Better snacking!

I recently went on a big bender about having healthier snacks in the house. Our kids will eat anything in their path, so I decided to clean up the options so that it wouldn't be as bad if they did. They love granola bars, but if you've looked at the nutritional facts on those bad boys you probably nearly cried. I almost did. They are THE WORST. Here I was thinking that I was making an okay decision by buying granola bars for them to snack on and then I ended up just feeling awful about buying them in the first place. SO, then I decided I needed to find an easy peasy recipe that could sort of take the place of the granola bars, be healthful, but still be tasty.

I stumbled upon this recipe for a healthier snack "cake" and made some slight adjustments to what I had on hand in my pantry. These ingredients are things I typically have around, so it makes it easy for me to make whenever I would like. I used melted coconut oil because it's been so warm here that it was already melted in the pantry haha Don't let the coconut oil scare you if it's not really your thing. My husband can detect the slightest bit of coconut in anything because he hates it, but he had no idea I used it in this recipe.
And let me tell you, these are tasty!  The chocolate chips make you feel like you're getting a little treat. You can go a step further and use vegan chocolate chips if you'd like. Either way, I highly recommend you give these a try! 

Oatmeal Chocolate Snack Cakes

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or ½ cup whole wheat flour ½ cup regular flour)

¾ cup rolled oats

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

6 TB unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled (or 6 TB melted coconut oil)

1 large egg

¾ cup packed light brown sugar

½ cup unsweetened applesauce

¾ cup semisweet mini (or regular) chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of a 9-inch (I used an 8-inch) square baking pan with a foil strip long enough to overhang on 2 opposite sides. Spray the foil lightly with cooking spray; set aside.

Whisk together the flour, oats, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl; set aside. Whisk the butter, egg, brown sugar and applesauce in a large bowl until combined. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until barely mixed. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Spread the batter in the prepared baking pan. Bake until the cake is light brown around the edges and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Use the foil overhang to lift the cake out of the pan and let cool completely on the rack. Invert onto a plate and peel the foil off. Re-invert the cake onto a cutting board, cut into 12 pieces and serve.