Lisa’s Chocolate Chip Oat Squares
Amongst many other interests I share with my dear friend Lisa, is a love of good food. Many hours, emails and texts are spent and sent sharing links to recipes we have come across or developed ourselves! Lisa perfected this recipe for her family when many allergies arose suddenly and she wanted to be able to offer her loved ones a delicious treat to enjoy while enduring their long journey to wellness. I admire how Lisa never missed a beat, arranging her pantry with safe ingredients and with lots of LOVE, eliminating, substituting, testing, trial and error and try again, she developed many winning creations that were nutritious, healing and delicious for her family to enjoy and thrive.
Having made Lisa’s Chocolate Chip Oat Squares a few times, and devoured so many, I can attest to just how “super yummy” these are and how easy the recipe is to put together! I even crumble them over yogurt – delish! It makes a large pan too, 9x13, which is an extra win in my books!
I give you, as originally received from Lisa:
Chocolate chip oat squares
from Lisa with love
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups oat flour (can grind oats in a food processor to make flour)
3 cups quick oats
3/4 cup raw sugar
1/2 cup hemp hearts
1 cup chocolate chips (semi-sweet)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup oil (neutral tasting: avocado or grapeseed)
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons chia seeds + 5 tablespoons water (chia-eggs)
BAKING ITEMS
Parchment paper
9 x 13 pan
HOW IT’S MADE
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Make “chia-eggs” …Stir together seeds and water and set aside. This will thicken while you get the other ingredients ready.
In a large bowl, mix together all dry ingredients. Set aside.
In another bowl, pour in the oil and maple syrup.
At this point, the chia-eggs should be thick and gooey. Add the chia-eggs to the oil and maple syrup.
Whisk the liquids with the chia-eggs to break up any clumps.
Pour wet ingredients into the flour mixture and carefully combine until fully incorporated and everything is moist.
Tip everything into a parchment-paper-lined 9 x 13 pan, and press down firmly to make sure the mixture is even across the entire dish and into the corners of the pan.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the edges are just starting to brown. Allow to cool fully, and then place in the fridge to firm up before cutting into squares.
Consistency will be a bit crumbly and will taste super yummy! Enjoy.
VARIATIONS
Other yummy ingredients you can add are cinnamon, pepitas, finely chopped dates or dried apricots, chopped nuts, raisins and dried cranberries.