work
- Cane sugar. Or you can sub more coconut sugar, but the texture and taste is best with both.
- Coconut butter. A little bit of tricky ingredient to track down, but it’s SO good in baking as a substitute for vegan butter. This is the brand I use, you want to warm/melt it and mix the oily parts with the thick before mixing into the batter. If you’d like to sub another nut/seed butter, I recommend almond butter or tahini in a 2:1 ratio with coconut oil.
- Cassava flour. Or all purpose or gluten-free all purpose. I tested with oat flour…not thrilled with the texture but you can try it.
- Cornstarch. Arrowroot or tapioca starch will work as well.
- Vanilla, baking soda, and salt.
- Raspberries. Fresh or frozen, I used fresh. If using frozen, do not defrost first.
- White chocolate chips. Dairy-free to keep the recipe vegan, this is the brand I used.
How To Make These Yummy Cookie Bars
- Make the batter. I used a stand mixer for even easier prep, but a hand mixer will work just fine as well. This is a one bowl recipe, so not too much clean-up either way. Beat the wet ingredients, add the dry, don’t over-mix.
- Fold in the berries and white chocolate. This part does require a little bit of care. The batter is quite thick and fresh raspberries are a bit delicate, so fold very gently and/or just fold in the chips and wait to add the berries to the batter in the baking pan.
- Bake. Twenty-five minutes max of waiting, but your gooey berry bars will be worth it. Let the cool before slicing too unless you want reeeeeally gooey bars.
You can serve these straight from the pan in your hand, in a bowl warm with ice cream on top, chilled from the fridge tomorrow…they are DELICIOUS in all of the above situations, trust me.
More Berry Chocolate Recipes You’ll Love
Raspberry White Chocolate Cookie Bars
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 16 bars 1x
- Category: bars
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: american
Description
Chewy cookie bars overstuffed with tart raspberries and sweet nibs of white chocolate. The perfect easy valentine’s (or anytime) dessert!
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 3/4 cup (165g) coconut butter*
- 1/2 cup (75g) coconut sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) cane sugar (can sub more coconut sugar)
- 2 tsps vanilla extract
- 1 cup (130g) cassava flour (can sub all-purpose)
- 1/4 cup (30g) cornstarch (or arrowroot/tapioca)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup (120g) fresh raspberries
- 3/4 cup (135g) dairy-free white chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease or line an 8×8” pan with nonstick spray or parchment.
- In a bowl with a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine applesauce, coconut butter (melted), coconut sugar, and cane sugar.
- Beat on medium speed until well combined. Add vanilla extract and continue mixing to combine.
- Add cassava flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Mix on low speed until just combined.
- Gently fold in raspberries and white chocolate chips, saving some of each to add on top.
- Press dough into the prepared pan. Top with more berries and chips.
- Bake 23-25 minutes at 350°F.
- Let them cool completely before slicing.
Notes
*You can sub with another almond butter or tahini, but use 1/2 cup seed/nut butter + 1/4 cup melted coconut oil.
Keywords: gluten free, white chocolate, blondie, baking, healthy, dessert, cookie, valentines, cassava, grain-free, berry
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Omg this is delicious!!! I was worried because my dough was really dry – might have been the type of coconut butter I used. I also subbed cassava for King Arthur’s 1:1 gluten free flour so not totally sure what caused the dryness. I had to add some water so I could mix it up. Added frozen raspberries and the coconut butter hardened up again briefly – I pushed the mix down into the pan and thought it would be a disaster. But nope, it’s amazing! Baked up beautifully! Had to stop myself from eating more. So scrumptious!
★★★★★
I’m so happy they turned out perfect, Tess! The cassava could definitely have contributed to the dryness, it’s quite absorptive. And coconut butter thickens up really fast as it cools too, so that could also have been part of what made the dough feel super dry. Using that 1/2 cup coconut butter + 1/4 cup coconut oil option in the notes could help. Or just keep doing what you did since it was a delicious success🥰😋 appreciate the feedback!