Raw Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls

By Jen Sotolongo, Long Haul Trekkers

In May 2015, the Long Haul Trekkers crew, comprising Dave, Jen and Sora the dog, began the ultimate bikepacking quest from Oslo, Norway back to Portland. Follow their journey at longhaultrekkers.com, where you’ll find an abundance of resources for bike touring, traveling internationally, and delicious camp recipes, like this one.

When I scored on a giant jar of natural peanut butter (as in just ground peanuts – no sugar, no oil!), and giant jar of local honey from a host’s mountain bee hives, I knew I had the ingredients to make these raw peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough balls.

Given our constant travel to new countries and the lack of availability of products I’m used to finding easily at home, recipe testing on the road can be tough. However, I can say with certainty that these raw peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough balls are simple to make, can easily be made vegan by swapping maple or agave syrup for the honey, and best of all, taste like raw cookie dough. What more could you want in a camp-food snack?

These do a bit better when the temperatures outside are colder than in the heat of summer. They tend to lose shape and melt a bit when the temps are too high.

Despite my best intentions not to inhale these in one day, they rarely make it to the following day. I keep them in my handlebar bag and pop one in my mouth whenever we stop for a short break. Before we know it, they’re gone.

Raw Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls

A delicious gluten-free and easily veganized treat for the road that will keep you going even when you run out of steam.

Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time: 10 min

Total Time: 15 min

Ingredients

1. 1 cup almond meal**
2. ⅓ – ½ cup smooth peanut butter, start with ⅓ cup and add the rest a spoonful at a time if the dough is too dry
3. 3 tbsp honey (can swap for maple or agave syrup)
4. Pinch of salt
5. 2 tbsp raw cacao nibs or mini chocolate chips/chopped dark chocolate

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients into a bowl until you are able to pinch the dough together. If it’s too sticky, add a bit more flour, about a tablespoon at a time. If too dry, add more peanut butter as instructed above.
2. Once the dough sticks together when pinched, allow it to rest for at least 10 minutes. This allows the dough to firm a bit.
3. After the waiting period, roll the dough into 1-inch-sized balls and consume!

Notes

**I think oat flour could work, as it is significantly less expensive than almond flour, but I’ve found that it is not as easy to find around the world. Gluten-free folk would have to find certified gluten-free oat flour in this case. If you give this a shot, please let me know so I can make a note in the recipe.