Almond Butter & Oat Cookie Bars

Makes 9-12 Bars

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Is there anything better than New Zealand in July? The crisp, cold, wet air. Sudden gales and a lot of mud. Auckland pooches wearing obnoxious tartan sweaters. The answer is a resounding yes; I'll back that up with some examples: Greece in July, Spain in July, and Scotland in July (maybe). To be fair to the North Island, a sunny winters day is often better than a regular summers day in Scotland; I imagine.

In order to escape the looming winter blues, I'm here to offer a comprehensive guide on steps you absolutely must take. The first and most pertinent, is to do as I say and not as I do. I'm not exactly here to divulge how many times I've cried in the month of July, seeing as we are only eight days into it, but I'll hazard a guess that it's probably more than you. We digress! Firstly, you must smoke two cigarettes a day, drink three cups of black coffee before noon, only drink white wine after five o'clock, but always drink white wine after five o'clock, and only ever drink white wine, and finally sleep with your mop in one hand in case your husband spills his scotch at poker night. These rules may seem slightly restrictive but trust me, I did not steal them from a 1950s magazine. I would never plagiarise.

Truthfully, the cold and wet is not always easy to overcome, but I find, that a little baking always goes a long way to getting that much needed self-care in. I love these bars, even if my mother finds them to be too sweet (thanks for the honesty Kim). These are truly a one-bowl wonder and they take minutes to whip up. Perhaps, if you make these, I'll let you skip the third cup of black coffee. Deal?

PRO TIPS

• Almond Butter: If you want to make your own almond butter (highly recommend) you should use roasted almonds HOWEVER I did not. I used plain, skin on almonds and they worked amazingly well. So if you are thinking of just making almond butter for this recipe, 2 cups of plain almonds, 2 tablespoons of rice bran oil, and a pinch of salt in a food processor on low for 7 - 9 minutes should do the trick. Keep scraping down the sides as you go.

• For the apple sauce, I just used 1 packet of baby food apple sauce because we don't sell those big jugs for adults like they have over in the US, it's a pretty exclusively American thing.

• For the oat flour, I just blended 3 cups of oats until they reached a fine powder consistency (a few oats here and there are just fine)

• If you have a big family I would double or even triple the recipe!

Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons of coconut or raw sugar

• 6 tablespoons of almond butter (check PRO TIPS for an easy homemade version)

• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

• 1/8 teaspoon of salt

• 1 egg

• 1/4 cup of apple sauce

• 1 tablespoon of maple syrup

• 1 1/2 cups of oat flour (check PRO TIPS for how to do this at home)

• 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder

• 5 tablespoons of chocolate chips

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 170℃ (bake).

2. Whisk the sugar, salt, vanilla, and almond butter together until fully cohesive.

3. Whisk in your egg until fully incorporated. Then whisk in your apple sauce and maple syrup.

4. Sprinkle the oat flour over the mixture. Sprinkle the baking powder on top of the oat flour and then slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the mixture.

5. Stir in 3 tablespoons of the chocolate chips.

6. Line a small baking tray - about 20cmx20cm - with baking paper.

7. Press the mixture into the tray.

8. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips over the top and gently push them in to the mixture.

9. Bake in the oven for 10 - 13 minutes.

10. Remove them from the oven and let them cool for at least 15 minutes.

11. ENJOY!!

Stay Salty,

Romy xx