Posted 3 months ago

Eat Well, Live Well – Made-Over Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bites

Why not celebrate the new year with something sweet and simple to make. This recipe combines fiber-rich whole rolled oats, creamy nut butter and heart healthy omega-3 fatty acid rich flaxseeds. A delicious hybrid between a cookie and a bar, these bites will satisfy your sweet tooth and your mid-afternoon hunger.
This recipes is vegan but can be made non- vegan with the change of just one ingredient (regular mini-chocolate chips in place of vegan).
The use of dark chocolate chips (at least 70% cocoa) adds antioxidants and other compounds with known nutrition and health benefits and the darker the chocolate (the higher the % cocoa) the lower the sugar content.

Ingredients

– 2 cups Gluten free certified old fashioned oats
– 1 cup almond flour
– 3/4 cup ground flaxseed
– 1/2 tsp salt
– 2 tsp baking powder
– 1/2 cup vegan mini-chocolate chips
– 2 tsp vanilla extract
– 1 cup pure maple syrup
– 1/2 cup natural almond butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. In another bowl, mix wet ingredients (vanilla extract through maple syrup). Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
3. Drop the dough into 24 even mounds on a parchment paper/silicon mat-lined or greased baking sheet or pour into a greased 9-inch by 13-inch baking pan. Lightly press down to flatten (cookies will not flatten much during cooking).
4. Bake 12-15 minutes, until the cookies are just set in the center.

Makes 24 cookies.
Per cookie: 157 calories, 8 g total fat (1 g saturated fat), 18 g carbohydrate, 3 g protein 3 g dietary fiber, 115 mg sodium.


Brenda Gridley, CSP, RDN

Brenda is originally from Los Angeles, CA where she attended California State University of Los Angeles for her under graduate degree in Nutritional Science. She began her career with Kaiser Permanente in 2004.    Throughout her professional development, she has worked in Cardiology and open heart surgery, Renal/Dialysis, organ transplants and Oncology, including chemotherapy, radiation and head and neck.  Brenda has extensive experience with weight management programs, including Bariatric and finally Eating disorders and mindful eating.  She went on to specialize in the Pediatric population and has maintained her Certification in Pediatric Nutrition since 2011.  Areas she has managed include pediatric and neonatal intensive care units where she was responsible for individualizing therapeutic diets and alternate nutrition support  based on specific metabolic needs, medical conditions, and cultural preferences.

Her passion for nutrition was developed at a young age and reared by her grandmother who always instilled the importance of a healthy diet and active lifestyle.  When her grandmother became ill, Brenda became aware of the impact nutrition plays in disease prevention and maintaining overall mind and body health.  She cared for grandmother until she passed and has made it her goal to help others achieve their full “nutrition potential” with using a culturally sensitive holistic approach.

She is married with two beautiful daughters and in her spare time she enjoys watching movies with her children, experimenting with new recipes, reading mystery novels, running and Yoga.

Please ask your Ironwood Cancer & Research Centers provider for a referral to see our dietary counselors.