Oatmeal Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

I’m glad football season is back for a ton of reasons, but one of the Top 3 is that I now have someone to give these baked goods to! My baking slows down severely in the offseason because I can’t afford to have piles of cookies, bars, and cakes all over my kitchen. There are now a bunch of hungry offensive lineman eager to help me out with all the extra treats.

This is a recipe that I am constantly tweaking. It can take adjustments and additions so I love to play around with it. This combo is my favorite right now!

Ingredients 

1/2 cup rolled oats, chopped
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
8 oz. cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
2 eggs
3 cups miniature chocolate chips
1-1/2 cups finely chopped walnuts (optional)

Instructions

1. Prepare oats and walnuts. Use a blender/or food processor to pulse the rolled oats till they are roughly chopped. This gives you a chewier cookie.
2. Cream together butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and lemon juice. Mix in the eggs one at a time, until combined.
3. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon). Stir into wet ingredients till dough forms. Gently fold in the oats, walnuts, chocolate chips.
4. Chill the dough overnight. BE PATIENT!*
5. Bake cookies at 325 degrees for 15-18 minutes. You are looking for barely brown edges and cracked tops.
6. Let cool, Enjoy!
7. *It’s easiest to scoop the dough onto plates covered with wax paper before you refrigerate the dough. Scooping cold dough is not fun.

TIPS

Get creative with your add-ins! Try coconut flakes, pecans, dried cranberries, or butterscotch chips. 

Dairy-free, Egg-free Chocolate Cupcakes w/ Cookies & Cream Frosting

Chocolate should be a food group, don’t you think? I mean c’mon! Everything’s better with chocolate on it!  Okay, maybe not everything…but you’ve got to admit, a little chocolate does make things better.  At least for me it does.  I’m a bit of what some would call a choco-holic.  I admit…it’s a problem.  I love chocolate cake.  And I love chocolate cookies.  Seriously, I go through a package of Oreos in a few days! It’s my guilty pleasure.  At night I look forward to my crunchy, sweet 10 o’clock snack while hubby and I catch up on Netflix.

This recipe is the perfect marriage of chocolate cake and chocolate cookie.  The chocolate cake is just a boxed cake mix, but, it's allergy-friendly.  And the cookies are Oreos.  Which by the way are milk and egg-free!  Score!  And don’t fret…I realize I’ve got to balance out all that chocolate going on.  So, I do this with a dairy-free cream cheese frosting which adds just a hint of tang.  BTW, I really have to give props to Daiya for their cream "cheese"; it's allergy-friendly and actually tastes great.

Try this recipe!  These little gems are seriously good and you'll love them, whether you're a fellow choco-holic or not.

Dairy-free,Egg-free Chocolate Cupcakes w/ Cookies & Cream Frosting-makes about 15 cupcakes

Ingredients:

Chocolate Cake Batter:

• 1 box “allergy-friendly” Chocolate Cake Mix ( we use Cherrybrook Kitchen)

Cookies & Cream Frosting:

• 6oz. dairy-free “cream cheese”
• ½ cup vegan butter
• 3 cups of confectioner’s sugar
• ½ cup crushed Oreo cookies

Prepare cake mix according to package. I use Cherrybrook Kitchen cake mixes because they’re allergy friendly, and don’t contain milk or egg.  Pour batter into lined cupcake pan and bake according to instructions.  Let cool.

To make the frosting, simply beat the vegan butter and dairy-free cream cheese together. Add in sugar 1 cup at a time, and continue to beat until fully incorporated. Gently fold in crushed Oreos.

Top each cupcake with a generous amount of frosting and finish it off with a cookie.  Enjoy!

Dairy-free, Egg-free S'mores Sandwich Cookies

Do you love S’mores? I do. No, correction…I LOVE S’mores!  It’s that fluffy marshmallow melted onto that crunchy sweet graham cracker with just a hint of saltiness, all smothered in smooth, rich melted chocolate! OMG…all that ooey-gooey deliciousness, that’s what I love!

In fact, I love it so much that I have multiple S’mores recipes. And today, I want to share with you one of my favorites: S’mores Sandwich Cookies.  This yummy recipe is quick, easy, and best of all, it’s dairy and egg-free, which is a must in our house due to food allergies.  Now don’t panic! Just because there’s no dairy or eggs, doesn’t mean there’s no flavor. These cookies are fantastic! Trust me, you won’t be disappointed!

Dairy-free, Egg-free S’mores Sandwich Cookies-makes about 18 cookies, depending on size

Ingredients:

Cookie Dough:

2 ¼ cups of flour

1 cup crushed graham crackers

1 tsp. baking soda

Dash of salt

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup white sugar

1 tbsp. vanilla

1 cup vegan butter

¼ cup non-dairy milk

1 cup of miniature marshmallows (I chopped mine to make them even smaller)

Chocolate Filling:

1 cup dairy-free chocolate chips
1 tbsp. non-dairy milk

Let's get started!

Mix dry ingredients (first 4) together in a bowl. In a separate bowl mix wet ingredients (remaining 5), except for marshmallow.  Add dry ingredients, a little at a time, to bowl of wet ingredients.  Mix together. Gently fold in marshmallow.  Scoop cookie dough onto parchment paper lined baking sheet (may use a small ice cream scooper for small size). Flatten slightly. Bake at 350 degrees, for 15-18 mins. until golden brown.  Let cool.

To make the chocolate filling, mix together chocolate chips with non-dairy milk and microwave on high for 20 seconds to melt.  To make the sandwiches, flip one cookie over so the bottom side is up. Spread on some of the chocolate filling and top with another cookie to form a “sandwich”.  Enjoy!