This past week I was craving a hearty oatmeal chocolate chunk cookie with just the perfect amount of sweetness, a bit of crispiness on the edges, and a thick warm soft center – there was only one problem…
I was feeling pretty lazy and after a week of failed baking innovations I didn’t want to scoop out 32 cookies, wait for them all to bake, and find out I had another less than perfect batch of baked goods on my hands (some weeks are just like that!). So, I took a chance, added a bit more liquid than one usually would to your average cookie dough mix and these beautiful, satisfying oat bars were born 🙂
Here it is folks, the perfect, hearty snack that is 100% vegan, gluten-free and filled with lots of delicious melt-y chocolate chunks – my favourite part of course. Why I love this bar? It contains no added flour and the sugar and oil is kept to a bare minimum meaning they are actually a healthy snack unlike a lot of the “oat” bars sold in groceries stores where the second ingredient is sugar and the third is oil. Did I mention there is also coconut in these babies? I love coconut and if you don’t give coconut a chance – The coconut adds a lovely texture and flavour that definitively would be lacking otherwise. These bars also take very well to freezing in dough or in baked form.
Did I mention the dough is super delicious – I recommend licking the spoon! The best part about vegan baking? Not worrying about consuming raw eggs when licking the spoon because we all do it anyways 😉 These bars are super easy to make – mix them up, let them cool off in the fridge, bake them and voila your oat bars are ready to be enjoyed for a mid-day energizing boost. Putting them in the fridge for at least 30 minutes is a crucial step – this ensures that they will get nice, puffy and soft when you bake them. The first time I made these I skipped this step and I ended up with a flat and crispy oat bar.. So leave them in the fridge, study, run an errand or go for a jog – your oat bars will be waiting for you to be baked when you’re back 🙂
The texture of these is between a soft, hearty oatmeal cookie and a dense cake – meaning they make the perfect filling snack or on the go breakfast! Especially, during exam times when you still want to maintain a healthy diet but often rely on sweets due to the late nights, stress and deadlines! Back in 1st year of university my girlfriends and I used to go out and buy one of the mini (haha , who am I kidding? The normal small sized) Ben and Jerry chocolate-chip cookie dough and brownie ice cream packs and eat them in the library as we fiercely memorized our courses and spit out essays… This might just be a healthier snack than my first year experience…and won’t leave you with a tummy ache the next day 🙂
Speaking of studying whenever it is time to study all I want to do is bake – procrastinate much? I sometimes find myself in the kitchen baking a cake when I really should be buried in my books. There is something so calming and wonderful about making a cake, cookies, or anything from scratch 😉 Wishing you a wonderful week of studying and working – you might just see another dessert recipe from me this week if my latest essay will ever finish itself !
The Oat Bar with Dark Chocolate Chunks
Author: Ceara
Serves: 12
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1½ cups roughly processed oat flour (2 cups oats)*
- ½ cup shredded unsweetened coconut
- ¼ cup cane sugar*
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
"Wet" Ingredients
- 1.5 tbsp chia seeds + 3 tbsp water (= Chia "egg")*
- 2 heaping tbsp unsweetened applesauce*
- 2 tbsp melted coconut oil*
- ¼ cup milk of choice (almond, coconut, cashew...)
- 1 tbsp maple syrup or honey
- splash vanilla
- 45 grams dark chocolate (broken up into little pieces; usually one chocolate square = 10 grams) (or ⅓ cup chocolate chips)
Directions
- Pre-heat oven to 350ºf or 180ºc.
- Put Chia seeds in a small size bowl with water and mix.
- Roughly process 2 cups of oats. Measure out 1½ cups of oats (you will have a bit left over).
- Put dry ingredients in a medium size bowl (with oat "flour"). Mix.
- Put wet ingredients in a large bowl (with chia egg - your chia seeds should have thickened up to a gooey egg like consistency). Whisk together until very smooth and creamy.
- Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix until moist dough forms.
- Fold in dark chocolate "chips".
- Put in fridge for 30 minutes of more.
- Spread into a lightly greased baking pan. Smooth out with a metal spoon.
- Bake for 15 -17 minutes (until the top of the bars are slightly golden brown.)
- Let sit for 10 minutes and Voila! Enjoy!
Notes
Nutritional Benefits: High in healthy fats and low in cholesterol 🙂
Nutrition Information
Calories: 1925 Fat: 97g Saturated fat: 64g Unsaturated fat: 25g Carbohydrates: 233g Sugar: 86g Sodium: 1277mg Fiber: 30g Protein: 38g Cholesterol: 8mg
How do you usually find yourself procrastinating when you really should be doing that important task that needs getting done ?
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I don’t see the recipe for the oat bars. I need to eat those!! They look so good!
I made these today, but swapped the chocolate for raisins & chopped nuts, and they’re delicious! So far every one of your recipes has been a total success! Thanks Ceara! 🙂
Thank you, Joanne! I am so happy you enjoyed the bars and are loving the recipes 🙂
These look delicious! Do you think I could replace the chia egg with a flax egg?
I haven’t tried these bars with a flax egg but I am sure it would work just fine! Let us know the results if you end up trying it! Happy Baking 🙂
I have to confess Ceara. You are a genius. You always create healthy alternatives to cakes and cookies without compromising on taste. These oat bars look fabulous. The best thing about them is that they are loaded with chocolate. pinned.
Wow! Thank you so much Hadia <3 Your kind words truly mean a lot to me! Hehe, anything loaded with chocolate is a plus for me 🙂 Thanks for the pin!!
This looks delicious! I’m always looking for breakfasts I can prepare ahead of time and just grab when I’m heading out in the morning.
Thanks Indira! These are some of my favourite bars to take on the go! 😀