THE LOVELY CRAZY

I have been trying to find ways to use up some of my surplus of raisins. (I have like 5 lbs…don’t ask.) That is basically the reason why I made these cookie bars which I think is a good enough reason. Well that plus it never hurst to have cookies on hand, right?

Oatmeal raisin is a classic and in my mind, pretty damn classy, cookie combo. Only smart sophisticated people like oatmeal raisin cookies. Haha! But really, oatmeal and raisins are delicious and adding coconut and a little chocolate (if you want), you get a stellar flavor combination. But also smart and sophisticated.

Oh and I made these cookie bars as bars because I didn't want to deal with scooping and watching batches of cookies. And I think they are better for it.

So if you have raisins, you are pretty much all the way there to these cookie bars. If you don’t have raisins, well you can hit me up. I have a shit ton!

Now to the cookie bars!

The stuff. Flour, oats, salt, cinnamon, baking powder, coconut oil, shredded coconut, raisins, a flax egg, vanilla, brown sugar, and some chocolate chips.

To start just dump the soft coconut oil, brown sugar, vanilla, and flax egg into a big bowl. Mix until completely incorporated.

Next add all the dry in and stir until evenly mixed.

Lastly, add in the fixings! Coconut, raisins, and chocolate chips. Stir until combined.

Dump the dough into a parchment lined baking pan. Pat dough down evenly (It helps to wet your fingers so the dough doesn’t stick) then pop the pan into the preheated oven to bake.

Pull from the oven when it’s all golden brown and cookie looking like. About 30 minutes. And when you pull it out, just let it sit in pan on a cooling rack for15ish or so minutes to cool and then you lift it out.

Now you cut them up and eat them up!

Smart and sophisticated. 😉

-C

Coconut Oatmeal Raisin Bars

makes 16 squares

1 1/4 cup flour
2 cup old fashion oats
2/3 cup warm coconut oil
3/4 cups packed brown sugar
1 Flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flax seed plus 4 tablespoon warm water)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup rasinsin
1/2 cup coconut flakes
1/4 cip mimi chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350

Place the warm coconut oil into a big bowl along with the brown sugar, flax egg, and vanilla. Mix until completely combined. Add in the flour, oats, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder and mix until completely incorporated. Add in the raisins (make sure they are not all sticking together), coconut, and chocolate chips if using and mix until incorporated.

Line a 9x9 baking pan with parchment. Cut it so the ends stuck out a bit so you can grab them after. Dump the cookie dough into pan then evenly spread and press it down. Pop pan Ito oven and bake for 28-30 minutes or until golden brown, slightly darker around edges, and a tester poked into middle comes out clean.

Remove from oven and place on a rack to cool, still in pan, for 15ish minutes. Once the cookies have firmed up a bit, grab ends or parchment and remove fro pan. Cut into 16 squares. Eat.

Store cookies in a airtight container for about a week at room temperature. If you haven’t eaten them all, freeze them.

A couple of nights ago we had a little impromptu birthday dinner at my sisters house for the mr. And what did he want to do for dinner, his very own special birthday dinner? Well what he wanted was to cook, with absolutely no help from me. So cook he did. And what did he make? He made grilled cheese sandwiches, on white bread and with bright orange cheddar cheese along with some classic canned Campell's tomato soup. I was not even allowed to make a salad (but he was being so nice when permitting me to make my own food)

But come on dude, it's your birthday dinner. I was determined to make something so I said I was going to make a dessert. Nothing fancy and no cake (he is not a big cake guy), just something fast and easy. So I went with brownies of the sweet potato chocolate chip kind. Yeah I know what you are thinking.. why am I not sharing those brownies? I'll tell you why. They came out like shit. Like really gross, almost jello like and just not anything anyone would ever want to eat. Just shit. OH I was pissed. I mean, the one thing I got to do I screwed up. And there was no fixing them (I tried) So bum, there were no sweet dessert brownies ( but there was ice cream.. thanks Shannon) And worst of all, wasted food. Bah, I hate wasting food! ( I would have fed them to the dog but they were chocolate.... I miss having chickens that eat anything)

Side note here. Watching a lifetime original Christmas movie at the moment (don't judge me) and it has Harriet and Carl Winslow in it. Talk about a throw back.. and now all I can think about is Urkel and his catch phrase"did I do that?" Anyways....

After the brownie disaster I really needed to make something that didn't suck. I was going to go the brownie route again but unfortunately I used up all of my chocolate and cocoa for the shit batch before, so I went the blonde route. Blondies. close to a cookie, but not quite. A vanilla version of a chewy chocolate brownie. Chock full of super nutty macadamia nuts and big chunks of chocolate. Nothing missing, the perfect texture and sweetness. All and more of a better dessert then the night before. Perfection is what I call them and the mr is much happy with his birthday treat (with the added scoop of strawberry ice cream of course)

The stuff. A little bit of white whole wheat flour, some brown sugar, melted earth balance, a couple chia eggs,salt, a pinch of baking powder and some vanilla. And the mix in that make these blondies so great, the macadamia nuts and chocolate chunks.

It's all super simple. The sugar, chia eggs, earth balance ans vanilla go into a bowl and get mix together until smooth. Then the salt gets sprinkled on along with the baking powder and lastly the flour on top.

And them mix it together unit its all incorporated... and don't over mix!

Chop the macadamia nuts and chocalate chunks in somewhat smaller pieces...

And fold them into the batter.

And grab yourself a square pan, line it with foil or parchment paper, grease it a little, then dump in the batter and evenly pat in down into the pan.

Stick into the oven to bake.

And after 35-40 minutes of the amazing smells coming from your oven, the blondies should be done. Slightly browned, lookng like a cross between a cookie and a brownie, and raw in the middle, but only just.

Let the blondies cool for a few in the baking sheet, but then remove by the foil and cut into squares.

Keep them flat or stack them high. A dessert of the most fantastic kind.

My blonde redemption.

And lastly... HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOVE!

-C

macadamia nut chocolate chunk Blondies

makes a 9x9 pan of goodness

-1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup melted earth balance
2 tablespoons ground chia seeds plus 6 tablespoons warm water
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup roughly chopped macadamia nuts
3/4 cup of mini chocolate chunks (or chips)

Preheat oven to 350

Grab a bowl and cream together the earth balance and the sugar. Add in the chia eggs, the vanilla,salt, and baking powder and mix . Then add in the flour then mix that until just incorporated with the wet. And lastly, fold in the chopped nuts and chocolate chunks

Dump batter into a foil/ parchment paper lined and slightly greased 9 inch square baking pan and pat down with the spoon or your hand (hand is the way to go) and tick into the oven. Bake for 40 minutes or so until the top is starting to brown almost like a cookie but nice and all brownie like. Check for doneness with a toothpick in middle and if it comes out kinda clean, you can pop them out right there. (Don't over cook.. and if you like a little under baked, do it up, just take them out a few minutes earlier)

Let cool in the pan and pop them out by the liner. Cut into squares (size to be determined by you) Eat one, maybe two, and share the rest (or not).