Yup, I’m turning zoodles, or zucchini noodles if you prefer, into a dessert.  It sounds really weird and I have doubted myself as I was doing it, but the end result is actually pretty tasty. 

And the reason I can say this with confidence is that this recipe got the husband stamp of approval.  It was a surprised stamp of approval, but an enthusiastic one.  Not the typical, “This is good” I usually get, but I think there was some excitement behind his declaration.

I’ll take it. 

Zucchini in sweet stuff isn’t all that weird.  I mean zucchini bread is a favorite for a lot of people.  But rarely is zucchini the star of the dessert.  I guess I felt it was time that zucchini take center stage of the dessert world.  Or something like that.  More like, I had extra zucchini but didn’t feel like making zucchini bread.

That’s definitely what happened.

I used my Pampered Chef Veggie Spiralizer once again for this recipe (see this post and this one for my other spiralized recipes) but a regular old box grater will work just as well.  And save yourself some time and make the condensed coconut milk ahead of time.  That way you’re only a short distance from dessert which is always a good thing 🙂

Zoodle Cookie Bars 

Cookie Crust:

• ½ cup coconut flour
• ½ cup almond flour
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp. coconut sugar (or any other granulated sugar you prefer)
• 6 tbsp. coconut oil, solid

Filling:

• 1 medium zucchini
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1 cup coconut flakes, unsweetened
• 1 cup dark chocolate chunks
• 1 batch of condensed coconut milk (just the first two steps in the recipe) 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and lightly oil an 8 x 8 pan or small casserole dish. Line with a strip of parchment paper with a little hanging over each side.
2. Combine all the cookie crust ingredients in a food processor or blender and pulse until it’s combined. It will look a little crumbly but should hold together if you smoosh it between two fingers.
3. Place the crust dough into the 8 x 8 pan and press it down until it covers the whole bottom. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes and then remove it while you get everything else together.
4. Trim the ends of the zucchini and spiralize. If you’re using the Pampered Chef spiralizer, use the spaghetti attachment and if you’re using any other spiralizer use the smallest attachment.  Once the zucchini is spiralized, squeeze out the excess liquid with a tea towel or paper towels and roughly chop the zoodles.
5. Put half the chocolate chunks and coconut flakes on top of the cookie crust and then evenly spread the zoodles over them. Add the rest of the chocolate and coconut and all the sliced almonds.  Pour the condensed coconut milk on top.
6. Bake the zoodle bars for 30 minutes, checking frequently towards the end so it doesn’t burn.  It should be golden brown when it’s done.  Let the bars cool completely and then refrigerate for a few hours.  DON’T SKIP THIS PART or else you will end up with a pile of crumbles instead of bars. Once they have cooled in the fridge, cut into bars and enjoy!