Almond Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Blondies

Gluten Free

Vegan

Almond Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Blondies

    I have to admit, the recipe below will not produce the exact results pictured above. I've been known to start a recipe before checking to make sure I have all the necessary ingredients... When that happens, my options are (a) wait until I get the ingredients, setting the half assembled recipe aside, or (b) use substitutes.

    I usually opt for b, as in this case. The actual recipe (from blissfulbasil.com) is what I've put below, but I will also include the ingredients I used as substitutes along side them in parenthesis. Use those if blondies you can eat with a spoon is your thing. ;)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup coconut sugar (or 1/2 cup brown sugar/1/2 cup honey)
• 1 cup natural almond butter (or 1/2 cup almond butter/1/2 cup coconut oil)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups oat flour
• 1/4 cup oat
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup + 2 T unsweetened almond milk
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (or 1 cup)

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper, and non-stick spray.
2. Cream together the sugar, almond butter, and vanilla in a medium bowl. 
3. Slowly stir in the oat flour, oats, baking powder, and salt, alternating between dry ingredients and the almond milk.
4. Add the chocolate chips, mixing by hand.
5. Transfer dough to the prepared pan and spread in an even layer.
6. Bake for 22-26 minutes or until the edges are golden and crackled. Allow to cool completely before cutting into 9 bars.

Half Baked Fudge

Half Baked Fudge

      When you think of 'half-baked', what's the first thing that comes to your mind? Hopefully you thought of Ben & Jerry's, 'cause that's what I was going for. If you're not familiar with it, (what's wrong with you?) it's swirled vanilla and chocolate ice cream, with gobs of cookie dough and brownie batter. ...yeah.

     

      There's just something about eating food in it's raw form that's so much better than eating it after it's been baked. Maybe it's the thrill of eating something you're not supposed to, but I honestly think it just tastes better all gooey and what not.

  

      What's kind of funny about the ice cream and this fudge is that neither of them are actually baked at all. This fudge is actually super easy to make too.

Ingredients:

Cookie Dough:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 T granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 T milk
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips

Brownie Batter:

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup + 2 T granulated sugar
• 3-4 T water
• 2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup + 2 T all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Fudge:

• 2 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup sweetened condensed milk

Instructions:

1. For the cookie dough: In a medium bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Stir in vanilla and milk. Add the flour and salt and stir until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips, set aside.
2. Brownie batter: In a small bowl, stir together the oil, sugar, and water. Add in the cocoa, salt, flour and vanilla. Mixture should be pretty thick, but you can add 1 extra tablespoon of water if it's as thick as the cookie dough.
3. Fudge and assembly: Line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper and coat with non-stick spray. In a double boiler (or a large bowl placed over a pan of simmering water), melt together the chocolates and sweetened condensed milk. When the chocolate is melted spread about 1/3 to 1/2 of the mixture on the bottom of the prepared dish. Drop about 2/3 of the cookie dough in spoonfuls evenly over the the fudge layer. Do the same the brownie batter, using it all. Spoon the rest of the fudge mixture over the top, the spread it over the filling evenly using a rubber spatula. Make small balls out of the remaining cookie dough and press them into the top of the fudge. Allow to cool completely, then cut into 36 pieces. 

Hot Fudge Cheesecake Brownies

Hot Fudge Cheesecake Brownies

   
       People always ask me what my favorite thing to bake is. I never really have an answer, I like to bake everything. That being said, based on what I bake the most of (aside from cupcakes, seeing as that's my job), my favorite thing to bake must be brownies. They're definitely one of my favorite things to take pictures of, seeing how high I can stack them without the one on the bottom (still warm and melty) squishing out the sides. And you just can't beat a warm brownie with vanilla ice cream (not chocolate ice cream, you monster!).

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 1 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

For the cheesecake filling:

• 8 oz cream cheese, room temp.
• 1 jar (12-16 oz) hot fudge topping

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x13 baking pan with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a large microwave safe bowl, combine the chocolate chips (not the mini ones) and butter. Microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between each, until melted and smooth. Stir in the cocoa powder. Add the sugars, vanilla, and salt, and stir until combined well. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well between each. Gently mix in the flour.
3. Spread 2/3 of the batter in the pan and set aside.
4. In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese and hot fudge together until it's smooth and there are no lumps. Gently spread the mixture onto the bottom brownie layer.
5. Carefully spoon the rest of the brownie batter over the cheesecake layer, then gently spread it out. Sprinkle with the mini chocolate chips.
6. Bake for 30-38 minutes until the brownies are just barely set. They should still be a little jiggly in the center (like a cheesecake! :P)
7. Allow to cool completely before attempting to cut into them!

Recipe adapted from Crazy For Crust.