No-Bake Oreo Cookies

Chewy chocolate cookie dough filled with smooth vanilla cashew cream…yep, if you’re thinking that sounds a little like one of America’s favorite cookies, you’re right.  These raw vegan cookie dough sandwiches are free from gluten & refined sugars, a great source of healthy fats, and surprisingly easy to make too. A great back-to-school snack to keep you satisfied and energized!

Yield: 8 cookies

Ingredients

Chocolate Cookies

• ½ cup oats
• ½ cup raw cashews (or almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts… OR extra oats)
• ¾ cup soft dates, pitted and finely chopped
• 4 tablespoons cacao powder, unsweetened
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt (optional – for flavor balance)
• Water, as needed for binding

Vanilla Cashew Cream

• 1 cup cashews, finely ground into cashew flour or soaked overnight
• 1 — 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• Vanilla powder + sea salt, to taste
• Water, as needed to blend

Instruction

Chocolate Cookies

1. Put the oats and cashews in a food processor fitted with an S-blade. Process until finely ground.
2. Add the dates and mix again.
3. Add the cacao powder and sea salt, and process again.
4. Add a little water to bind the ingredients. You’ll know the dough is ready when it comes together into a ball.
5. Roll the chocolate cookie dough into a big ball, put it on top of some parchment paper and cover it with a second sheet of parchment paper.
6. Then roll the dough out using a rolling pin until it’s about ½ inch (1 cm) thick.
7. Peel the top sheet off the dough and use a round cookie cutter to cut out the cookies.
8. Once you’re done, gather the scraps of dough into a ball again, reroll and continue cutting out more cookies until all the dough has been used.
9. Put the cookies in the freezer to harden while you make the vanilla cashew cream filling.

Vanilla Cashew Cream

1. Combine the cashews (finely ground or soaked), maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla powder and a generous pinch of sea salt in a blender.
2. Add a few tablespoons of water to get the blender going. Blend until smooth.

Assembly

1. The quantity of water you’ll need depends on how your strong your blender is. You can always add more as you go.
2. Spread a generous serving of vanilla cashew cream on top of a chocolate cookie and then place another cookie on top.
3. Serve right away or put them in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to harden (if you’re patient enough to wait ).