Mmmm… cookie dough happiness.

Unbaked cookie dough balls or bites are a big favorite around here. In fact, when my almost 4 year old asks to make cookies, she’s actually referring to cookie dough. We make it a half a dozen different ways, usually with oat flour, and sweetened with dates, maple syrup, or coconut sugar. Today I’m sharing one of my favorite cookie dough creations; chocolate chunk cowboy cookie dough!

This recipe was originally meant to be a traditional, baked cowboy cookie, but we loved the dough so much that I scrapped the oven altogether! These are easy to throw together, just the right sweetness, and with bits of oats, shredded coconut, chopped walnuts, and dark chocolate, they boast a fun texture that takes classic cookie dough to the next level.

Feel free to swap out the walnuts for almonds, skip the coconut, or add dried fruit or other vegan candy bits if you wish. You don’t even need a food processor for these bites, just a bowl and a spoon.

And if you really want to save time, don’t even bother rolling into balls and just use that spoon to scoop it directly into your mouth.

Right this way to cookie dough bliss…

Vegan and Gluten Free Chocolate Chunk Cowboy Cookie Dough Bites

Makes about 18 –  20 bites

Ingredients:

Wet

• 2 tbsp ground flax seeds combined with 1/4 cup warm water
• 6 tbsp coconut sugar
• 1 + 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp softened or melted coconut oil (see notes for oil free version)
• 2 tbsp almond butter

Dry

• 1 cup flour (I use 1/2 cup oat flour + 1/2 cup raw buckwheat flour)*
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

Add-ins:

• 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup walnuts
• 1/3 cup chopped dark chocolate bar

Instructions:

Stir together the wet ingredients until well combined, and mix together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Scrape the wet ingredients into the dry and combine; fold in the coconut, walnuts, and dark chocolate. Roll into tablespoon size balls and store in the refrigerator (or freezer).

*You can use all oat flour, all buckwheat flour (blended from raw groats), or a combination of the two. Or if you don’t need it to be gluten free, you can use spelt flour.

To make the bites oil free, substitute 3 more tbsp of almond butter (5 tbsp total in the recipe) in place of the coconut oil. You may need to add a tiny splash of water too, like a teaspoon, if it seems a bit too dry.

These are just the right sweetness level for us, but feel free to add or subtract a tablespoon of coconut sugar if you’d like it more or less sweet.