Low Waste Bikepacking: Full Power Vegan Cookie Dough

In line with the theme of our Guide to Low Waste Bikepacking and following on from our popular Low Waste Energy Balls, here’s a great snack that you can quickly rustle up for your next trip.

In fact, it’s so quick and easy to put together that I rarely need to buy packaged snacks these days – the hardest part is limiting yourself to a couple of spoonfuls at a time on a weekend bikepacking trip! And it’s mess-free – should the chocolate melt in the summer months, rest assured that none will be lost. This high-energy fuel is also macro nutritious and calorically dense. It’s gluten-free, processed sugar-free, and as it’s based around almonds, some will find it less inflammatory on their systems than using peanuts.

Much of the ingredients can be sourced in a bulk store – especially if you’re lucky enough to have access to one that has nut grinders. See below for ideas on changing it up, including the use of seed butters in lieu of nuts, for environmental as well as health reasons.

Ingredients for a jar of Full Power Vegan Cookie Dough

(1 cup = 250ml)

What to do

Soak the dates in hot water for 10 minutes. Then drain them and keep the date water for later use.

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In a food processor, blend dates. Use date water if too dry, or try coconut milk or oat milk for more doughiness. Add almond butter, almond flour, coconut oil, cacao powder, a bit of salt (if almond butter is unsalted), chia seeds, and pulse it all together. You’re after a cookie dough texture.

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Empty into a bowl and work in chunks of dark chocolate and pecans – mix by hand.

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Then, dollop it in your favourite reusable jar and pop it into the freezer to keep it fresh for longer.

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Seed butters and variations on a theme

Once you have the base – dates, date juice, cacao, sea salt – there’s nothing to stop riffing on the recipe with whatever you have to hand. If you have a nut allergy, you can use sunflower butter or tahini instead of almond butter, along with pumpkin seeds instead of pecans. Note that sunflower seed butter is also far more eco-friendly in its production.

You can also use a good quality, sugar-free peanut butter instead of almond butter. Options abound and include adding in coconut flour, gluten-free oats, or vanilla extract, or even a little maple syrup, for those with a sweet tooth. If you happen to be making garbanzo beans for dinner, save the juice and whisk it up and add it in. This will improve the texture, too.

No time to blend?

No time to blend? Just soak the dates, remove the stones, chop or shred them into small pieces. Stir ingredients with a stiff spoon into your jar of a quarter full nut butter as you go. I like to add in extra coconut oil too – if you overdo it on the oil, just add some oak flakes to soak it all up. Freestyle to taste!

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For the most enjoyable eating experience, we recommend using a homemade spoon as your vessel – see our Beginner’s Guide to Spoon Whittling for tips.

In fact, here’s an example of a batch made for a recent campout, presented on Yeshe’s homemade spoon… Aside from the basic ingredients, it uses porridge oats, trail mix, raw honey, coconut oil, and cacao nibs. Though I say so myself, this batch was especially good!

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Ready to turn on that oven and up your packaging-free snack game? Try Franzi and Mario’s Holy Moly Granola bars next!

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