Chocolate Banana Walnut Oatmeal Cookies!

Have you ever had Laura’s Wholesome Junk Food? I love that stuff, but especially the banana chocolate cookie version. If you followed that link, you’d know my sadness–they no longer make it! And while I don’t think these cookies quite live up to Laura’s yet, they are really easy to make, and cost a lot less than $5.99 a batch!

Chocolate Banana Walnut Oatmeal Cookies (makes 13 cookies–a baker’s dozen!):

• 1 really ripe banana, mashed
• 1 T applesauce
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 T ground flaxseed meal
• 3 T unmilk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup walnut pieces

Mix the applesauce, sugar, syrup, flaxseed, unmilk and vanilla in a medium mixing bowl. There will probably be a few banana lumps–don’t worry about them, as long as they aren’t huge. Now, add the oats, flour, cinnamon and baking powder to the bowl, and mix until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts until evenly incorporated.

Drop cookies onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, and bake in a 350 degree oven for 12-15 minutes. It’s important to slide them off of the cookie sheet and onto a baking rack when done, so the bottoms don’t steam and get super soft. Let them cool fully before eating, or they will turn into a gooey blob in your hand. Yummy!

 

 

 

Brownie Madness

The brownie you see before you is so delicious, it’s possible that if you licked your screen, you’d get a taste of it.

This brownie is courtesy of Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. I believe it’s the deluxe cocoa version, and it is truly magical. Not one to skimp on the awesome, I put both walnuts AND chocolate chunks in it. Oh, baby.

This second brownie is of my own design. Feast your eyes on it!
Using the the same deluxe recipe, I added peanuts (1/4 cup) and a peanut buttery spread on the top. To make the peanut liquid gold, just take 1/4 cup of smooth peanut butter, 2 T of maple syrup, and 1 T of unmilk. Mix together until smooth and creamy. If the peanut butter seems REALLY firm when you scoop it out of the jar, try microwaving to loosen it up. Since I keep mine in the fridge, I have to do that all the time. Before baking, pour on the spread and marble it into the top of the brownie.

When the voting was all said and done, my husband liked the first brownie the best, and I liked them both the same. I don’t know if this is common for all tofu brownies, but I think these taste better after being in the fridge overnight. It really condenses them into uber-fudgies. You can’t go wrong with that!

Trattoria Pasta Salad

 

For the record, I would like it to be noted that pasta salad does not look pretty. I have total respect for professional food photographers that need to make potato, macaroni, or pasta salad look good. This looks like a hot mess. Well, a cold mess.

Also, this recipe had all sorts of things in it my husband and I dislike: me, sun-dried tomatoes; him, walnuts. And yet it all came together into something magical. I don’t know how she does it, but Isa Chandra Moskowitz is a genius. I would never, never, never have put all of this together on my own. But look at it! Totally delicious. I would make this again in a heartbeat, but using less onions. What’s up, onions? You are too strong for me. Back! Back I say!

Random side-note? Do sun-dried tomatoes remind anyone else of the 90s? Remember when they were thrown onto everything back then? Oh, the days.

Recipe from Appetite for Reduction.

 

Banana Breakfast Cookies

Behold! Somewhere, beyond space and time, banana bread and cookies collided. As they cooled and descended through the atmosphere of earth, a shining star was seen in the sky. And it was to be known as…

*aAAaaaAAaaaaawwwaaawwwa!!*

The Banana Breakfast Cookie. Part oatmeal cookie, part banana bread, part awesome idea. Where have you been all my life, cookie? Oh, what’s that? I wouldn’t have heard about you cause I wasn’t a vegan then? So it’s my vegan bat-signal that brought you down from the heavens? Hurrah!

Seriously, though, this thing is awesome. I’m so glad I baked these, and I now get to have one every morning for a month. Because you can freeze them!

Look into the mysterious tome known as Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar for the recipe.