These No-Bake Chocolate Cherry Protein Cookies are vegan-friendly & gluten-free! Plus they’re super easy & taste better than your average store-bought bar.
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Story time…Has anyone done a really stupid thing before…? (obviously the answer is yes, we all have…) And right before you’re about to do that stupid thing you get this feeling that what you’re about to do is not a good idea? There is this nagging feeling, a warning signal going off in your head and you hear a voice saying “I really don’t think this is a good idea… You might want to reconsider what is about to happen…” But then you do it anyways and immediately as it is happening you regret it…
Yeah, that was me this weekend as I was rinsing hydrogen peroxide solution on my contact then putting it directly into my eye. ( …Were you expecting something deep and profound? Nope, not today, folks. Just me being a straight-up idiot.) Probably one of the worst feelings ever is that incredible burning sensation in your eyeball. What is really stupid is I looked at the bottle and thought to myself “Hmmmm, I wonder if it is that solution that I’m supposed to let sit overnight? And I’m not supposed to use right away…” Glancing over the bottle, and completely ignoring the red label across the top, I just went ahead and disobeyed the clearly spelled out warning: “failure to follow instructions will result in burning and stinging sensation” Well sure enough, my eye hurt like a biyatch. And two days later it is still red. Has anyone else done this? Seriously the worst pain…
Then I went ahead and let my face get sun-burnt and I’m rocking an awesome sunglasses tan, AKA “racoon face”. So between my beet-red face, and beet-red eyeball, this girl is looking real fine these days…
ANYWAYS. That was fun. Now that we’re done with story time, let’s talk about these COOKIES.
No-Bake Chocolate Cherry Protein Cookies, to be exact.
Not only has it been way too long since I’ve made protein snacks for myself, but for you all as well!
After I made my summer berry salad, I had some dried cherries left over. Every time I opened the fridge I saw the bag in there, taunting me. Like I needed to figure out a way to use them up STAT. Of course they’d be fine in there for weeks… but for whatever reason I couldn’t stop thinking about those damn dried cherries. And then I remembered my chocolate cherry protein shake… which naturally led me to think about cookies. Shake = cookies? … I don’t know.
Anyways, the creation just happened, alright?!
what you need
- plant protein powder
- almond meal
- cacao or cocoa
- nut or seed butter
- brown rice syrup or honey
- coconut oil
- non-dairy milk
- dried cherries
And it was freaking awesome. And QUICK. If you haven’t tried making your own protein bars, you are missing out, my friends. My protein bar recipes like this take less than 5 minutes to throw together, and only about 15-20 minutes to set in the freezer.
The chocolate topping is optional, of course… Buutttt is it really??
Let’s be real.
No-Bake Chocolate Cherry Protein Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 scoops, 3/4 cup plant protein powder (I used MRM Veggie Vanilla)
- ¼ cup almond meal, or flour
- 2 TBS cacao powder, or unsweetened cocoa
- ½ cup natural nut or seed butter, no oil/sugar added (I used cashew)
- 3 TBS brown rice syrup, or honey if not strictly vegan
- 1 TBS extra virgin coconut oil, melted
- 3 TBS unsweetened non-dairy milk*
- 1/3 cup dried cherries, roughly chopped
chocolate topping:
- 2 TBS dairy-free mini chocolate chips
- 1/2 tsp extra virgin coconut oil
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine protein powder, almond meal, and cacao powder. Stir until well mixed and set aside.
- Add in nut or seed butter, brown rice syrup, and melted coconut oil. Stir gently until well combined.
- Add one tablespoon of milk at a time, until mixture forms into crumbled dough texture. Dough should be moist, but slightly crumbly. Stir in dried cherries, or use hands if necessary to make sure everything is well mixed at the end.
- Divide dough into 8 even pieces, about golf ball size, rolling into circle and shaping into flat cookie shape. Place on lined baking sheet, set aside.
- In a small microwave safe bowl, melt chocolate chips and coconut oil together, 10-30 seconds, in increments, until chocolate is completely melted. Use spoon to drizzle chocolate topping over cookies. Place baking sheet in freezer for 15 minutes, or fridge for 30 minutes and allow cookies and melted chocolate to set.
- Store cookies in airtight container in fridge up to 2 weeks, and in freezer well wrapped for up to 3 months. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information
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