Creamy Lemon Bars

If you were to ask me about my favorite recipes on this blog, almost every one would most likely contain chocolate.  What can I say?  I'm a chocoholic.  But after trying these Creamy Lemon Bars, I can say that they would most definitely make the list.

Why yes, they are good enough to hold their own next to a bunch of kick-butt chocolate recipes.

There's nothing super special about these bars.  In fact, they're actually quite simple.  Just a quick crust and a lemon filling.  So what puts them on my favorite list, you ask?  That's simple.  They taste really really good.

No one really had high hopes for these bars.  Like, sure, they would taste good, and you would have no problem with eating some, but no one was like "Oh my god i can't wait until those Lemon bars are ready because they're gonna be amazing and I'm gonna eat the whole pan in one sitting" (for the record, that may be the way I react when there's chocolate mousse chilling in the fridge).

Everything changed when I took the first bite.  Dang, these guys were good!  I shared them with everyone in my family and before I knew it, every last bar was gone.  There's only one solution there: make them again.  So I did.  And you know what you should do?  Make them.  And then make them again because soon you'll have enhaled the whole first pan.

Creamy Lemon Bars
Crust:

• 1 1/3 cup + 2 tbsp oat flour (sorry for the weird measurement)
• 2 1/2 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1/4 tsp salt

Filling:

• 1 package shelf stable tofu (1 1/2 cups)
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 1/2 tbsp arrowroot starch/flour
• zest of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease an 8x8 pan with cooking spray.  In the bowl of a food processor, combine all crust ingredients.  Mix until combined and a wet mixture has formed.  If it seems too dry, you can add a bit of milk until the proper consistency is reached.  Press into an even layer in the bottom of prepared pan.  Bake crust for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, combinr all filling ingredients in food processor.  Mix until completely incorporated with no tofu clumps remaining.  Pour into baked crust.  Bake in oven for another 20 minutes, until filling has firmed around the edges.  Remove from oven and let chill in oven for at least 2 hours, until entire filling is firm.  Slice into 16 squares and serve.  Store in fridge.

Revisited Recipe of the Day:

Crustless Lemon Honey Cheesecake

Healthier Chocolate Chip Cookies (Two Ways)

I may be stating the obvious, but I am a cookie monster.

Cookies are just so fun and playful and easy to eat.  And my faovrite kind has always been a chocolate chip cookie.

Well, duh, it has chocolate.  

However, despite my love for the classic Chocolate Chip Cookie, I don't have a recipe on this blog that yields a healthier, but still classic Chocolate Chip Cookie.

That problem will be solved today (in two ways!).

Both versions of these cookies are absolutely delicious.  I think they're the best cookies I've ever made, and not to brag or anything, but I've made a lot of yummy cookies.

The first version is for when you want cookies fast.  No chilling required, just mix and bake.  They're super easy and yield a thinner and larger, but still chewy cookie.

The other way to make these cookies involves chilling the dough for at least 2 hours.  This kind of sounds like an inconvenience, but it can actually come in handy.  For example, you can quickly make the dough (It's super fast), go somewhere for a couple hours, and then bake the cookies as soon as you return.  The chilled dough creates a smaller and thicker cookie, which is also totally delicious.

Healthier Chocolate Chip Cookies (Two Ways)

• 3 tbsp brown or turbinado sugar (or another sugar of choice)
• 1 egg white
• 2 tbsp applesauce
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 - 1/3 cup milk (start with 1/4)
• 1 cup oat flour (make your own by grinding rolled oats in a coffee grinder)
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• pinch salt
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips (mini ones work best)

Version One- No Chilling:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a small bowl, mix together sugar, egg white, applesauce, vanilla, oil, and milk.
3. In a large bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt.  Add wet ingredients to dry and mix until a thin and drippy dough forms.  If batter isn't quite drippy, add 1-2 tbsp of milk until it is.  Fold in chocolate chips.
4. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or a Silpat.  Take about 1 tsp of batter and plop it onto the pan.  It will spread into a cookie shape.  Repeat until all batter has been used.
5. Bake for 8 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool on pan for a few minutes.  Transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.  Recipe makes about 20 cookies.

Version Two- Chill the Dough:

1. Mix together sugar, egg white, applesauce, vanilla, oil, and milk in a small bowl.
2. In a large bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt.  Add wet ingredients to dry and mix until a thin dough forms.  Fold in chocolate chips.
3. Place dough in the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours.  You can chill it for longer as well.
4. Once chilled, remove dough from fridge.  The texture will have changed, and now the dough should be thicker and less drippy.
5. Preheat oven to 350F.
6. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat.  Form a bit of dough into a small ball and place on pan.  Press down slightly.  Dough will be sticky.  Repeat until all dough has been used.
7. Bake 10 minutes.  Then remove from oven, and let cool on pan for a couple minutes before transferring to cooling rack to cool completely.  Recipe makes about 20 cookies.

So who wants to go bake cookies?!

Revisited Recipe of the Day:

Carob Chia Cookies

Healthy Oreo Cookies

I was the Oreo kid.

Every lunchtime at school, my friends would eagerly gather around my lunch box.  Inside was sure to be a  ziplock bag full of the classic Oreo cookie.

I'm not even kidding when I say that I had at least five Oreos every single day, and usually a couple more.  Not so healthy, huh?

Well, when your in third grade healthy isn't exactly at the top of your, or your friends', list.

I loved the daily cookies, and Im sure the people I shared them with weren't about the complain either.  However, looking back on it, it probably would have been much better had I brought one or two of these Healthy Oreo Cookies to lunch.

These, my friends, are a healthier take on the Classic Oreo Cookie.

I'm not going to tell you they taste exactly like the real thing, because honestly, they don't.  In my opinion they taste even better.

With a deep, dark Chocolate Cookie on the outside, and a creamy Vanilla Filling (that is very similar to the frosting here) on the inside, these cookies are sure to be devoured in an instant.

I only wish I could go back in time and bake some for the third grade me.

Healthy Oreo Cookies
Cookie:

• 1/2 cup spelt flour
• 1/4 cup dutch processed cocoa powder (normal cocoa will work as well)
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• large pinch salt (don't skip this, the salt helps to inhance the chocolate)
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp honey or agave
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 2 tbsp milk

Filling:

• scant 1/2 cup greek yogurt
• 1 ripe banana
• 1/2 tsp vnailla extract

For Cookies:

1. Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl.
2. In another bowl, mix together all wet ingredients.
3. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix until a ball of dough forms (this could take some time).  It may be sticky.
4. Chill dough in fridge for at least 30 minutes, but longer is OK too.
5. Preheat oven to 300F. Remove dough from fridge.
6. Using a rolling pin, or large cup, roll the dough into a thin layer.  Don't worry about it being too thin, because the dough will rise a bit in the oven.
7. Use a circle cookie cutter, or the cap of something (I used the cap of an old container of cinnamon; anything works), to cut out small circles of dough.  Roll out the dough and cut out circles for as long as needed, until all the dough has been used.
8. Place circles of dough on a parchment paper or silpat lined baking sheet.  Bake 7-10 minutes.  Let cool a bit before removing from pan.

For Filling:

1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor (a blender may work, but I haven't tried it)
2. Blend until completely smooth and creamy.  The texture should resemble that of a normal oreo cookie filling.
3. Spread filling on a cooled cookie and top with another cookie.  You msy have some filling left over.  Recipe makes around 1 dozen cookie sanwiches (that's 2 cookies + filling), but amount may vary depending in cookie size.  Store cookies in fridge.

Revisited Recipe of the Day:

Kit Kat Oatmeal Cookies