Cottage Cheese Cookie Dough Bark

Ingredients

Let’s take a quick look at those ingredients and hopefully answer some of your questions.

• Cottage cheese: I recommend full fat cottage cheese; the higher the fat percentage, the less icy the bark will be. That being said, you can use whatever kind you have. Non-fat, 1%, full fat cottage cheese, large curd, or small curd. If your cottage cheese is very thin and watery, place it in a strainer lined with cheesecloth or a coffee filter over a bowl and refrigerate overnight to drain off excess whey. Or, simply add in more almond flour to thicken the dough.
• Peanut butter: Don’t worry, it doesn’t make the bark taste like a peanut butter cookie at all! The added healthy fats help prevent an icy texture. Look for a peanut butter that only contains 1 or 2 ingredients: just peanuts and salt. Peanut butter can be swapped for almond butter, sunbutter, or any other nut butter you like.
• Maple syrup: It adds a nice rich flavor and a bit of sweetness. You can swap maple syrup with honey or any other liquid sweetener that you like.
• Almond flour: Use a fine grind of almond flour for the best texture (almond meal will have a coarser texture). You’ll see in the photos I used Natural Almond Flour from whole almonds, which means the almonds still have their skins. It makes a really pretty almond flour, and a pretty bark. Plus, it was on sale at the store! Feel free to use any finely ground almond flour. If you want a nut free bark without almond flour, simply replace almond flour with equal parts oat flour. I generally prefer almond flour over oat flour because almond flour has a lower glycemic index.
• Vanilla protein powder: it adds a nice flavor and a boost of protein. I’ve tried making these cookie doughs without it, and it just ends up falling a little short, so don’t skip the protein powder.
• Chocolate chips. Any kind of chocolate will work: semi-sweet, dark, milk, or which chocolate chips. I prefer mini chips in the bark so they are easier to eat, but you can also use regular size if that’s all you have.
• Coconut oil: Adding coconut oil to the chocolate helps it stay smooth and shiny. Use refined or unrefined, either one will work.

How to make

This protein cookie dough bark is super simple to make, and comes together in minutes. Don’t forget to scroll down to the printable recipe card below for full ingredient amounts and instructions.

First, you’ll blend the wet ingredients: cottage cheese, peanut butter, maple syrup, and vanilla in a high-powered blender or food processor. Scrape down the sides a couple of times with a spatula while blending.

Next, mix it all together in a large bowl. Add the cottage cheese mixture, the almond flour, and the protein powder. Then stir in the mini chocolate chips.

Line a baking sheet or a 13×9-inch pan with parchment paper and spread the cookie dough in an even layer. The dough will be sticky, you can run a silicone spatula under warm water before using it to smooth out the dough. And don’t skip the parchment paper or a silicone mat as the dough will stick to the baking sheet if you don’t use the parchment paper.

If you want a thick bark, you can use a 9×9-inch square baking pan, but be sure to line it with parchment paper as well.

Melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil in the microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring between each round. Drizzle the melted chocolate over the bark, then spread to coat. I think an offset spatula works well for this.

Add a sprinkle of sea salt or chopped nuts to the top as garnish if desired.

Place it in the freezer for about 2 hours or even overnight until it’s frozen and firm.  Cut or break into smaller pieces and store in the freezer.

Storage

Keep the bark pieces in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can layer the pieces between parchment paper to keep them from sticking together.

Don’t store it in the fridge, it won’t hold its bark shape.

Can you taste the cottage cheese?

In my opinion, you can’t taste the cottage cheese in this. Though it isn’t exactly cookie dough, it is super tasty! If you’re looking for an exact edible cookie dough, be sure to check out my recipe.

Can I eat the cookie dough as is?

Yes, this is an edible cookie dough, and even if you don’t feel like freezing it or turning it into bark, you can still enjoy it. You may want to scoop it into balls or simply eat it with a spoon out of the bowl.

Can I bake the cookie dough?

This is intended to be eaten raw, like cookie dough. I think it would need some work to be able to bake it up and serve it like cookies.

Can I make cottage cheese cookie dough with regular flour?

This recipe might take some work to use regular flour, so I don’t recommend it. If you want to try some experiments with it, be sure to heat treat your flour so it’s safe to eat.

Changes to the recipe

I always recommend making the recipe as is the first time, then trying different flavor combinations.

• Use chocolate flavored protein powder for double chocolate cookie dough
• Mocha: Stir 1-2 teaspoons of instant espresso powder into the dough
• Sugar free: use sugar free chocolate chips, a sugar free protein powder, and an alternative sweetener
• Add in some chopped nuts like almonds, walnuts, or pecans. Toss in dried fruits like dried cranberries, raisins, or coconut
• Stir in some rainbow sprinkles and sprinkle some on top of the melted chocolate for a birthday cake confetti cookie dough