"GRANOLA" BARS

Finally, a recipe for granola bars not filled with butter or oil. Use any combination of chocolate chips, dried fruit, coconut, pecans, almond slices, or any other tidbits you'd like in a granola bar.

BASIC RECIPE

3 cups quick-cooking oats (I used some slow-cooking oats)
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup flaked coconut (I skipped this, of course)
1 cup sliced almonds (I used chopped roasted almonds and chopped roasted peanuts)
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries (I used chopped up apricots)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, sweetened condensed milk, butter, coconut, almonds, chocolate chips and cranberries with your hands until well blended. Press flat into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, depending on how crunchy you want them. Lightly browned just around the edges will give you moist, chewy bars. Let cool for 5 minutes, cut into squares then let cool completely before serving.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yummy, healthy, and satisfyingly-chocolately cookies, adapted from this post on the food blog 101Cookbooks.

5 ounces good-quality semi-sweet chocolate bar
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour (all-purpose is a fine substitute)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup walnuts, very, very finely chopped (by hand)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup dark brown sugar (light is fine too)
1/4 cup unsweetened, natural applesauce
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup large-grain sugar (fex: turbinado)

Preheat your oven to 350F degrees, racks in top and bottom third. Line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper.

Finely chop the chocolate bar into 1/8-inch pieces, more like shavings really. Try to avoid big lumps and chunks, which make flattening out the cookie dough later more difficult.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, oats, walnuts, and shaved chocolate. Set aside.

Using a mixer beat the butter until fluffy. Beat in the sugar and mix until it is also light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Beat in the applesauce, then the egg, mixing until both are well incorporated, scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Beat in the vanilla. Add the flour mix and stir by hand until the ingredients barely come together into a uniform dough.

Scoop out the dough in teaspoons and roll into a ball shape. Place two inches apart on your prepared baking sheets. Gently flatten each dough ball into a thin, round patty with two fingers and then sprinkle the top of each cookie with a pinch of large-grain sugar. Bake for 7-10 minutes or until cookies are golden and fragrant. Remove from oven, and cool on a wire rack.

Perfect Oatmeal Chocolate-Chip Cookies

These are really easy, yummy, and fool proof! Adapted from this post from the blog Food Loves Writing.

1/2 cup of margarine/butter/oil (or some combination - I used half butter and half oil, Food Loves Writing recommends margarine)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 t vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 c old fashioned oats (I used quick oats and it turned out fine!)
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients except the oatmeal and chocolate chips. After well-mixed, add the oatmeal and stir together. Then add the chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto greased or Silpat cookie sheets. Bake for ~12 minutes. Cool and eat!

Ginger Chocolate-Chip Biscotti

I made this recipe for the big meeting of the parents (Boehm/Luberoff + Upton/Cadwell). Great flavors and a good crunch, not to mention very low fat.

Yield: 3 dozen

1 t vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 egg white
2 c all-purpose flour
1 c sugar
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/4 t ground cloves
3/4 c semisweet chocolate minichips
2-3 T chopped crystallized ginger

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Combine vanilla, eggs, and egg white in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine the flour and next 6 ingredients (flour through cloves) in a medium bowl. Add flour mixture, chocolate minichips, and crystallized ginger to egg mixture; stir mixture until well-blended.
3. Divide dough in half, and turn out onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Shape each portion of dough into a 12-inch-long roll; flatten to 1/2-inch thickness. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove rolls from baking sheet; cool rolls for 10 minutes on a wire rack.
4. Cut each roll diagonally into 18 (1/2-inch) slices. Place slices, cut sides down, on baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes. Turn cookies over; bake an additional 10 minutes (cookies will be slightly soft in center but will harden as they cool). Remove from baking sheet; cool completely on wire racks.

Adapted from a Cooking Light magazine.

Farmgirl's Mexican Monkey Cake

This yummy cake comes from one of my favorite food blogs: www.foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com.

Makes One 8-Inch Square Cake

1-1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
2/3 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 cup (1 stick/4 ounces) butter, softened (or 1/2 cup trans-fat free margarine, such as Earth Balance)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1-1/4 cups mashed, very ripe bananas (they cannot be too ripe)
2 Tablespoons yogurt or sour cream
1 Tablespoon milk
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees (325 if using a glass pan such as Pyrex). Grease an 8"x8"x2" baking pan. In a small bowl, combine chocolate chips, brown sugar, walnuts (if desired), and cinnamon; set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar, and egg with an electric mixer until fluffy (I use a hand held mixer). Add bananas, yogurt, and milk, and mix well. On low speed, beat in flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt just until blended.

Spread slightly more than half of the batter in the pan. Sprinkle with half of the cinnamon streusel. Carefully spread the remaining batter over the streusel and then top with the rest of the streusel. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 40 to 50 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

This cake tastes even better the next day, and it freezes beautifully. You can freeze the cake whole or cut it into pieces, wrap them tightly in plastic, and place them in a zipper freezer bag. Defrost at room temperature--or in the microwave.