Eco Lesbo Vego

Friday Feast: Oatmeal Cookie Bars

Here comes the latest recipe… it’s a cross between a slice, a cookie and a granola bar – it’s Oatmeal Cookie Bars! I’ve just veganised these tasty treats, which wasn’t too hard. They’ve come out a little more crumbly than their non-vegan versions, but that could also be because I used gluten-free flour and baked them about ten minutes longer than usual (I momentarily forgot they were in the oven).

Regardless of any mishap, they’re still super tasty. Eat them fresh from the oven (be careful you don’t burn your mouth on the cranberries, which seem to get to a scalding temperature), cold the next day, or re-heated in the microwave. I used to eat these with ice-cream in my non-vegan days (as if they were so long ago!), so if you’re into vegan ice-cream, that could be a winner too. I’m going to try them with this new vegan cream I bought last week… I hope it’s good!

Oatmeal Cookie Bars

A slice of Oatmeal Cookie Bar, half crumbled on the plate. Look at the cranberries and that chunk of vegan white chocolate - yum!

Ingredients:

• 230g (0.5lb or 2 sticks) vegan margarine (I use Nuttelex)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar (I used LoGIcane – a low GI version of cane sugar)
• Egg substitute, equivalent to 2 eggs (I used Orgran Egg Replacer)
• 1 tsp vanilla essence (imitation is ok)
• 1/2 cups plain (aka all purpose) flour (I used 1/2 cup each of wholemeal spelt, barley and Orgran’s gluten-free flours)
• 1 tsp bi-carb soda (aka baking soda)
• 1/2 tsp salt – optional
• 1 tsp cinnamon – optional
• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup sultanas or dried cranberries (I used the latter this time, but sometimes I do half and half)
• 1 cup vegan chocolate chips (I used 1/2 cup each of Sweet Williams chocolate chips and chopped Sweet Williams white chocolate)
• 1/2 cup to 1 cup of desiccated coconut

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
2. Beat margarine and sugars until creamy (it’s ok to do this by hand).
3. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well (still ok by hand..).
4. In a separate bowl, combine flour(s), bi-carb soda, cinnamon and salt.
5. Mix the aforementioned dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
6. Add oats, sultanas/dried cranberries, chocolate chips and desiccated coconut, and mix well.
7. Press into a greased baking tray or dish (I use a square pyrex dish) and bake for 30-35mins*.

*You can also use this recipe for cookies, rather than cookie bars – if so, shape into cookies, place on a tray and bake for 10 to 12 mins.

March 19, 2010 at 12:30 pm 1 comment