Recipe: Whole Wheat Oatmeal Molasses Dark Chocolate Gooey Bars

OMG these gooey bars are sooooo good. As I write this, with a mouthful of chocolate-y, oatmeal-y goodness, my heart is literally breaking over the fact that they're all gone. So my crazy, demanding, vegan/vegetarian sister came home this weekend, and threatened me (by knife-point) to make her some sugar-y baked goods to get her through the four midterms she has this week. I found this recipe and decided to go with it since it was easy enough to make egg-less, and it looked incredibly delicious and kinda healthy. I made two batches, one egg-less for the crazy pseudo-vegan, and one for the rest of us normal people. 

Since I didn't have any unsweetened applesauce on hand, I decided to use mashed banana with a little bit of baking powder as my egg substitute, and it seemed to work fairly well, lending the gooey bar a faint banana taste, which blended well with the oatmeal and chocolate flavors. I was personally concerned that the molasses flavor was overpowered by the banana, but no one else seemed to think so. 

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Molasses Dark Chocolate Gooey Bars:

Ingredients:

-1 cup old fashioned oatmeal

-1/2 cup whole wheat flour

-1/2 cup all-purpose flower

-1/2 cup canola oil

-3/4 cup sugar

-2 heaping tablespoons dark molasses

-1 egg (or egg substitute)

-1/2 tsp baking soda

-1 tsp vanilla

-3/4 tsp sea salt

-1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

1.) The first batch I made was the egg-less one, so for my egg substitute, I combined 1/4 cup mashed banana (about 1/2 a banana) with 1 tsp baking powder.

2.) Combine all the wet ingredients and the sugar: egg (or egg substitute), oil, sugar, molasses and vanilla. Mix thoroughly.

3.) Carefully incorporate your dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Add both the flours, baking soda, and salt first.

4.) Gently fold in the chocolate chips, until well interspersed throughout the batter.

5.) Lastly, add in the oatmeal and mix well.

6.) Spread the batter out on a foiled-lined or parchment-lined 8x8 pan, and press down with spatula to even out batter.

7.) Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and once cooled, cut into squares and enjoy!