I’ve learned by now that there’s really no way around my post-lunch chocolate cravings. I’ve tried ignoring them, or substituting something healthier, and sometimes that works for a few days, but it inevitably ends in a huge chocolatey binge at some point.  I’m just a person who needs chocolate, and that’s that. But since I’m determined to rein in the travel-driven overeating of the last few months, I’m currently searching for less-bad-for-you, more-portion-controlled chocolate treats.

For the past few months my chocolate fix has been to go down to the lobby shop and fill a bag with chocolate covered almonds, chocolate covered raisins, and white chocolate pretzels. This is a bad, bad habit, because even if I tell myself a lot of times that the bag of chocolate-covered goodies will last me all week, I always eat it in one sitting, staring at my computer screen, during that 3pm work slump. (Is that a universal thing? It seems to be at my office). And then I usually feel sick, because I usually overfill the bag.

So taking inspiration from this habit, I came up with a recipe that hits the same notes but is a bit less indulgent: Chocolate Almond Granola Bites. Using oats, rice cereal, a mix of Blue Diamond Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt Almonds, almond butter, honey, and of course, chocolate, I whipped up a batch of these bars, and then cut them into very manageable pieces. They are still chocolatey and satisfying but the almonds, almond butter, and oats give them more staying power and nutritional value. I also used unsweetened chocolate, which made me feel extra virtuous. I’m not saying that eating one of these is the same as eating a bag of chocolate covered pretzels… but it does the trick!

This post is sponsored by Blue Diamond Almonds. All opinions are honest and my own.

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Chocolate Almond Granola Bites

Makes 16 bars.

• 1/4 c. almond butter
• 1/2 c. honey
• 3 oz. unsweetened chocolate
• 1 1/2 c. rolled oats
• 1 1/2 c. puffed rice cereal
• 1/2 c. Blue Diamond Sea Salt Almonds
• 1/2 c. Blue Diamond Dark Chocolate Almonds
• 16 white-chocolate covered pretzels

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8 inch baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a small saucepan, combine the almond butter, honey, and chocolate. Stirring, melt the liquids over low heat until the mixture is smooth and even in color. Remove from the heat
3. Add the oats, rice cereal, and almonds to a large bowl and stir to combine. Pour the chocolate-honey mixture over the cereal and stir to thoroughly coat the cereal with the chocolate. Let cool to room temperature, then press the mixture firmly into the prepared pan. Press the white-chocolate covered pretzels on top of the mixture, spacing them evenly.
4. Bake the granola bites for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven. Let cool completely before slicing and serving.

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I’ve been craving cookies. I usually try to resist baking them for as long as possible, just because I know once they’re on the counter it will be hard not to eat them by the handful. But I’ve been putting off this particular craving for weeks, and it was time to give in. I thought about trying to come up with some creative new cookie that would really wow you, but, the thing is, I didn’t really want a fancy cookie. I just wanted something simple and sweet and crunchy. And when I remembered Oatmeal Scotchies, one of my favorite, favorite cookies, I suddenly couldn’t justify making anything but those.

This is a back-of-the-bag recipe – sometimes, those are the best kind. There’s something so comforting about recipes like these, ones that you’ve made a dozen times before. You barely have to look at the ingredient list to know – two sticks of butter, softened, three-quarters of a cup white sugar, three-quarters of a cup brown sugar, two eggs, one at a time. Like a mantra from your childhood. The first thing you helped your mother make once you’d graduated from boxed cake mix. The recipe you wrote for your “how-to” paragraph in first grade. Also, one of the few recipes you make where the time it takes to preheat the oven is all the time you need. Twenty minutes after you’ve started, you’re eating the first cookie, still so hot that the molten butterscotch chips in the middle burn the tip of your tongue. The first cookie eaten on it’s own, standing over the oven, the second one sitting at the table with a cold glass of milk. You spoil your dinner, and feel a little sick from eating one too many spoonfuls of dough. It’s a welcome ritual at the end of a long week.

These are one of my dad’s favorites, too, and when I eat them, I think of him standing at the counter, sneaking just one, OK maybe two more from the cat-shaped cookie jar. My family is away this week – in Colorado and New Mexico for my baby brother’s spring break – but maybe when they come back I’ll make another batch, to share with them. After all, it’s such an easy way to show your love.

Oatmeal Scotchies

Recipe from Nestle Toll House. Makes 48 cookies.

• 1 c. (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3/4 c. white sugar
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/4 c. flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 c. oats
• One 11-oz bag butterscotch chips

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. In a large bowl, cream together butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, until fully incorporated. Stir in vanilla to incorporate.
2. In a separate, smaller bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir into the wet ingredients until the dough has an even, slightly sticky texture. Stir in the oats and the butterscotch chips.
3. Drop rounded spoonfuls of dough (a little more than a tablespoon each) onto a baking sheet to form cookies. Bake for 7-8 minutes for chewy cookies, or 9-10 minutes for crispy cookies.

The post A Childhood Cookie // Oatmeal Scotchies appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.