Chocolate Almond Oat Bars

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Chocolate Almond Oat Bars

Chocolate Almond Oat Bar

I've kept a little secret from you for much too long. A year has passed, over a hundred recipes have been shared, and still I haven't said a word. It's about time I confess. If you've been following for awhile, you may have even picked up on it. Can you guess what it is?

I'm allergic to tree nuts.

I'll admit, it's a little (a lot) ironic for a baker. Tree nuts are an anchor for most bakers. They are the backbone to many, many delicious baked goods. Yet, this secret world of nuts will be forever lost on me. Hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, macadamia nuts, cashews—I will never know their unique flavors. No sticky, gooey pecan pie at Thanksgiving. No rich, moist carrot cakes or warm banana bread sprinkled with walnuts. Perhaps most devastating of all, I will never get to enjoy a thick spread of nutella on a warm piece of toast (well, not unless I want to end up in the emergency room).

Now that's a real shame.

Chocolate Almond Oat Bar

I have come to terms with this over the years. It wasn't hard. To some extent, you can't miss what you've never had. I can dream about hazelnut crusts, nutella brownies, or white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, especially when other food bloggers flaunt these beautiful photos in my face, but I can't imagine these tastes so they become the stuff of far off dreams. Occasionally, I will smell a jar of nutella and become wistful, but that's as tragic as my story gets.

Also, that's a little weird, isn't it? Perhaps that's one confession too far...

Now that I've shared this not-so-classified information, you're probably wondering why on earth I just made chocolate almond oat bars. I'd wonder, too. For some unknown (but miraculously delicious) reason, I am not allergic to almonds, despite the fact that I am deathly allergic to the other tree nuts. My reasoning is that almonds are the most mild of the tree nuts and are more related to fruits (like the peach) than to the other tree nuts. In fact, almonds grown from undomesticated almond trees actually have small amounts of cyanide in them just like peach pits. Regardless, I don't plan to question my almond invincibility. I wouldn't want to jinx it.

Confessing my tree nut allergy isn't going to change anything around here. I fully intend to keep sharing my love for chocolate and decadent desserts. Just don't come looking to me for a recipe for pistachio pudding.

Chocolate Almond Oat Bar

These Chocolate Almond Oat Bars are the very definition of addictive. They are soft, gooey, and I-can't-stop-eating-them-please-hide-them-from-me delicious. I was inspired to make these from the Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies I made recently. The combination of oats, chocolate, and almonds in the cookie was so uniquely delicious, I wanted to try out the medley with another dessert. These do not disappoint. As several of my taste testers said, "These are good. Too good."

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Cinnamon Raisin Baked French Toast

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Cinnamon Raisin Baked French Toast

Cinnamon Raisin Baked French Toast

Every Sunday I like to fix up something special for a morning brunch. Since my family doesn't have enough time on weekday mornings to make something extravagant (and, really, who does?), we save up all our cheesy, buttery, maple syrup drenched breakfast dishes for our lazy Sunday mornings.

Last night, I set out to make a baked French toast dish. Though French toast is a regular on our brunch menu, I'm usually too last minute to think far enough ahead to assemble the French toast dish the night before. It seems a bit silly to say, but baked French toast is something that has eluded me for years. By the time I realize I want to eat it, it's already Sunday morning. It's too late to make the baked French toast I've been craving.

This week I finally thought ahead. About time, self!

Cinnamon Raisin Baked French Toast

When looking for recipes online, I've noticed that so many recipes for Cinnamon Raisin French Toast require a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread. I don't know about you, but this isn't something I normally keep in the house. When it's late Saturday night and I'm wondering what to make for Sunday brunch, the very last thing I want to do is head to the grocery store. So, in order to fix this little problem, I decided to come up with my own recipe to suit the ingredients I already had in my home. Chances are you'll already have these ingredients in your pantry too (and isn't that a wonderful, wonderful thing?).

After eating well over 1/4 of this dish on my own, I can assure you this Cinnamon Raisin Baked French Toast is the perfect brunch dish. This French toast dish does have to set in the refrigerator overnight, so you will have to think ahead. The time it spends in the refrigerator really melds together the flavors of the dish and brings out a fantastic custard-like texture.

Or, in other words, this is definitely worth the wait.

Cinnamon Raisin Baked French Toast

This Cinnamon Raisin Baked French toast is absolutely saturated with cinnamon and raisins—there is no skimping on flavor here. The French toast itself rests on a layer of butter and brown sugar. When it bakes up, the butter and sugar caramelize. This caramel sauce is then absorbed by the bread, giving an added (and delicious) dimension to the French toast. The raisins also absorb some of the liquid in the French toast, making them plump and bursting with raisin-y goodness. If I didn't know any better, I would imagine this was a decadent bread pudding. Now tell me, who wouldn't want to eat that for brunch?

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Garlic Parmesan Pull-Apart Bread

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Garlic Parmesan Pull-Apart Bread

Garlic Parmesan Pull-Apart Bread

I once made the driest pancake in the world.

I can see you sitting at home, staring at your computer screen, and scoffing at my bold statement. Driest pancake in the world? Yeah, right. How would you even know? But this is the truth, my friends. I really did make the driest pancake in the world.

Let me share my story with you.

Garlic Parmesan Pull-Apart Bread

A few years back, I made chocolate chip pancakes. The process to create them was normal and they tasted all right. They weren't bad and they weren't good; I ate them in peace. There were a few leftovers so I stashed them in the refrigerator for breakfast the next day.

Quickly flash to the next morning. It's 6 am. I was tired. I had to get to class early and barely had enough brain power to microwave the leftover pancakes from the day before. I don't know about you, but my brain doesn't begin to work properly until at least 8 am. After a minute on high, I took them out and proceeded to take a bite. The texture seemed off and they were ice cold, as if the microwave hadn't heated them at all. I put them back in for another minute. I was too sleepy to question this strange occurrence; it was 6 am, no high school student can be expected to reason at this obscene hour of the day. After the minute was up, I pulled them back out.

Still cold.

Confusion.

Was the microwave broken? I warmed up a piece of bread to test my theory. In 20 seconds, the bread was piping hot. Why wasn't my pancake?

I got angry, as one will when they want food and want it now. I stuck them back in the microwave for 5 minutes. I remember feeling very clever—I was going to beat the pancake at its own game.

Garlic Parmesan Pull-Apart Bread

When I took it out, the pancake was slightly less cool. Not warm, not hot, and definitely not enough heat to burn my mouth. In fact, it was probably only warmer because it had been out of the fridge for 10 minutes. What was wrong with this pancake? Did it develop magical superpowers overnight? I trashed the pancake and ate the warm slice of plain bread while running out the door.

It took me a few hours to realize what had happened. Microwaves work by hitting food with, well, microwaves; the energy from the waves are then absorbed by water or fats in the food. This process heats up the food quickly, making microwaves a quick way to cook or warm up food.

It only stands to reason that my pancake was so utterly dry that there wasn't enough water in it to be absorbed by the microwaves. I've seen plastics with a higher water content!

Thus, the world's driest pancake was born.

And to think I took a bite...

Garlic Parmesan Pull-Apart Bread

Luckily, this Garlic Parmesan Pull-Apart Bread is definitely not dry. The loaf is made of small pieces of dough rolled in a garlic herb butter and sprinkled with freshly grated Parmesan cheese before heading to the oven to bake. When it emerges, the bread is so soft, tender, and packed with flavor. The bread pulls apart effortlessly, turning a solid loaf of bread into bite-sized pieces. This bread is best served with a side of marinara or tomato sauce.

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