Tag Archives: Chocolate

Oatmeal Lace Cookies and Nutella Almond Butter Cookies

Posted in Baking, Dessert by

I find myself watching repeat episodes of the Big Bang Theory all. the. time. In my defense, the repeats are shown on TV all. the. time. It’s funny to me how easily I am influenced to make or eat foods based on what I see on TV. I’m basically a marketer’s dream.

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Anyways, the other day I was watching the episode where Bernadette is going to be featured in a magazine as one of the top sexiest female scientists to watch, and Amy Farrah Fowler is upset because she feels female scientists shouldn’t have to flaunt their good looks to be recognized for their achievements. Plot line aside, the girls were eating cookies in the opening scene, so I decided to make some.

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Oatmeal Lace Cookies:

  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (or gluten free flour)
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 cup oatmeal (use gluten free if desired)
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 2 tbsp almond milk
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • 1 tsp vanilla

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Preheat oven to 375F

In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour through oatmeal and mix well. Set aside.

In another bowl, combine remaining ingredients and mix on low with a blender until smooth. Slowly add dry ingredients and continue mixing until well combined.

Drop tablespoon sized balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet, about 2 1/2 apart. These cookies will spread flat in the oven.

Bake for 7-9 minutes, removing when the edge is just golden. Let cool for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack or plate.

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Nutella Almond Butter Cookies:

  • 1/2 cup Nutella
  • 1/2 cup almond butter
  • 1/3 cup turbinado sugar, such as Sugar in the Raw
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350F

In a mixing bowl, mix together all ingredients with a blender until well combined.

Spoon a tablespoon of the mix onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Use a fork to gently press diagonal lines across each cookie in an X.

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges are just golden. Let cool for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack or plate.

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Healthy Black Bean Power Brownies

Posted in Baking, Dessert by

I have an obsession, along with 103,000 other people (and that’s just on Facebook!) with Chocolate Covered Katie and her healthy dessert blog. This obsession is borne from a life-long addiction to desserts and internal struggle between cravings and being healthy. Sure, I exercise multiple times a week. I run long distances and get up early to squeeze in a workout before heading to the office.

But when I delve into a pint of Ben and Jerry’s at night following a heaping plate of dinner food, I hear that nagging voice in my head letting me know I’m probably undoing all the good I had done earlier.

The solution to this battle between desserts and being healthy is to combine the two. Healthy desserts. And that is exactly what Chocolate Covered Katie does on her blog. My latest indulgence is brought to you today in the form of chocolately, ooey-gooey brownies made with – wait for it – black beans.

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They’re only slightly tweaked from this recipe on Chocolate Covered Katie – she’s basically a genius so I can’t really improve upon what she’s done here. I omitted some sugar and added flax seeds and a couple options for the flour mix. No biggie.

Enjoy!

Preheat oven to 350 F

What You Need:

  • One 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 2 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup quick oats OR whole wheat flour OR gluten-free flour OR cooked quinoa
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/3 cup pure maple syrup or honey
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil
  • 2 tbsp whole flax seeds (chia seeds or hemp seeds or any other seeds you like work here too)
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Brownie

 

 

What You Do:

Put everything into a food processor EXCEPT the chocolate chips and flax seeds. Blend well, stir in the chips and seeds, and then pour the batter out into an 8X8 brownie pan.

Bake for about 18-20 minutes. Let cool well for about 10-15 minutes before serving.

 

 

 

Pro Tip: Substitute the oil for applesauce maybe? I didn’t try it this way but it’s worked for brownies and cookies I’ve made in the past. If you do this, let me know how it goes!

Brownie 3

HEALTHY Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie with Quinoa!

Posted in Baking by

I know, yes. If you’re anything like me you just went through about four stages of emotion in order to cope with the news of a healthy chocolate chip cookie pie:

Thrill, followed by Immediate Doubt, then Guarded Hopefulness, and finally a decision to say screw it and eat it regardless of whether it’s actually healthy (it is) because it looks super tasty and involves chocolate.

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Well, don’t worry. Thrill was the right reaction (always trust your instincts!). This cookie pie not only is healthy, but it’s gluten free AND one of the ingredients is quinoa – and I always feel like I’m doing the right thing in life whenever I eat quinoa.

One small disclaimer is that it will resemble cookie slop if you try to eat it before it has a chance to spend a few hours in the fridge. But I say slop in the nicest way possible and with a little *nudge nudge* *wink wink* to let you know it’s perfectly fine to eat it that way. It improves the taste too, I think, if you’re hunched over the dish shoveling it into your mouth with your bare hands.

…Not that I would know.

Adapted from Chocolate Covered Katie’s Healthy Deep Dish Cookie Pie.

Preheat Oven to 350F

What You Need:

  • 2 cans garbanzo beans (chickpeas) drained and rinsed
  • 1 cup cooked quinoa
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 3 tbsp canola oil
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup white sugar (This pie is fairly sweet so this can be adjusted down to 1/2 cup for less sweetness)
  • 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Blend all ingredients except for chocolate chips in a food processor until smooth and cookie dough-like. Mix in chocolate chips. Pour batter into a well-greased pie dish or brownie pan for a square shaped pie.

Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes or until crust begins to brown. Let cool for 10-15 minutes before eating. Refrigerate to really firm up the cookie pie.