Brownie Batter Pie with Oatmeal Cookie Crust

Fact:  Ghirardelli has the best brownie mix in the universe.

I don't even want to hear you disagree.  Your argument is invalid.

But, as good as that brownie mix is, I can't justify how bad it is for you.  Especially if you're like me and can't stop at one brownie.  I don't buy it anymore.

Recently, however, I discovered a giant Costco-sized package of Ghirardelli brownie mix hiding in my pantry.  Tempting, don't you think?  In an effort to use it up, I've been using the brownie mix in a variety of healthier and unconventional ways.  The pie right here is a definite winner.

I love pies; both the fruit and the chocolate varieties.  In my experiments I've found that chocolate types are much easier to 'healthify' than their fruity counterparts.  I have so many chocolate pie recipes on this blog.

This Brownie Batter Pie is an excellent addition to the collection.  It has a chewy crust that comes in the form of an Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie and a rich and fudgy filling that tastes just like brownie batter!

What could be better?

Brownie Batter Pie with Oatmeal Cookie Crust
Crust:

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips

Pie Filling:

• 1 12.3 ounce package shelf-stable tofu (I get mine from Trader Joes)
• 2 1/2 cups of your favorite brownie mix (use a high quality mix for the best taste)
• 1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350F.  Grase a 9in circle pan.  In the bowl of a food processor, combine all crust ingredients except chocolate chips.  Process until completely mixed.  Add chocolate chips and process briefly to incorporate.  Mixture will be runny.  Pour oatmeal cookie batter into prepared pan and spread into a thin layer so that it covers the whole area of the pan.  Set aside.  Quickly rinse and dry the bowl of your food processor.  It doesn't have to be completely clean.  Add tofu, dry brownie mix, and milk to food processor.  Mix until completely combined.  Make sure there are no tofu chunks or dry spots of brownie mix.  Pour pie filling on top of unbaked crust and spread into a smooth and even layer.  Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, until filling is firm.  Let chill for at least 3 hours, or overnight, before slicing and serving.  Recipe makes 8 servings.  Store pie in fridge.

Cranberry Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

'Tis the season of cookies, so it's only right that I post a new cookie recipe, right?

These cookies are super simple, yet delicious all the same.  Hearty oats, a subtle sweetness and tons of cranberries and melty chocolate in every bite.

Mmmmmm....

When I first made these, I deemed them breakfast cookies.  However, as soon as my mom tasted one, she informed me, with great seriousnesss, that these cookies are not breakfast cookies.  They are most definitely 'anytime' cookies.  To withhold these cookies at all times other than breakfast would be a crime, they're so good.

I have to say, once I ate a cookie myself I had to agree.  And so did the rest of my family as we finished the batch off for dessert, snack, and yes, breakfast.

Cranberry Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

• 1 1/2 cups spelt flour
• 1 1/2 cups quick oats
• 1/2 cup dry sweetener of choice (that measures like sugar)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup dried and sweetened cranberries
• 1 egg or egg substitute (i.e. 1 flax "egg")
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted (or vegetable oil)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• If necessary, up to 1/3 cup milk/water

Preheat oven to 350F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a non-stick baking mat.  In a large bowl, mix together first seven ingredients (flour through salt).  Add chocolate chips and cranberries and mix to incorporate.  In another bowl, mix together remaining ingredients.  Add wet to dry and mix until a dough forms.  If necessary, add milk/water 1 tbsp at a time until dough is wet enough to shape into balls.  Take about 1 1/2 tbsp of dough, form into a ball and place on baking sheet.  These cookies will not spread while they bake, you can put them close together.  If you want flatter cookies and not balls, flatten dough before baking.  Bake in preheated oven for 8-12 minutes, until golden and firm.  Let cool completely before transferring to an airtight container.  Makes about 20 small cookies.

Happy eating everyone!

Chocolate Cookie Dough Baked Oatmeal Bars

You should probably get excited...

Because that up there is not dessert, it's breakfast.

If you don't know that chocolate makes breakfast ten billion times better then you seriously need to read this blog more.  'Cause, really, chocolate works wonders in the mornings.

But you know what works ever more wonders?  Chocolate with Cookie Dough.  That can guarantee a good day.

With that concept in mind, I created a breakfast above all other breakfasts:

A Chocolate Cookie Dough Baked Oatmeal Bar!

They're super easy, super delicious, and, believe it or not, healthy.

Chocolate Cookie Dough Baked Oatmeal Bars

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1/4 cup special dark cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 banana, mashed (you can't really taste it)
• 3/4 cup applesauce
• 1 2/3 cup milk or water
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1-4 tbsp maple syrup, taste to find desired amount
• 1/2 cup Healthy Cookie Dough, broken into small pieces
• Optional: A couple handfuls of Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 380F.  In a large bowl, mix together first three ingredients.  In another bowl, mash banana.  Add applsauce, milk/water, vanilla, and maple syrup to bowl with banana.  Mix in cookie dough and chocolate chips (if using).  Pour mixture (it will be watery and thin) into a greased 8x8 pan.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, until mixture is firm.  Cut into squares (I cut it into 16).  Bars will keep in fridge for a few days, and can be frozen as well for longer.

Revisited Recipe of the Day:

Funfetti Baked Oatmeal Bars

Salted Cookie Crust Mousse Pie

This.

This is amazing.

This is creamy and chocolatey and rich and decadent and just a bit salty and heavenly.

And oh my god, it's incredible.

I strongly encourage you quintuple the recipe and then eat every single piece yourself. You should probably also lock your doors so nobody can sneak in when you're not looking.  Some booby-trapping may be necessary as well.

What can I say?  You'll want as much of this to yourself as possible.

This extremely delicious thing I'm talking about is a Salted Cookie Crust Mousse Pie.  Doesn't it just sound amazing already?

Let me just warn you, this is an over-the-top dessert, but I mean that in the best of ways.  If you're looking to show someone that healthy does not mean yuck, then this is seriously your recipe.  It's a creamy, salted chocolate mousse filling, on top of a chocolate chip cookie crust.  Yummmm....

Salted Cookie Crust Mousse Pie
Crust:

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1/2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp brown sugar or turbinado sugar
• 1 tbsp ground flax
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips

Mousse:

• 230 grams silken tofu (I use the shelf stable type which can be found at trader joes or online)
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips, melted
• 1 1/2 tbsp milk
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1/4 tsp salt + more sea salt for sprinkling on top

For Crust:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Combine all ingredients except chocolate chips in the bowl of a food processor.  Blend until oats have broken down and mixture is like a thin cookie dough.
3. Add chocolate chips and process until they're broken into small pieces.
4. Grease a 9 inch circle pan.  Pour crust mixture into pan and spread into a thin layer.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes.

For Mousse:

1. Rinse out food processor and dry.  You don't have to completely wash it.
2. Combine tofu, cocoa powder, chocolate chips, milk, honey, and 1/4 tsp salt in food processor.  Blend until completely smooth and creamy.
3. Pour mousse mixture over baked cookie crust.  Spread into an even layer.
4. Chill in the fridge for at least 8 hours, until mousse has set.  Right before serving, sprinkle a bit of sea salt on top and slice into 8-10 slices.  Store leftovers in fridge.

Promise me you'll do everything in your power so that you'll be able to try this delicious dessert.  If you need tofu, go buy some (they have it at Trader Joes), if you don't have access to an oven, take a trip to your friends house(sharing it with them after is optional), if you're a mom and don't feel like cooking for Mother's day, beg for your husband or child to make it for you (it's worth it).

Speaking of Mother's Day, I'm making my mom a fruit crumble.  Are you going to make something?

Revisited Recipe of the Day: 

Single Serving Bread Pudding - Mother's day breakfast, anyone?

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I feel bad for raisins.

No one likes them, they're always ignored, and the cookies with them in them are probably the least liked cookies in the whole world.

Poor raisins.

Well, I am not a raisin hater.  I actually really like raisins, and happily eat them by the handful.  Or in cookies.  Cookies are good too.

Guess what?

I made all of my fellow raisin lovers some cookies!  They're healthy, yummy, and filled with plump raisins.  I love them and I know you will too.

Seriously guys, give those poor little raisins a chance.  You can't go wrong with a cookie!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

• 1 cup oat flour (make your own: grind oats in a blender or coffee grinder until they form a flour texture, measure after grinding)
• 1 cup quick oats (make your own: quickly break up rolled oats in a food processor or blender.
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp sakt
• 2 tbsp ground flax
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 3/4 cup raisins (if you like, you can plump them)

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. MIx together dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3. In another bowl, mix together all wet ingredients.
4. Add wet to dry and mix until a wet dough forms.  Mix in raisins.
5. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat.  Form dough into cookie shapes on the pan.
6. Bake for 8 minutes.  Let cool a bit before removing from pan and moving to cooling rack to cool completely.  Recipe makes about 20 cookies.

Just because I know it's a question in many of your minds, yes, it's ok to use chocolate chips too.  But I encourage you to use raisins!!  They're actually really tasty.

Revisited Recipe of the Day:

Pumpkin Raisin Baked Oatmeal

Chocolate Steel Cut Oats

Nothing much beats a bowl full of chocolate first thing in the morning.  Actually...

Correction:  Nothing much beats a bowl full of chocolate that actually keeps you satisfied until lunch.

Cupcakes, cookies and candy bars may taste mighty fine at first, but if you're anything like me, you're tummy will be rumbling my 10 am.  And that sure ain't fun.

You know what would be a much better choice?  Yeah, you guessed it, a bowl of this Chocolate Steel Cut Oatmeal.

Oh, it's chocolatey all right.  Reallllllyyyy chocolatey.  And thick.  And rich.  And I-can't-believe-this-is-actually-a-filling-breakfast delicious.

Basically everything you want in a chocolate breakfast, but know you shouldn't have.  Except for the part where you can actually have it.  That's what makes this oatmeal so great.

Chocolate Steel Cut Oats

• 1 cup steel cut oats (I used quick cooking)
• 4 cups water or milk
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup special dark cocoa
• 1 banana, mashed
• sweetener such as maple syrup, honey, stevia, etc

Bring liquid of choice to boil in a large saucepan.  Add oats, salt, cocoa, and banana and simmer until most of the liquid has been absorbed.  This amount of time will vary depending on whether you use normal steel cut oats or quick cooking ones.  Taste oatmeal and decide how much sweetner to add.  Mix in desired amount of sweetener and taste to make sure sweetness is correct.  Transfer oatmeal to container and place in fridge until serving time.  Recipe yields for 4 servings.

I recommend making this on the weekend (especially if you don't use quick cooking oats) and then saving it in the fridge for a quick breakfast in the mornings.  You can layer it with yogurt, top normal oatmeal with it, or fix yourself a big ol' bowl.  I think it's great warm or cold, which means if you're in a huge rush you can just throw it into a container straight from the fridge!

Believe me, it is much better than a candy bar!

You know you want some!

Revisited Recipe of the Day:

Funfetti Baked Oatmeal Bars

Funfetti Baked Oatmeal Bars

How do you brighten up a Monday morning?

With sprinkles of course!

And a wholesome breakfast.

Lucky for you, these Funfetti Baked Oatmeal Bars can provide both those things.

Made from oats, greek yogurt, and sprinkles these bars have everything you need to start the day right...

Fiber, protein, and a whole lot of rainbow color!

Pair one with an apple or some more yogurt and you've got yourself an easy, healthy, and fun breakfast!

Aren't sprinkles the best?

Funfetti Baked Oatmeal Bars

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1/2 cup vanilla greek yogurt
• 1 cup water
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp maple syrup
• 1/2 banana, sliced into small chunks
• Sprinkles, how ever much you want (I used 1/4 cup)

Preheat oven to 350F.  In a large bowl, combine oats, cinnamon, and salt.  Add in appesauce, yogurt, water, milk, vanilla, and maple syrup and mix well to combine.  Mixture will be runny.  Fold in banana and sprinkles.  Pour mixture into greased 8x8 pan.  Bake for 25-27 minutes, or until firm.  Remove from oven and let cool before slicing into 9 large squares.  Bars freeze well.

View Nutrition Facts Here

So here's the deal with these guys.  They take a bit of time to make, but once you bake 'em all you've gotta do it cut and freeze, and you have breakfast for the whole week!

How cool is that?  Believe me, it sure solves the breakfast in a rush situation.  Bar, fruit, done.

It's as simple (and delicious) as that.

Revisited Recipe of the Day:

Ginger Oatmeal Cookie Sandwiches

Flourless Oatmeal Cookies

These are strange cookies... strange but good that is.

You see, it was one of those recipes where I was literally just throwing things together in the bowl of my food processor.  Totally and completely winging it.

The whole time I was making these, a little voice in my head was saying "they won't taste good, they'll be a huge failure".  Honestly, that was actually a pretty logical thing to think given the fact  that I was combining cottage cheese, cauliflower, and prunes.  Really, where on Earth could that be heading?

As it turns out, it was headed towards oatmeal cookies, though I didn't know that until mere minutes before they entered the oven.

The whole cookie baking process went a little bit like this:  Throw some cauliflower into a food processor.  Add in a couple scoops of cottage cheese.  Blend.  Add in cinnamon, ginger, and maple syrup.  Blend.  Taste.  Add in a couple prunes and some honey.  Try to ignore the voice in your head telling you that whatever you're attempting to make won't turn out.  Blend.  Realize that the random assortment of foods in your food processor is going nowhere fast.  Decide that you need to add oats (duh).  Mix some oats with some other stuff in a bowl and pour the liquid from the food processor on top.  Taste.  Have the genuis idea that you should turn the random mish-mash into cookies.  Bake the cookies.

Phew.  As you can see, these cookies provided quite the adventure.  And that adventure didn't exactly seem like it would end well, did it?  I agree.

In fact, I was holding my breath as they came out of the oven, and hesistated to try one fearing that  the result would be, well, disgusting.  It wasn't until a family member wandered into the room, took a bite of one of the cookies, and commented "good!" that I dared to try a little as well.

And guess what?  They were good.  Really good.  Who knew?

Flourless Oatmeal Cookies

• 1 cup frozen cauliflower, thawed
• 1/2 cup cottage cheese (I used 1%)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tbsp honey
• 2 prunes, soaked in water for a couple minutes (the longer they soak, the better)
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• pinch salt
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350F.  Combine cauliflower, cottage cheese, cinnamon, ginger, milk, maple syrup, honey, and prunes in food processor.  Process until smooth.  In a large bowl, mix together oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and brown sugar.  Pour the mixture from the food processor into the bowl with oats.  Mix to combine.  Fold in cranberries and raisins.  Form dough into cookies and place on greased baking sheet.  Bake in preheated oven for 12 minutes.  Let cool before removing from baking sheet and serving.

Well, now you know how to make one strange cookie.  I promise that if you give the recipe a try, the result will be much better than you'd think!  Enjoy!

Revisited Recipe of the Day:

Strawberry Oatmeal Cookies

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Cake

Yes, another cake.

But at the same time, no, it's a cookie.

Say what?

This recipe is for a gigantic oatmeal cookie that comes in the form of a cake.  Unlike a cake, the texture is pretty dense and chewy.  And unlike a cookie, you get to eat a whole big slice with a fork.

It's a 2 for 1 deal... everyone loves a good deal.

Plus, aren't there always times in ones life where all they want is a gigantic oatmeal cookie?

You had a rough day at work, you bombed your test at school, you came home to find that you're out of chocolate chips.

What's the solution?  A big ol' slice of cookie.

Trust me, it works.

And if the thought of cake and cookies (at the same time, no less!) didn't already convice you to make this, there's also the part about it being pretty healthy.

Much healthier, that is, than almost any cake or cookie you were going to eat.  Now it's a 3 for 1 deal, huh?

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Cake

• 1/2 cup quick oats
• 1 1/2 cups chickpeass (if from a can, drain very well)
• 2 tbsp yogurt (soy should work for a vegan version)
• 1 heaping tbsp peanut butter
• 1/2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 5 dates, soaked in water for about 10 minutes
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 tbsp brown sugar (you may want more, taste the batter to check)
• 2 tbsp raisins

Preheat oven to 350F.  Combine all ingredients but raisins in food processor and blend on and off until everything is well incorporated and a smooth, but thick mixture is formed.  You don't want any chickpea or date clumps.  Add in raisins and process again until raisins are slightly broken up, but not completely blended in.  Scoop batter into a greased 8 in pan and bake in preheated oven for 17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Let cake/cookie cool a bit before slicing and serving.

I'm feeling a bit under the weather right now, and I'm really thinking that this cookie cake could be very very good for me.  Especially right out of the oven with some whipped cream on top.  Yum yum yum.

I seriously regret not having any left.  Oh well, only one thing to do:  Make more!

Revisited Recipe of the Day:

Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes