4: Vegan oatmeal chocolate chip bars (Holy hannah!)

Just because the larynx is wonderful. Take care of yours.

I have to preface this post with my skepticism (and my husband's) as I made the decision to venture on with vegan baked treats. We were;t sure about texture or taste, despite previous vegan treats we've had that have been divine. Those, notably, were made at professional bakeries. I only confess my doubts because you hear ingredients like almond milk (not my favorite flavor in the world), flax seeds, and butter that resembles wax, and you start to freak out a little. I'm always saying this on my blog, but I am once again thrilled to bring you these delectable, flaky, moist, little vegan treats!

The very reliable Pinterest was my saving grace here. I was trying to find unique Christmas treats for the blog, so I searched for vegan baking and came up with this recipe after a few attempts to find a standout recipe. Chocolate chips…oats…peanut butter (in place of almond butter). Definitely worth a try, right?! I just stocked up on my vegan margarine and shortening, so I bought almond milk and flax seeds today at Trader Joe's and was ready to  get my bake on!

I had to grind the flax seeds in the food processor since they were whole seeds, but no biggie. The ground flax seeds at the store came with blueberries, and I didn't have the energy nor the interest to fish all of them out for my baking needs. Once that was done, I was ready to go. This was a really easy recipe except for the fact I didn't have a pastry cutter and didn't make the connection to put the dough with the butter in the food processor with a dough hook to course the mixture. Oh well. They came out great anyway!

I will note that I didn't use coconut oil. Rather, I used the 1 cup of vegan butter/shortening which  added to the irresistible flakiness of the cookie bars. You know that perfect apple pie crust that practically melts in your mouth? These were better than that! I would say avoid the coconut oil and stick with vegan shortening. Once these were all done baking, we had to stop after one each, other wise I wouldn't have any to take on our PA trip for Christmas. We didn't add as many chocolate chips because we had jumbo dark chocolate chips. So the only thing I would change is the amount of chocolate. More is always better!

I can't tell you how delicious these were. It's killing me to see them sitting in the pan, waiting to be wrapped up, and taken for Christmas treats. I'm sure no one will miss a couple more...

My departing message? My husband wanted more than one, so MAKE THESE COOKIE BARS!! You don't have to be vegan to fall in love with these treats. Good Clean Food's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars I can't wait to share them with my family!