Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars

A New Version Of An Old Favorite

I love to experiment with recipes to come up with new twists. This one is just that. I have an Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Biscotti recipe that I make every holiday that everyone loves. So why change it, you ask? Because I can!

I love biscotti, but sometimes I enjoy a nice soft and chewy cookie as well. This is what I was trying to accomplish with this cookie. I think I succeeded. Everyone loved them. Another thing I was trying to achieve was to reduce the amount of butter and sugar in the original recipe. I did this by substituting half the butter with 1/4 cup of canola oil and cutting back just a little on the white sugar. You would never know I messed with them. They came out as tasty as ever. I also came up with a few different versions of this recipe using cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger cranberries, white chocolate and apricots. But that's a whole other post!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 large eggs
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups quick oatmeal (or old fashioned)
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cups chopped toasted walnuts - optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together butter, oil, sugars, vanilla, cinnamon and eggs. Combine flour, salt and baking powder and mix into butter mixture. Mix in oats, chips and nuts.

Onto a parchment lined baking sheet, spoon out mixture to form 4 logs the length of the sheet, 2 logs per baking sheet*. Leave enough space in between each log, since they will spread while cooking.

Bake for about 2o-22 minutes, so that when you touch the tops they are firm and lightly brown. Remove from the oven and cool.

Slice logs diagonally and decorate. Once the decorations are dry, store in an airtight container.

To decorate: Just melt some semi-sweet chocolate chips and some white chocolate chips in the microwave, separately. Dip a spoon in the melted chocolate and drizzle over the cookie tops. I actually use squeeze containers because it makes it so easy to drizzle. While the chocolate is still wet, shake on some candy sprinkles.

* If you want to make smaller cookies, shape into 6 logs, placing 3 logs per sheet and bake for around 12-15 minutes.

Do You Know The Muffin Man?

I Think He Retired... So I Made My Own!

A few weeks ago, I was on The Cookbook Junkies blog and she had made the most delicious looking orange berry muffins. She got the recipe from Dorie (I can't remember her blog name) but I've been there before and enjoyed it.

Anyway, I decided to make a version of that recipe and the low-fat blueberry muffin recipe from America's Test Kitchen that I usually make. Only this time I used 5 tablespoons of virgin coconut oil instead of 4 tablespoons of butter and I added more blueberries. The turned out really good.

Orange Blueberry Muffins

1 1/2 cup blueberries*, washed and dried
2 cups plus 1 Tbl. all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 egg whites (from large eggs)
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 Tbls. canola oil
5 Tbls. virgin coconut oil, melted and cooled
3/4 cup nonfat buttermilk
Grated zest and juice of 1 small to medium orange
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

*Double wrap the blueberries in freezer bags and freeze for at least an hour or overnight, as frozen ones won't all sink in the batter. Don't take them out until the batter is made and oven is preheated.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.

Whisk 2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl.

In a medium bowl, run the sugar and orange zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and the fragrance of orange is strong. Whisk egg whites and brown sugar together until thoroughly combined. Gradually whisk in melted coconut oil and canola oil, then buttermilk, orange juice and vanilla until well blended.

Fold into dry mixture with rubber spatula (a few streaks of flour should remain).
Remove blueberries from freezer and toss with remaining tablespoon flour in small bowl. Gently fold blueberries into batter, being careful not to break berries.
Distribute batter in muffin tin and bake until light golden brown and toothpick or skewer inserted into center of muffin comes out clean, 25 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking.

Grapenut Chocolate Chunk Cranberry Biscotti

Yes Grapenuts!

Now that I got your attention, don't turn your nose up at the idea. It's a great way to eat your whole grains and satisfy your sweet tooth at the same time. It is a lighter recipe in terms of fat and lower sugar.

I love to recreate recipes by adding healthy ingredients and tweaking the not so good for you additions. The idea came to me because I had an open box of Grapenuts that I wasn't eating and I didn't not want to waste them.

I have a favorite recipe for Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Biscotti, and somehow I thought to swap out the oatmeal for the grapenuts and alter a few more things. The result was supurb. These cookies are so unique, the grapenuts keep their texture and you can really taste that distinctive grapenut flavor.

Grapenut Chocolate Chunk Cranberry Biscotti
A healthy and delicious change of pace

3/4 cup butter or margarine (I used 1/4 cup butter and 1/2 cup Smart Balance Spread)
1/2 cup brown sugar, Packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar (I used turbanado sugar)
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 egg whites
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 1/2 cups grapenuts
1 cup chocolate chunks
3/4 cup walnuts, chopped and toasted
Dash of cinnamon, nutmeg and salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together butter, sugars, vanilla and eggs. Fold mixture in with flour and baking powder. Mix in grapenuts, chocolate chunks and walnuts.

Spoon dough onto 2 parchment lined baking sheets to form logs the length of the cookie sheet and about 2-3 inches wide. Shape gently with floured hands until the log is smooth.

Bake for about 22-24 minutes, until light golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes.

Slice logs diagonally and place on sides. Put biscotti back in oven and bake for another 5-10 minutes. Cool and store in an airtight container or wrap thoroughly and freeze for up to 4-5 months.