Healthier Two-Toned Cookie Brownie Bars

Cookie + brownie? Yes, all the way. I mean, how could you not want this?

Ever since I was young, I was obsessed with all things that were essentially a layer of cookie + a layer of brownie (aka. slutty brownies), so recently I got thinking - how could I make something similar out of whole(r) food ingredients?

So I turned to my favourite go-to ingredients and whipped up this delicious batch of cookie dough come brownie come banana bread. Basically the epitome of delicious. It has all the elements - crunchy, chewy, soft, nutty, chocolatey and not too sweet at all! I've recently been all into sweet treats that aren't overly sugary because as I said, I've been really enjoying savoury foods a lot lately, but that doesn't mean the sweet tooth doesn't strike. And when it does, I don't need something over-the-top sweet to curb those cravings.

The cookie layer is like a softer, fluffier blondie with a tinge of banana bread feel while the brownie "blobs", as I like to call them, are reminiscent of a baked version of a chewy date-based brownie. For me, this combination is everything I could dream of.

The great thing about these is that they hit the spot anytime you want something sweet, yet are healthy enough for breakfast, light enough for an afternoon snack and decadent enough for dessert. You'd better be convinced by this point!

Don't let the long-looking ingredient or instruction list dissuade you. These are actually super easy to throw together (mostly all down in a food processor/blender) and taste absolutely incredible!

Ingredients

For the cookie layer:

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup coconut flakes

1/2 cup blanched almonds

2 tbsp plain flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1 egg

1/3 cup honey

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 banana, mashed

1/3 cup dark chocolate chips

For the brownie "blobs"

1/4 cup cocoa or cacao powder
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

8 pitted medjool dates - soak them in hot water for 10 minutes if they are quite dry

1/4 cup almond flour

2 eggs

3 tbsp coconut oil

1/3 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt

Instructions
For the blondie layer:

In a food processor or high-speed blender, pulse the oats, coconut flakes and almonds until they turn into a coarse flour. Pour the mixture into a medium-sized bowl and stir in the plain flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.

In a separate, smaller bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, egg, mashed banana, vanilla and honey. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until just combined.

Fold in the chocolate chips.

For the brownie "blobs":

In the same food processor or blender (no need to wash out!), blend together all the ingredients until a mostly smooth (thick!) paste-y mixture forms, remembering to drain the dates first if you had previously soaked them.

Putting it together:

Preheat the oven to 170°C and line a standard square baking dish with parchment paper. 

Pour in the blondie layer. Spoon big dollops of the date brownie layer across the blondie layer, making sure to leave space between the dollops so the blondie layer shows through.

Place the dish in the oven for 25 or until a toothpick inserted in the blondie layer comes out clean. It should be a gorgeous golden brown on top, too!

Remove from the oven and cool in the dish for 15 minutes, then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

It is essential that you wait until it is completely cool to get nice squares, else it may crumble. That's not to say digging in immediately is not allowed! Who needs perfect squares anyway?

Grab your favourite drink alongside for sipping and/or dunking and as always, enjoy!

A Sweet Potato Kale Salad You Never Knew You Needed

So, I told you you'd be seeing more savoury recipes here on the blog. And I'm kicking it off with a reeeally good one. Like so good, even I didn't know how delicious it was going to be. Full credit to my mom for being the brains behind this incredible creation.

Definitely aware of my sweet potato obsession, she came back one day from lunch at her friend's place and shared that she had eaten a "delicious sweet potato and kale salad with all sorts of crunchy nuts, maybe some feta, a sprinkling of pomegranate and a sesame soy dressing". 

The minute her words entered my ears, I knew I had to make something with similar ingredients. My thoughts at the time: Sweet potatoes? LOVE. Kale? Love too but haven't bought or eaten in forever. Nuts in salad? Big fat yes. Feta? Uhm, hundred percent yes. The pomegranate and dressing were elements I was going to play around with, as wasn't really feeling them.

And then this salad was born. It feels almost silly calling it a salad because it is so far removed from the bowls of lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes that we still often picture in our heads when someone says "salad". This one is hearty, delicious, nutritious and full of texture, healthy fats, greens & carbs. It's sweet and salty, creamy and crunchy, naughty yet nice. It's just full of all the good stuff. I replaced the pomegranate with naturally dried cranberries and the soy sesame dressing with a lemony honey simple dressing and I could not have imagined this any other way. It turned out im-pec-ca-ble.

The sweet potato lends a delicious starchiness, the kale adds a boost of greens and earthiness, the feta gives just the right amount of creaminess and saltiness, the nuts have the perfect crunchiness and the cranberries and dressing just rack up the deliciousness. This salad screams yumminess.

With spring officially having arrived - it has here in London, at least - this salad will be a new favourite addition to your lunch rota. As the weather gets warmer and sunnier, I love eating colder lunches (that often end up being much more colourful too!). 

Another great thing about this salad is it's great made ahead because kale, unlike many other greens, doesn't get soggy in a matter of hours and in fact, almost gets better the longer it sits. In other words, it's a great way to get you greens in daily by making a larger batch on Sunday or the beginning of the week. It would also make a fabulous packed lunch for school or work. 

So.... what are you waiting for?

Ingredients

For two lunch servings (or four side portions)

2-3 large sweet potatoes 

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 1/2 cups kale, chopped quite finely

1/2 lemon

1 tsp honey

2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted

2 tbsp walnuts, toasted and chopped

1 tsp sesame seeds, toasted

1 tbsp dried cranberries

1/4 feta, crumbled

spring onion, chopped, for garnish

olive oil, for roasting sweet potatoes and for dressing

salt, to taste

pepper, to taste

Instructions

Start by peeling and chopping the sweet potatoes into chunks. Toss them with some olive oil, paprika, cumin, salt, pepper and paprika. Bake in a preheated oven at 170°C for 25-35 minutes, or until tender and cooked through. Set aside to cool. 

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, add the chopped kale, juice from the lemon and 1 tsp of olive oil. Use your (clean!) hands to really massage the kale until it starts to wilt and tenderise. Once the kale has been massaged to your satisfaction, stir in the honey.

Then, add the cooled sweet potato chunks, pine nuts, sesame, walnuts and cranberries and toss together. Add a touch of salt to taste.

Pour into two bowls and top with chopped spring onion and the crumbled feta.

Snap a quick pic, post on Instagram, tag #strawberrychocolateconcoction and ENJOY! 

Chocolate Nut Oat Cookie Bars (and some real talk)

Soooo.... I'm back *insert monkey covering face in shame emoji here*

That's right. After another crazy, hectic yet absolutely wonderful (and probably the best to date) term, I'm back to baking and blogging in full swing. This term did actually feature maaaany good eats and treats, but more memories than pictures were captured, and I have absolutely no shame in admitting so.
Actually, I want to get real here. It's absolutely the same with this blog. I love it and it definitely holds an extremely special place in my life and heart, but I don't force it. I don't set calendar reminders to share posts or make things JUST to blog them. I live a real life that extends far beyond my food and this blog, and I only hope it continues this way. Sure, I could be more organized and measured with my posts, but for me, I am not at this stage. To all my readers and followers, I can see how it may seem unfair or like I'm not fully invested in this, but it's actually quite the opposite: it's because I so very much am that I don't want to share fake or forced content. On that note, I've actually been enjoying my savoury food a lot more now (don't worry, sweet tooth still going strong!), so do be prepared to see more savoury recipes on here from now on. Okay, I think that's it for the day - let's get back to these insanely moreish cookie oat bars. I'm actually off to India tomorrow and if you've read this post, you'll know I love to bake for my grandparents (and they love it too!!). FYI, I'm going to visit them in India. And chocolate and nuts? Definitely their favourite combo! I wanted to whip up something transportable, long-lasting, healthy(ish) and of course, delicious. And that's how these came about. They're full of oats, nuts, dark chocolate and other goodness. They're part cookie, part bar, part blondie. They're whole good, though!

They are insanely easy to put together, require no fancy steps or ingredients and are downright drool-worthy. There's a simple "trick" to getting them right - start by baking them as a whole brownie/blondie style item, then slice into squares, separate them and bake again. This gives them that crusty cookie like edge while keeping the center of each square ever-so-slightly-moist so it doesn't completely dry out or crumble apart.

Ingredients
Makes 15 medium square bars
1/2 cup whole rolled oats
1 cup porridge (quick-cooking) oats
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oat flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup unrefined sugar
3 tbsp soft dark brown sugar
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup whole milk
1 1/2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 large egg, room temperature

Instructions
Preheat your oven to 170°C and line a 13x9" rectangular tray with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together the dry ingredients from the rolled oats all the way down to the nuts. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla, coconut oil and egg. 

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until just combined. The mixture should be thick and gloopy. If it, however, seems too dry add a tablespoon to two more of milk until it comes together.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes. 

Remove from the oven, let them cool for not more than 5 minutes. Then, carefully, slice into squares. 

Move the squares from the pan to a large cookie sheet (they may still be pretty hot, so again, be careful!) lined with parchment paper and bake for an additional 10-12 minutes or until nicely golden brown and crusty.

Let them cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Eat a square or two immediately with a glass of milk, and place the rest in an airtight container for up to two weeks. I couldn't resist so ate a couple before reluctantly putting them away... They were made for the grandparents, after all!

Enjoy!

Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cookies, cookies, cookies. Anyone else been feeling the cookies lately? Well, I don't know about you, but I sure have. I've pretty much professed my love for all things cookies several times by now. They're portable, dunkable, long-lasting (not that they ever last long) and eat-two-able (small = can eat more, right? And I know you like the new word choice!).

Aside: I'm back in Cambridge for my final Lent Term and so many feels right now. These past three and a bit years have just flown by. I mean it. I'll treasure these years forever and am so very grateful to be here. I'm going to take my final six months by storm. Work hard, play hard is my motto. There's obviously lots of tough academic work to be done (and it will be done), but I want to make sure I make the most of the city and this incredible place. 

Okay seriously, who doesn't love a good cookie? Cookies keep me sane. Especially when I'm cracking through a research paper or problem set.

These are a modified version of my almond-y oat chocolate chip cookies. The main difference is that these are a blend of oat flour and regular flour, resulting in a lighter, softer cookie. The other ones are crunchy and almost reminiscent of biscotti. It really depends on what you're looking for.

These were made on request of the sister, who wanted a softer cookie, and these definitely were just that. Perfectly crisp exterior but crumbly and soft on the inside. Yes, it is possible to be both soft(ish) and crumbly at the same time. Trust me. 

Actually, as far as chocolate chip cookies go, these are just about as classic as you'll find on my blog. There's no banana, walnuts, almond, coconut or peanut butter. Just chocolate chips. The oat flour lends a wonderful texture and ups the health. I am a coconut oil fiend, so obviously, coconut oil features instead of butter. There's just the right amount of sugar to make these taste like your favorite treat.

Real talk for a minute. No, I don't think coconut oil has miracle superpowers or is any healthier than grass-fed butter, olive oil, avocado oil or the like. What I do know is I have grown up with it, it works for me and I personally love the subtle sweet coconut aroma. So if something else is your jam, please, I urge you to go with what works for you.

This cookies are delicious, easy and a real crowd-pleaser. Double, triple or quadruple the recipe for a bigger batch of cookies.

Ingredients
Makes 12 cookies
1 cup oat flour*
3/4 cup plain flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
5 tbsp unrefined sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp coconut oil, melted**
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips

*Don't bother buying this in store (generally more expensive!). Just take regular rolled oats and whizz them in a blender or food processor until you get a rough flour. There's no need to aim for a perfectly fine powder here. Store any remaining ground oat flour in an airtight jar for future use. 

**I've tried doing 2 tbsp natural almond butter and 2 tbsp coconut and this works wonderfully too. It will results in an ever-so-slightly fudgier cookie. But truly just ever-so-slightly.

Instructions
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the oat flour, plain flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, egg, sugar and vanilla.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Set the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.

Heat the oven to 175°C. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Scoop the dough into equal sized balls and flatten slightly before placing them on the lined cookie sheet. Keep a bit of space between cookies to allow for spreading. 

Bake for 12 minutes or until slightly golden brown on the inside and just firm to touch. For a crispier cookie, bake for 15 minutes. For a more soft-bake texture, bake for 9-10 minutes.

Let the cookies cool on the sheet for five minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool complete.

Best eaten when just baked so the chocolate chips and melty and perfect. But anytime will be scrumptious! 

Enjoy!