Chocolate Walnut Baked Oats

This is my riff on a recipe from Christina Tosi’s book, All About Cookies, called Perfect 10 Bars. These are so simple to mix up and I make these on repeat for breakfast. I usually crave something semi-sweet with coffee, in the morning, and for me, these bars are a satisfying blend of healthy fat and protein! And I love chocolate and walnut together. And I love maple and almond butter together. Coffee doesn’t need a reason. So, yeah! I live on these.

Ingredients:

3 tbs. Almond butter (sub nut butter of choice; sometimes I mix pb or sunflower seed butter with the almond…so flexible)

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

1 tsp. Vanilla extract

2 tsp. Pink Himalayan sea salt (divided)

1/4 cup plus 1 tbs. Avocado oil (sub olive/ neutral oil)

1 cup whole grain old fashioned rolled oats

1/2 cup almond flour

1 tbs arrowroot powder

1/4 - 1/2 cup raw walnut pieces (toasted, optional)

1/2 cup dark chocolate chunks/ chips/ chopped up chocolate bar (as always, measure with your heart)

1 tbs. Ground coffee beans, optional

To prepare:

Preheat the oven to 325F, grease an 8 inch square baking dish and line with parchment paper.

This gem can all be mixed up in one bowl, yay!

In a large mixing bowl, add the almond butter (or whatever sub), the maple syrup, vanilla, 1 tsp. salt, and oil. Mix well to combine and completely break up any clumps of nut butter. The mixture should be smooth and fully incorporated. Next, add the rolled oats and almond flour. Stir to combine. Sprinkle the arrowroot powder over the top of the mixture, evenly distributing, and then stir just until barely visible. Toss the walnuts, ground coffee and chocolate into the bowl and fold in. Finally, top with remaining sea salt!

Spread the batter into the prepared dish and push it into the corners. It’s thick, so take care to smooth it to the edges and across the top. Sprinkle with extra salt, if desired.

Baking times can vary, per preference. I bake mine for exactly 26 minutes. But the result is very soft, with firmer edges. It is still difficult to pick up a whole piece without crumbling. This works for me. You may need to play around with the time to achieve the firmness you would like.  Tosi says to bake for 45 minutes. See what works for you.

Allow to cool in the pan fully before slicing. Keep wrapped at room temperature. But they won’t last long!

*note: recipe also doubles well for a 9x13 dish