chunky peanut butter oatmeal dark chocolate cookies

I've been feeling really crappy about my blog lately. I haven't been posting as much as I used to and my stats are nearly a third {A THIRRRRRRRRD!} of what they were at one point. It's kind of discouraging to see how much work I put into each post being rewarded with that. I've also been getting sick of people's comments on my healthy eating/exercising. I know that this is for me, not anyone else and it shouldn't matter what anyone else thinks. It doesn't. But it's disheartening to hear the things people say sometimes. When I told my mom about my blog stats deteriorating, she said "I think I know why." referring to my healthy recipes. If that's the case, c'est la vie. Because healthy eating is my passion and I want to share it with anyone and everyone, unless of course, they don't care about it. Then by all means, go on eating your crap-laden cookies and cakes and let me know how you feel a few years from now. 

We went on a little road trip for a few days and you better believe I was that weirdo chick wearing hippie pants and TOMS, walking around with bananas and homemade energy bites in her bag. I don't care what people think if I have salads for every meal while we're eating out. I don't care if they judge because I drink fresh green juice. I don't care if they think I'm a freak for losing my mind over the sale they had on super cute bowls. {"My oats will look SO cute in there." -my mind.} Or if they rip on my cookies being free of eggs, butter, sugar, and flour. Trust me, I'll hear no end from my brothers. "WHY DON'T YOU JUST MAKE NOOOOOORMAL COOKIES?!" "Because I don't want you to clog your arteries and eat yourself to your death. PLUS. Don't you want to live to be 230?" That's why. 

But no matter what the heck you do, someone will always judge you for some reason. Healthy eating and healthy living isn't about other people. It's about doing something for YOU. So do it and be done with what people think. Eat your salads and enjoy your vegan, soy-free, nut-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, grain-free, sugar-free cookies. Dance with jubilee when you find a really great sale on bowls or find huge bags of flax seeds for cheap. Celebrate with a chocolate protein shake when you survive leg day. Do good for your body and be happy. THE END. 

Ok, rant over. Time for cookies.

I'm experiencing with vegan baking. DISCLOSURE: I'm not going vegan. Mostly because my parents seem like they would excommunicate me to an island or something. But I just think it's fun to mess around in the kitchen and come up with recipes that are suitable to different dietary needs. And I like to see how much nutrition I can pack into a thing before it starts tasting like twigs and grass. These cookies don't taste like twigs and grass, I can very much assure you. They're really simple and CHUNKY. I love chunky cookies. Forget those little thin ones. I like something you can really sink your teeth into. TA DA. I present to you… Chunky peanut butter oatmeal dark chocolate cookies. Vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, processed sugar-free, and 100% fantabulous. 

chunky peanut butter oatmeal dark chocolate cookies {vegan, DF, GF}

1 3/4 c. oat flour
1/3 c. rolled oats
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 tbsp. melted coconut oil
1/4 c. creamy peanut butter
3 tbsp. pure maple syrup
2 tbsp. dairy-free milk
1/4 c. dark chocolate chunks {I used 85%}

Preheat oven to 350ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large combine all ingredients and only about half of the chocolate chunks. Roll dough onto balls {it should make about 12} and press remaining chocolate chunks into the tops of the cookies, smushing down slightly. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool on a wire rack before transferring to an airtight container.

chewy molasses cookies with orange sugar

WARNING: There's a lot of pictures of cookies for your eyeballs contained in this post. You may drool. You may cry. You may eat your computer screen. Or at least try. It's the thought that counts, ya know? If you follow me on instagram, maybe you've been hating my stinking guts Little Rascals-style the last few days because of the peeks I posted. Maybe saliva has been forming a steady stream out the side of your mouth since you saw those pictures. I duuuuuuunno. Proceed with caution. And yah, that's all. 

I love when things work. Who doesn't though? I'm trying to get back on the totally gluten, dairy, and refined sugar-free train again because I seriously can't eat cookies or cake and fully enjoy it because I know my skin will throw a fit the next morning. What kind of a world is it when you can't eat cake and enjoy it? NOT A GOOD ONE, MY FRIENDS. Not a good one. 

I know Christmastime is kind of a weird time to decide to do this again, but I'm determined and sick of zits. Honestly, I just want to kill them all. OXY POWER!!! ANYways. My family is going all out with buckeyes and frosted sugar cookies and I'm just sitting in the corner eating energy bites. It's horrible. So I decided to attempt to healthify a few Christmas-y recipes. First up, MOLASSES COOKIES. 

We've had this container of blackstrap molasses chilling out in the back of our baking cupboard for it seems like, since the beginning of time. We bought it, my mom probably made gingerbread once upon a time, and then that was the last we saw of it. It's like that jar has been staring at me the last few weeks every time I open up the cupboard to grab a handful of nuts {or chocolate.}, begging to be used. Well little 'ol pal, you are destined for greatness. 

I can't even to begin to explain to you these cookies and how happy I am with them. By some act of God, they're gluten-free, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free other than the coating. It's ridonk-itonk. For one, they're freaking gorgeous! Hello little orange sparkles, I want to cover my body in you. THEN they're really awesome and chewy and sweet and taste like a legit molasses cookie that's typically loaded with all sorts of crap. 

The only complaint I have {and my family ever-so lovingly pointed out} is that the texture is just a little off. But that's because of gluten-free flour and there's not really much you can do about that slightly gritty texture of brown rice flour. If you're able to find some finer gluten-free flour, use it and you are seriously gonna DIE of heavenliness when you bite into these cookies. The orange sugar forms a crispy little coating, the cookie is chewy on the outside, and soft in the middle. By far the best healthy cookie recipe I've made in a long time. I almost feel guilty calling them healthy because, feed them to any human being, and they'll never know! Be a sneak, it's ok. 

{p.s. if you have any healthy-ish recipes for Christmas cookies you think I should come up with a recipe for/try, please share!}

chewy molasses cookies with orange sugar

3/4 c. brown rice flour

1/2 c. all-purpose gluten free flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

2 tbsp. molasses

1/4 c. pure maple syrup

1 large egg

1 tbsp. melted coconut oil

orange sugar: 

3 tbsp. sugar

zest of one orange

In a large bowl, combine flours, baking powder and baking soda, and spices. Add the wet ingredients and mix until evenly combined. Cover dough and refrigerate for 2+ hours. Once chilled, roll dough into balls {it should make about 12}. If you're using the orange sugar, add the sugar and orange zest to a small bowl and pinch with your finger tips until it's evenly incorporated. Roll the balls in the sugar and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350ºF for about 8-10 minutes. Once they're out of the oven, press down slightly with the back of a spoon. Let cool before moving to a cooling rack. Store in an airtight container. 

cinnamon spiced cocoa granola with toasted coconut & almonds

Ok, so before we get fly into chocolate and granola and all this greatness, I have a little bit of wisdom to share. Lame, I know. But bear with me… I reward with food. 

I seriously love walking to and from the gym, especially with the cold, rainy weather we've been having. Those short walks give me time to actually hear myself think {two brothers and a baby in the house. NOIZEEE.}. And the other day, I had this divine revelation… Or as my mother called it an epiphany if you wanna get all fancy-wordy-pants. 

On the way home from the gym, I was going over in my head what I had done for my workout that day. It wasn't much; I didn't do a million reps of a trillion sets of a zillion exercises {if you can do that, I applaud you.} But what I did do, I felt like I did really well and felt super good about it. I'm trying to apply that concept to every aspect of my life. 

To my school {my grades. Ugh.} I get so caught up in the amount of school I have to get done rather than focusing on how good I do. Plus the fact that I'm supposed to be done with 10th grade in March… I can slow down if I need to. To my devotions- it doesn't matter how much time I spend in the Word, but that the time I do spend is good and I learn something from it. You can spend hours upon hours with your nose in the Bible and not get anything out of it. But you can also just spent ten minutes or so reading and in prayer and come away from it feeling refreshed and renewed. To my friends- I seriously have no friends. People just suck and people move to other countries. But I'd rather have ZERO friends than a bunch of crappy ones. To my blog- I really need to work on this. But only posting the recipes that were top notch and with good photos. In the blogging world, you get so caught up in what everyone else is doing. "Oh she posts 6 times a week, so I should too." What works for other people doesn't necessarily work for you. 

What I'm trying to say is… Quality over quantity. Do what you gotta do and do it GOOD even if that means doing a little less or working a little slower. Do whatever it is that helps you to put your best work forward. For the record, tons of work does not mean it's good work. In fact, in the long run, if it's really not done well, you only get behind because you have to go back and fix your careless mistakes. I speak from experience.

Time for granola now! You're rejoicing, I just know it. 

Remember what I was saying about putting my best work forward? Well. This granola here truly is divine and I edited the pictures about 5 different times before they turned out how I wanted them to. Truly the worst thing ever is when you have one heckuva recipe and cruddish photos. 

I made some chocolate granola with toasted coconut sometime back in the yesteryears. Three empty bowls and a chocolaty mouth later, I really regretted not writing down the recipe. Of course, I just got to making it for the blog last week, but better late than never. 

I amped up this recipe by adding cinnamon which adds a nice kick and almonds for extra crunch {and fibahhhh and prahhhtein.} It's fantastic on it's own, but what's really insane is sprinkling it on top of smoothies. Or filling a bowl with half smoothie, half granola. You know how it is. 

cinnamon spiced cocoa granola with toasted coconut & almonds

2 1/2 c. oats {I use quick-cooking}

2 tbsp. flax seeds

1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

3 tbsp. oil {coconut oil, vegetable oil, canola oil, etc.}

5 tbsp. pure maple syrup {or liquid sweetener}

1/2 c. raw almonds, roughly chopped

1/2 c. coconut chips

Preheat oven to 350ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except coconut and almonds. Pour onto prepared baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes, stirring through once during the baking time. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. Add coconut and almonds to a baking sheet and bake for about 5 minutes or until just lightly toasted and brown. Stir into granola. Let cool completely before transferring to a container.

honey wholewheat pancakes

I've become newly obsessed with pancakes. I mean… if you follow me on instagram, you know it's not so new. I'm convinced that Sophie can live off of pancakes alone. When it comes to pancakes, I'm kind of a purist and don't like anything too trashed up. I can deal with banana or pumpkin. Maybe some peanut butter or chocolate chips, but that's as crazy as I get. 

In fact, the other night, I was feeling rather, umm… Emotional. And guess what I had for dinner? Pumpkin pancakes with about a quarter cup of peanut butter smothered all up in therrrrrr. I'm not sorry one bit. 

Every Saturday morning when I wake up, the first thing on my mind is pancakes. Like I don't even think about peeing first. Just pancakes. I have to admit, making pancakes in a 90 degree kitchen at 8 in the morning is rather weird. But this weekend, it's been rainy and actually kinda cold. COLD, you guys! Well. 75 degrees. The things Africa does to a person. 

The ideal pancake situation is a rainy Sunday morning, pajamas still on, windows open, glasses still stuck to your face, and coffee cup number two close by. Travel Channel playing in the background- optional. 

Whenever I make pancakes, I make small batches and end up eating at least half the thing. Maybe more.  I made these pancakes Saturday morning, freaked out over how good they were, ate the whole batch, and decided I needed to make them again the next morning to share with you people. 

The second time around, I made them into smaller pancakes and my family actually ended up eating them and totally loving them which, I have to admit, totally surprised me. I was like "WHAT OH MY GOSH!! YOU LIKE THEM??? I'LL MAKE MORE!! GIVE ME TWO MINUTES. I'LL MAKE MORE, OKAY!!" I love when they love what I make. 

They all loved them. My pancake-hating mom even raved about them and said she would order these at a restaurant. So do with that what you wish, but I'm pretty sure that's the best compliment my food has gotten in a long time. These pancakes are simple, nutty, and slightly sweetened from the honey. They're a great recipe to use as base- you could add in some peanut butter, apple chunks, berries, banana, chocolate chips, cinnamon. Put anything in these pancakes, and I guarantee it will be great. 

Oh, let me quickly apologize for these lame photos. But on a lazy Sunday morning when all you want is pancakes in your tummy, food styling isn't really on the mind, ya know? Ok, that's all. Happy December!!

honey wholewheat pancakes 

1 3/4 c. wholewheat flour

4 tsp. baking powder

2 large eggs

3 tbsp. oil {I used coconut oil}

2 tbsp. honey

3/4 c. milk

Whisk together flour and baking powder. Add in eggs, oil, honey, and milk. Whisk until combined. Heat a greased pan over medium-high heat. Pour batter onto pan; cook for about 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Serve warm. Yields about 8 medium pancakes. 

peanut butter oatmeal brownies

OHHHHH, YOU GUYSSSSSSSSS. These brownies are so good that I posted them today instead of my other recipe I had chilling in my drafts folder. The other recipe is chocolate and peanut butter too. I've got problems. Ok so, first things first. I think it is my duty to tell you that I edited that first picture about 6 different times. {and my brain is obviously all the places at the moment. Bear with me.} The lighting wasn't right. It needed to be cropped. OH LOOK, I was saving it as the wrong file the last five times. So that was annoying. But I'm OCD and I really liked that picture so gosh dang it, I'll find the right exposure. Stubbornness really pays off sometimes. {Ask my gym buddies. Heh.} 

Now onto more important things. CHOCOLAWWWWWT. It was really weird, the other day I was seriously like a chocolate freak- even more so than usual- and I began questioning my sanity. How does one eat chocolate in 4 different forms in just 24 hours? I'LL TELL YOU. A mini vegan crunch bar {or two.}, a square of 70% dark chocolate, a chocolate smoothie, and an energy bite. That's how it's done, yo. I thought that after my chocolate-filled day, I'd be good for awhile, right? Wrong. About an hour before I went to the gym, I needed a brownie. Let me make this clear- I did not want a brownie. I needed one like my freaking life depended on it. Woman problems. Of course, I wanted to make them healthy {SURPRISE} because I wanted to eat one before the gym and not feel all gross and weighed down. Running with butter and sugar and flour in your belly is not a fun thing, I speak from experience. Oomph. 

Well, I'm happy to report, I have come up with a fan-flipping-tastic healthy brownie recipe that doesn't suck. Like at all. I've made countless healthy brownie recipes and have loved them all, but something is always a little off. You know what I'm talking about? They're always a little too spongey and weird. Last time I checked, brownies aren't supposed to be spongey and weird! Well these ones are seriously perfection! They're a little crumbly, but not like you can't pick them up crumbly. A good crumbly and quite fudgey. My favorite part is they even have the crackly top like legit brownies! Some healthy brownies out there use mashed bananas, which from my experience, makes them spongey and totally banana-y. No weird flavors here, just pure brownie GREATNESS. I can't even relate to you how normal these brownies were so methinks you should get your buns in the kitchen and whip up a batch. And eat it for dinner. OR BREAKFAST. These brownies are destined for even more greatness. But I'll get to that another time. MUAHA. 

peanut butter oatmeal brownies {healthy, gluten free, dairy free}

1/2 c. creamy peanut butter

1/4 c. liquid coconut oil

1/3 c. soy milk {or other non-dairy milk.}

1/2 c. pure maple syrup

1/4 c. granulated sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 c. oat flour

1/3 c. quick cooking oats

1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

sea salt for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350ºF and grease an 8x8 pan; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk peanut butter, coconut oil, milk, egg, sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla. Add in dry ingredients and mix until combined. Pour into prepared pan and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Let cool before cutting into squares.

mini vegan crunch bars

Time for me to get all real up in herrrrrrr! I'm gonna be honest right now. I WANT TO BE HOME. The last few months have been really really REALLY hard on me, and I think I'm ready to let go of this part of my life and move on. The do-nothing-ness of this place is really getting to me and I've lost some good friendships. I know it's just part of missionary life, but all my relationships are really in and out. People come and then they move somewhere else {or just stop talking to me. HA.} I miss my friends and family in the States like cray and can't wait to get back to our life there. On top of that, I really miss snow, Starbucks, shopping malls with real stores and clothes that don't fall apart two weeks after you purchase them. I'm not saying the last two years have been ALL bad though. I've learned a lot about myself, about people, about life in general. But it's time for a gingerbread latte, youknowwhati'msayinnnnn? On the upside, my freakish boredom gives me a lot of time to do school. I should be graduating in about two months. {kidding. dude I wish.}

I'm pretty sure if you looked up EMOTIONAL EATER up in the dictionary, you'd see a huge picture of my face right before your very eyes. I've got a problem and I know it. It's no wonder I gained like 15 pounds since we got here. I'm booooored, you guys! What else am I supposed to do? Read or something? Nahh. I'm trying to fix this little issue of constant munching, but while I'm working on it, might as well munch on something healthy. VEGAN CRUNCH BARS TO THE RESCUE! They heal wounds. Make you feel warm and fuzzy inside. Bring world peace. They're so simple to make and are one of those things where you're like "This is healthy? Stop playing with my heart like that." Although they're not exactly low calorie {darn you, coconut oil, you.}, they're made of nothing but wholesome ingredients and loaded with antioxidants. Golly, I really do love chocolate. 

vegan mini crunch bars

1/2 c. liquid coconut oil 

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

3 1/2 tbsp. pure maple syrup

pinch of sea salt {optional}

1/2 c. puffed brown rice cereal

In a large bowl, whisk all ingredients except for the cereal until smooth. Add in the cereal and stir until combined. Spoon into an ice cube tray- it should make about 10 mini bars. Place tray in freezer and freeze for about 3 hours or overnight. Once chilled, pop the crunch bars out of tray and place in a small container or plastic bag; store in freezer. 

wholewheat pumpkin spice yogurt bundt cake

Once upon a time, it occurred to me that I could easily make my own pumpkin puree. I've seen cubed pumpkin in the produce section since we got here, and was always whining that we didn't have canned pumpkin. Basically, pumpkin has been staring at me straight in the face and I've been without for the last two years because… Why? I don't know. Isn't that sad? Two years pumpkin-less and it could have been easily remedied like a looooong time ago. I'm a little slow. 

Since I had this marvelous pumpkin revelation, I threw a bunch of bags of pumpkin in the cart, boiled it, pureed it in the blender, and BOOM. Pumpkin puree in 20 minutes. I'm happy to have a tub of the stuff ALWAYS in the fridge for last minute situations. It's marvelous and I'd be lying if I said I didn't eat it out of a bowl, sprinkled with cinnamon and an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. Oh, you guys, just stopittttt. 

Now that I have pumpkin at my disposal, you better believe I shall pumpkify all the things. I hope you don't mind I'm only a couple months late to the party. We'll have pumpkin recipes up the wazoo through Christmas, I can very much assure you. YAY! (???) Kay, so this cake? It's amazing. I always ALWAYS want sweets in the morning with my coffee {it's hereditary.}, which explains all the breakfast recipes on the blog. Since I'm always craving sweetness, I like having cake, cookies, bars, brownies, whatever available. But I want them to be healthy enough to eat for breakfast and not feel like crud later, know what I'm saying? Yah, you do. 

This cake is super dense, and dare I say it, moist from the large amount of pumpkin puree and plain yogurt. It's not overly sweet, but perfectly spiced and glorious. AND Healthy enough for breakfast! REJOICE. Although it is fantastic for breakfast, I have to say… It's weird eating a pumpkin cake at 7 am in the morning whilst sweating your buns off. It's kinda not right. Like when you're at the gym and about to lose your marbles with excitement because you think you hear rain banging against the roof. And then your friend is like "No, that's just sand." Africa lyfeeeeee. OOOH well, at least I have this cake. 

wholewheat pumpkin spice yogurt bundt cake 

2 c. pureed pumpkin

3/4 c. plain yogurt

1 large egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 c. dark brown sugar

1/4 c. pure maple syrup

3/4 c. quick cooking oats

1 1/2 c. wholewheat flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. mixed spice

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Butter and flour a bundt pan and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients until smooth. Add in dry ingredients and mix until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool completely before flipping out onto a plate.