Saturday, April 28, 2012

Nutella Oatmeal Cookies


I was thinking how ingenious oatmeal cookies with nutella would be. It turns out I was not the first person to think of this combination, as endless recipes popped up on google. This recipe stood out to me and thought I'd give it a shot. They turned out pretty well, although next time I'll be more careful to when spacing them out on the cookie sheet, as they expand a lot on the oven. I also noticed another recipe that uses chopped hazelnuts in the cookie, I'd be very interested to try the added nut flavor next time.

Ingredients
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup Nutella
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups old fashioned oats
between 3/4 and 1 cup of chocolate chips


Blend together the butter and nutella until it is a fluffy consistency. 


Add both types of sugars, the baking powder, the baking soda, and the salt and mix well. 


Beat the vanilla and the eggs into the mixture.


Add the flour slowly while mixing (I added 1/2 cup at a time and mixed well before adding more). Next, stir in the oats and the chocolate chips. Drop tablespoon amounts of dough on a cookie sheet (I lined the cookie sheets with foil).  Bake for about 9 minutes at 375 degrees.


Enjoy!

Monday, April 23, 2012

Chocolate Cranberry Quinoa Bars

I randomly found this recipe and thought it sounded really interesting so I thought I'd give it a try. They remind me a little bit of oatmeal with brown sugar, cranberries and chocolate chips. I will definitely make them again.


Ingredients
1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa (cooled)
1 cup oat bran (you can sub for another kind of flour)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup ground flax
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup almond milk (you can sub with a regular or soy milk)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup dried cranberries (I used a little bit extra chocolate chips and cranberries)


Mix the quinoa, oat bran, brown sugar, flax and cinnamon in a large bowl.


In a small bowl, mix together the vanilla, milk and egg.


Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and mix well.


Stir in the chocolate chips and dried cranberries.


Pour batter in an 8 x 8 lightly greased pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.


Enjoy!