Healthy Chocolate Cookie Dough Bars
Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bars {Vegan + Low Carb + High Protein}
Healthy Broccoli and Cheese Soup (Vegan/Low Fat/Paleo)
Low Carb Almond Joy GranolaI can’t believe it’s been a year!
Oh the New Year’s Eve jokes. I’m sure you haven’t heard enough, so here are a few more.
I’ll remember 2013 like it was yesterday!
Sometime resolutions go in one year and out the other.
Ah. 2014 is going to be a punderful year.
I’ll go into the whole resolution song and dance tomorrow, but I wanted to premise it with these ridiculously amazing candy stuffed cookie brownie bars (!) and a brief song and interpretive dance about moderation. (It will probably look a lot like the macarena, but it’s merely a coincidence. Just like the way spell check is trying to change macarena into macaroni.)
I’m all for self-improvement. Life is a work in progress. We’re all perfectly imperfect. Do something everyday that makes your heart sing.
It’s always best to have gratitude in our attitude, from appreciating the clean slate of a new year (or the tebula rasa, as my history teacher would want me to say) to the sweet quote your food blogger friend found on a Target greeting card.
Now look at that candy (I’ll get to my newfound love of Sun Cups in a bit) oozing out between layers of rich cookie and decadent brownie and tell me your heart’s not singing. At least a little bit.
I’m resolving to moderation. So go ahead and enjoy these indulgent life-changing bars. They’re much healthier than the traditional version, and you’ll enjoy them in moderation. Everything in moderation, even moderation itself. And the use of the word moderation. I’ll cap it at six. (Moderation! Okay I’m done now.)
Speaking of the m word, I’ve been having so much fun enjoying healthy quanities of my new favorite treat. Sun Cups are just like the peanut butter cups we all know and love, but they’re nut free thanks to sunflower seed butter!
They’re also free of unpronounceable ingredients and come in all kinds of fun flavors. (The caramel is my favorite! Yuuum.)
Is it blasphemous to say I like them better than the peanut butter original? I hope not, because it’s true.
Alright folks. Let’s get to it.
First we’ll make a buttery version of my favorite cookie dough, and feel free to toss in some extra chocolate. Wink wink.
Spread it into a big ol’ pan and cover it in candy. Ninja tip: make sure to sample from the edges. No one will know the difference.
Now make my almost nearly world-famous brownie batter in the same bowl as before. A) I don’t like cleaning dishes unnecessarily and B) is it such a crime if some cookie dough gets in the brownie batter? No. No it is not.
It just looks like regular brownie batter. Wait for it…
Yup. Oh my gosh. I brought these to a dinner party, and they were greeted by rave reviews.
Happy 2014 everyone! Here’s to our best year yet!
Yield: 36 bars
20 minPrep Time:
35 minCook Time:
55 minTotal Time:
Save RecipeIngredients
- 2 ¼ cup white whole wheat flour OR 2 3/4 cup almond meal plus 1/4 cup coconut flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar or erythritol
- 1/2 cup brown sugar OR 1/2 cup erythritol plus 1 teaspoon of molasses
- ¼ cup melted butter or Earth Balance
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 eggs or 1 Tablespoon egg replacer plus ¼ cup water
- ¼ cup unsweetened almond milk
- chocolate chips (optional)
- 3/4 cup chopped candy (You can use whatever you want to fit you taste/dietary preferences. I used Sun Cups.)
- 1 1/2 cup granulated erythritol or sugar
- 1/2 cup almond meal or white whole wheat flour
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 6 Tablespoons of egg replacer mixed with 1 1/2 cups of water OR 8 egg whites
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13 baking dish and set aside.
- Add the flour, salt, baking soda, cane sugar or erythritol, and the brown sugar or erythritol plus molasses into the bowl of stand mixer. Alternately, you can add the ingredients to a large mixing bowl and stir by hand. Nothing a little elbow grease can't solve. Using the paddle attachment, stir the dry ingredients on low speed. Add in the melted butter or Earth Balance, unsweetened almond milk, vanilla extract, and eggs or egg replacer and continue to stir until combined but not overworked. The dough will be a bit crumbly, but that's okay. Just use your hands to squish it all together. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand if using.
- Press the dough in the prepared baking sheet. Evenly sprinkle the 3/4 cup chopped candy and gently press into the cookie layer.
- In the same bowl as the cookie dough, combine the erythritol or sugar, almond meal, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Add in egg replacer mixture or egg whites, applesauce, and vanilla extract and stir until completely combined, which may take a few minutes. Make sure there are no dry pockets remaining. Pour the batter over the candy and GENTLY spread to the edges of the pan as to not move the candy.
- Bake in the oven at 350°F for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (besides the melted candy, of course). Let cool completely, at least two hours, before cutting into bars and serving. Seriously. The bars will fall apart if you don't let them cool. I say this with love. Devour.
Notes
Nutritional information calculated with white whole wheat flour, erythritol, egg replacer, and Sun Cups.
Nutrition
A lucky Foodie Fiasco reader will win some fabulous Sun Cups swag. What a great way to ring in the new year!
To enter:
1. Leave a comment talking about:
- how you’d use Sun Cups. In a recipe? Out of the package? (I love them all ways!)
OR
- your New Year’s plans. Are you a resolution maker?
For additional entries (Please leave a comment for each thing you do):
1. Like Foodie Fiasco on Facebook
2. Like NuNaturals on Facebook
3. Follow @foodiefiasco Twitter
4. Follow @suncups on Twitter.
5. Follow @foodiefiasco on Pinterest and pin one of my recipes
6. Subscribe to the Foodie Fiasco Newsletter (right sidebar of this page)
This giveaway will be open until January 11.
Thank you so very much for participating my friends, and good luck! Happy New Year!
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