Cashew Cookie Bars With Chocolate Chips

Cashew cookie bars with chocolate chips that are vegan and gluten free will leave you feeling satisfied and not bloated. Simple, real, whole food ingredients. Just throw all together and bake.

Amazing Vegan Cashew Cookie Bars

These amazing cashew cookie bars with chocolate chips are a weekly favorite in my house. My kids will ask for these every week. We love to eat them at breakfast, snacks, in the lunchbox, and dessert.

These cashew cookie bars with chocolate chips have a sweet and salty flavor, a little crunch, and a whole lot of goodness. I love them because they are made with real, whole food ingredients.

Helping Your Kids Eat Real Whole Foods

As a Mom, Health Made Simple Pro, and Healthy Hands Cooking Instructor I’m all about helping my kids learn to fuel their body and also have a healthy, positive relationship with food.

They are learning that treats like these can be good for you and taste really amazing. I’m all about moderation but I’m also about teaching my kids how to listen to their body. I want to teach them how to fuel their body with real whole food.

Kids learn quickly which foods make them feel good and which ones make them feel bad. Kids also care about how food looks and if it taste good. So if you can master these two things you will be good to go.

These cashew cookie bars with chocolate chips meets both of these criteria and they will not disappoint.

Getting Your Kids In the Kitchen

As a pediatric feeding therapist and Healthy Hands Cooking Instructor I have found getting kids in the kitchen is hands down one of the best ways to help your child become a happy eater. The earlier you start doing this the better.

Getting your kids in the kitchen to help allows your child to:

1. Explore foods with all of their senses
2. Learn about where food comes from (did you know a lot of kids don’t know a french fry is made from a potato?)
3. Allows for your child to learn cooking skills
4. Research shows when kids help make food they are far more likely to try it
5. Allowing your child to help prepare food helps breakdown any tactile defensiveness they may have towards specific textures.
6. Takes the pressure off of picky eaters compared to when they are sitting at the table.

Going Dairy and Gluten Free

When my family went dairy and gluten free (almost a year ago) I immediately worried that new foods would be pushed away or not tried. I asked my kids what some of their favorite foods were and I started making those foods first.

I knew I didn’t want to load up on processed food just because it was labeled “gluten free” so I set out to make some of the best food with real, whole food ingredients. Ingredients that our body would recognize and heal us from the inside out.

Another thing that is super helpful is to think about foods your kids love and can easily grab themselves when wanting a snack. Granola bars was first on the list for my kids. We love them because you can just grab and go or throw in a lunchbox.

Most of the granola bars are made with milk or gluten so most are a no go for us. Although, we love the Made Good brand that is completely allergy friendly.

I was fumbling through the pantry one day when the lightbulb went off. I’ll just make our own granola bars and that’s when I created the amazing cashew cookie bars with mini dairy free chocolate chips.

How To Make Cashew Cookie Bars

You can eat these at breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, or as a dessert. The fun thing about these bars is you can use really any nuts or seeds you have on hand. You can use almonds, walnuts, pecans, cashews, pumpkin seeds, or sunflower seeds. We have mixed pumpkin seeds, cashews, and sunflower seeds all together too.

This recipe is so easy because all you do is literally mix everything together and put into the oven. A little tip is to take a little more oats and cashews than the recipe calls for and mix in the food processor. Then place into a ziploc bag so you can use for future cashew cookie bars or add to pancake or waffle mixes.

Make sure to let these cool completely before cutting. If you don’t let cool then they will crumble more than you’d like them to.

Cut into bite size squares or larger rectangles for a true granola bar. Enjoy!

If you like these you may also like my energy balls found HERE.

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Cookie Bars With Chocolate Chips Recipe:

1 cup cashews

2 cups gluten free old fashioned oats (I use Bob’s Red Mill)

¼- 1/2 cup mini dairy free chocolate chips (I like Enjoy Life Brand mini chocolate chips because they are allergy friendly)

¼ cup honey or pure maple syrup

½-1 cup natural peanut butter

1 TBSP  chia seeds

Preheat oven to 325

Pour cashews and oats into a food processor. Blend until fine.

Click here for my favorite mini food processor. I love it because it’s 50% off right now, tiny, and will blend anything up nice and fine.

Heat peanut butter and honey or syrup in a bowl just until it can blend well together. Around 10-15 seconds.

Mix cashew/oats with peanut butter and honey. Pour in the chia and mix. Pour in chocolate chips and mix in.

Pour into a square baking pan and firmly pat down. I wet my hands so it’s easier to pat down. Place in oven on 325 for 15 minutes. Let cookies cool completely before cutting.