Gluten Free Monster Cookie Bars

What’s In Gluten Free Monster Cookie Bars?

 One of the reasons the classic gluten-free monster cookie recipe is so popular is that it comes together with pantry staple ingredients. Naturally, these cookie bars are the same! Here’s what you’ll need: 

• Coconut Oil or Plant-Based Vegan Butter – Used to add richness to the flavor and create a soft, tender texture. 
• Almond butter or Seed Butter – We use creamy no-stir almond butter, but any other nut or seed butter you prefer like sunflower butter, or cashew butter tastes great, too. 
• Coconut Sugar – Helps sweeten the cookie bars while keeping them moist and preventing a blood sugar spike. 
• Flax Egg – One of our favorite vegan egg substitutes, flax eggs are made by combining flaxseeds and water to replicate the consistency of an egg and provide structure to the batter. 
• Gluten-Free Flour Blend – A combination of fine blanched almond flour and gluten-free oat flour forms the base of the bars. 

Ingredient Swap: If preferred, you can replace the oat flour with a gluten-free all-purpose flour without xanthan gum. 

• Non-Dairy Milk – Use your favorite non-dairy milk as needed to thin out the batter until the ingredients are smooth. 
• Dairy-Free Chocolate – Dark chocolate chips or chocolate chunks and dark chocolate gems give these gluten free cookie bars the classic Monster cookie taste. Feel free to use dairy-free options as needed to make these bars vegan-friendly. 
• Gluten-Free Rolled Oats – Technically optional but highly recommended, oats add a slightly chewy texture we love. 
• Baking Staples – You’ll also need pure vanilla extract, baking soda, and salt to enhance the flavor of the ingredients and help the bars hold their shape. 

Tips and Tricks 

These monster cookie bars are pretty failproof as they are. However, we have a few extra notes to ensure they turn out perfectly every time you bake. 

• Don’t Overmix. Combine the ingredients for the batter just until they’re smooth and no clumps remain. Continuing to mix will overwork the dough and cause your bars to become tough and dense. 
• Add Milk as Needed. The batter will be thick and similar to cookie dough. If needed, add 1-2 tablespoons of non-dairy milk to help thin it out until the batter is well mixed. 
• Avoid Overbaking. Keep a close eye on your cookie bars, and check on them after 20 minutes of baking. They may look slightly underdone, but they’ll continue to cook and set as they cool. 
• Cool Completely. It’s tempting to dig in right away, but letting your bars cool is crucial. Otherwise, they’ll fall apart when sliced into!