Delicious oatmeal bake

This recipe was an accident.  A delicious, gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, protein and omega-3 packed accident that you should all try.  NOW!!

I spend a lot of time in the kitchen, whether it be testing someone else's recipes (usually making changes) or creating original recipes of my own.  I was craving an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie, while also feeling adventurous, so decided I'd make up my own recipe.  Here is the thing though......baking is a science.  Unlike cooking, with baking you can't just add a pinch here, a dash there and have it turn out just right the first time (typically).  Let's just say I figured going into this experiment that my cookies were NOT going to rise and set right.  Mainly because I wanted to use almond meal/flour in lieu of all purpose or whole wheat flour.  I still haven't figured that whole conversion thing out yet.  But the end result was a success.  I turned my cookie recipe into an oatmeal bake recipe and BOOM.....

If you are wondering what made me turn my "cookie" recipe into something else.....here ya go.....

So the cookies didn't hold up, but when I tasted them, it was simply ooey, gooey, oatmeal, dark chocolate goodness.  I knew I had to save the batter so save it I did! I took the remaining batter, dumped it into a pyrex casserole dish and baked it off.  It was fully cooked, with that wonderful gooeyness (I understand that is not a word.....work with me here)  that the kids and I LOVED!  And to top it all off, I got a delicious, gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free dish for my friends out there that have food allergies.  Read on to see the recipe and how I used a citrus chia seed gel in lieu of eggs! SCORE! Have you read about the benefits of chia seeds? Give it a google and you'll see why I love this super food.  I used it here to replace eggs in the recipe.  Please note....you could use water in lieu of the the orange juice but I wanted to have a hint of citrus in the background, also since I did not add sugar to the recipe I thought the OJ would help add some sweetness, along with the honey.

Ingredients:

1 cup orange juice (I used fresh squeezed, but that is not necessary)

2 TBSP chia seeds

½ cup honey

1 ½ cups almond meal/flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup oats

½ cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

To make the chia seed gel, put the chia seeds into the orange juice and give a quick stir.  About 5 minutes later stir again.  Let sit for 15-20 minutes to set up into a gel-like consistency.  

In a medium bowl, add remaining ingredients together (except chocolate chips), stir in the chia seed gel, and mix it all up.  Add in your dark chocolate chips, one quick stir and DONE!

Place the mixture into a casserole dish of your choice.  I used a round pyrex casserole dish and it worked perfectly. Keep in mind, part of my batter was an epic fail so I cannot tell you exactly what size pan to use.  I apologize........

Bake it in a 325 degree oven for about 25-30 minutes, just till it starts to brown around the edges, and enjoy.  Let it sit for about 20 minutes or so before digging in.  And remember, that gooey yummy thing it has going on in the middle is what makes it so freaking good!

Let me know if you try it, change anything, etc.

Ours didn't last long......

In Good Health,

Debbie