Healthy No-Bake Oreo Cookies-Chocolate Covered Katie

By Kathy C.

Ingredients

• Filling:
• 1 cup walnuts (120g)(for substitutions see below)
• 1 and 1/3 cup pitted dates (200g)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp plus 1/16 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp regular cocoa powder (or Dutch-processed for more of a “cookie” taste)
• coconut butter or raw cashew butter
• sweetener of choice, if a sweeter filling is desired

Details

Servings 30
Adapted from chocolatecoveredkatie.com

Preparation

Step 1

Makes 30-34 sandwich cookies

Combine first 5 ingredients in a food processor, and process until the dates are completely broken up. (I used a Cuisinart. For best texture results, don’t use a blender.) Transfer the dough to a ziploc-type bag, seal, and smush it into one tight ball. Then roll out onto a sheet of wax or parchment paper, and use cookie cutters to make circles (or other shapes!). Fridge or freeze the circles for a few minutes, so they’re firmer and therefore easier to frost. Once firm, spread the filling on 1/2 the circles and then top with remaining circles.

In hot weather these are best stored in the fridge or freezer, as coconut butter melts at room temperature. (P.S. coconut butter really doesn’t have a coconutty flavor, if you were worried about that. Its flavor is more like shortbread. However, feel free to use one of the other options if you’d prefer.)

Side note: recipe isn’t supposed to be an exact copycat for Oreos. I’m still working on that…

Nutrition facts per “Oreo” sandwich:

Calories: 55
Fat: 3.5 grams
Carbs: 5.5 grams
Fiber: 1 gram
Protein: 1.5 grams
ww points (new system): 2 points
Note: Nutrition info above is per finished sandwich (two round cookies and 1/2 tsp filling). It was calculated based on the gram measurements, and I used walnuts in the calculations. The calorie amount might be a little lower if you use almonds or cashews.

Substitution Notes:

For the walnuts: You can sub raw cashews or almonds (or probably any other nut). If you need the recipe to be nut-free, perhaps try subbing sunflower seeds or unsweetened shredded coconut… but I haven’t tried either of these variations and can’t vouch for the results.

For the dates: I haven’t tried this recipe with a different type of dried fruit (raisins, prunes, figs), but I have had success subbing raisins—in an equal amount—for dates in similar recipes. So I *think* it would work. (Not sure about the figs, though.)

For the coconut butter: You can easily make your own.

Or you can substitute raw cashew butter—either buy Artisana brand, or make your own by soaking raw cashews in water for 4-8 hours, then draining and blending until the cashews are smooth like butter. (Of course, you can obviously just put peanut butter or roasted cashew butter or whatever else you wish in between the sandwiches.)