Try to eat just one of these light and delicious bars! They seem to melt in your mouth. This is a quick recipe that uses less sugar than most and even less butter and cream cheese in the frosting. There’s only one ounce of cream cheese and one tablespoon of butter in the frosting.
I can never seem to get the top smooth but it doesn’t matter since they’re frosted anyway. Plus, you can always frost them upside down. My oil of choice for baking is avocado oil but they’re not all the same. Look for one that is light colored and flavorless. (see my brand under “Products I Use”). I line my pan with foil for easy cleanup and I frost these bars right in the pan.
Some days I crave pumpkin pie but don’t want to work that hard. These fragrant bars are the next best thing. (My husband calls them pumpkin brownies – sounds like a ploy for me to put in some chocolate chips ? – maybe next time.) Click here for the recipe – Jenny Jones
There are always fresh homemade cookies in this house and it’s usually what we have for dessert. Oatmeal cookies are my favorite because oats provide good fiber and even dark chocolate has health benefits, so this is a win-win recipe. There’s no butter in this easy recipe – I use avocado oil instead – but you can use another vegetable oil if you like.
I’m always torn about how long to bake them. The less you bake them the softer they will be but I also like browned edges so I left the baking time open to between 12 and 14 minutes. I also realize that all ovens and baking sheets are different so you can judge the baking time that works for you. Either way it’s a simple recipe for old fashioned oatmeal cookies but with new fashioned dark chocolate chunks. My husband says, “Everything is better with chocolate!” He’s after me for a chocolate meat loaf! I don’t see it happening. Click here for the recipe. (not the chocolate meatloaf, the cookies! ?) – jenny jones
Here is the whole wheat version of my chewy oatmeal dark chocolate chunk cookies (above). When I can find whole wheat pastry flour I always make them this way. Whole grain cookies make a healthier dessert and these easy cookies are 100% whole grain. The ingredients are basically the same as the white flour version (except for the flour swap) but the technique is as little different – but still very simple. You freeze the dough before baking.
To make these whole wheat chewy oatmeal dark chocolate chunk cookies click here for the recipe. –jenny jones
Sunday is when I stock up on my homemade granola. It seems to disappear quickly around here but it’s no problem because this is one of my simplest, easiest recipes. I dump everything onto a baking pan, mix it up with my hands, and bake it. I stir it a couple of times and I like to bake it until it’s really well toasted and brown. I use thick oats or regular rolled oats if it’s all I have, along with lots of nuts, brown sugar, coconut, and real maple syrup, plus as little oil and that’s it. My oil of choice these days is cold pressed avocado oil. When something is this healthy and this easy, there’s no reason to eat the store bought stuff. Homemade always tastes better. Click herefor the recipe.
Speaking of “homemade tastes better” I also stocked up on my soft & chewy oatmeal raisin cookies. Well, they are usually oatmeal raisin cookies but today I “accidentally” mistook my dark chocolate chunks for raisins so I guess I’m stuck with these soft oatmeal dark chocolate chunk cookies. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. ? Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
I’ve had a craving for soft oatmeal raisin cookies lately and never knew how to make them. My oatmeal cookies are always crisp so I decided to try making soft and chewy ones. It was easy. They turned out really well with several different variations.
My recipe works three different ways:
1) Made with only butter.
2) Made with half butter, half oil.
3) Made with only oil.
But here’s the surprise. I did a blind taste test (with my husband’s help) and I could not tell the difference between any of them. All of the cookies, made with butter, oil, or a mix of both, tasted the same to me. So if you’re like me and try to avoid butter, make them with oil. I use cold pressed avocado oil. If you prefer butter, use only butter. If you’re undecided, use a 1/2 and 1/2 mixture of each. I think you’ll like them no matter what but keep in mind that they are large cookies because that keeps them soft, and also do not over bake them. If you bake them until they are too brown and golden, they may not be soft. But they’ll still taste good, though.
Oh, and one more thing: You can skip the raisins and use chocolate chips instead. (Do I hear applause??) Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
I always look for a healthier way to make all the favorite things we like to eat and chocolate chip cookies are at the top of my “favorite things to eat” list. I posted my recipe some time ago but when I baked them today, I made a couple of small improvements. I reduced the oil and salt a little and I prefer them the new way. (the changes are noted in the recipe).
Anyone looking to bake with whole grains can make my version that uses part whole wheat & part all purpose flour. But these healthier cookies can also be made using only all purpose flour but honestly, there’s not much difference so I say go with the whole wheat version.
While most chocolate chip cookie recipes start out with a stick of butter, my recipe uses only three tablespoons of butter. I’m still not convinced we should be eating lots of butter as some people believe but when I use butter, I’m going with the grass-fed kind.
I always put nuts in these cookies and whether you use walnuts or pecans, I highly recommend toasting the nuts first. Toasting intensifies the flavor and it will add a lot to these delicious cookies, especially pecans. For chocolate chips, the darker the better for some health benefits.
To try my whole wheat dark chocolate chip cookies, just click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
It seems that I’ve been making these crispy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies a lot lately. They keep well, there’s no white flour, they have lots of fiber, and instead of chocolate chips I’ve been using part of a 70% dark chocolate bar (the one that’s good for you), chopped up and added to the final batter. Of course the toasted nuts add a lot of extra flavor.
They are big – about 5 inches across – so we usually split a cookie for dessert. But then we split another one because… well… because I’m in charge in the kitchen and I said it was okay. Today I also made salad, salmon patties, and spaghetti with chard for dinner. Then we had half a cookie for dessert. That’s the truth. We each had half a cookie for dessert. What happened after that is… quite frankly… confidential. ? Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
Isn’t everything better with chocolate? Today I made my incredibly easy peanut butter cookies but upped the game by adding dark chocolate chunks and extra peanuts. Oh My! They are so good and so easy. These peanut butter cookies have no flour so they’re even gluten free. This is a simple one bowl recipe and I just added some chopped up 70% chocolate bar and some additional chopped salted peanuts. I don’t think I’ll ever make them plain again.
You could use chocolate chips but using a plain dark chocolate bar is a healthier choice. Just use my original recipe for peanut butter cookies and add about 1/4 cup of chocolate chunks or peanuts or 1/4 cup total mixture of both. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
Here’s a closeup of my Crispy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. They are big! These are the ones made with 100% whole grains and no butter. Before baking you press them flat with a fork and they spread even more when they bake and come out super thin and crispy. I made them last night and the recipe makes twelve. There are five left. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
This may be the easiest cookie recipe ever. No mixer, no flour, no butter, and only five ingredients. Well… make that six. It’s my peanut butter cookie recipe but this time I added chocolate chips. Wow! They were so good I made them twice this week. It’s a winning combination: peanut butter and chocolate, and even healthier by using dark chocolate chips so I just had to share my “new” recipe.
This recipe is so flexible that next time I might add some extra chopped peanuts too. This simple recipe is so easy, even if you don’t bake, you can make these cookies. – plain or with chocolate chips. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
Try to eat just one of these light and delicious bars! They seem to melt in your mouth. This is a quick recipe that uses less sugar than most and even less butter and cream cheese in the frosting. There’s only one ounce of cream cheese and one tablespoon of butter in the frosting.
