I know that the sound of date cookies might ring a bit unusual. Although, I came up with this idea while I was testing a new recipe for Date Brownies (coming soon!). Since the brownie batter was so thick, I decided to drop tablespoons of batter onto a cookie sheet and bake them. I was overjoyed with the result! These cookies turned out thick, chewy, and just like perfect little brownie bites!

Recipe Notes

This recipe is naturally sweetened with dates. Allowing the dates to soak in boiling water for 10 minutes is the secret to giving these cookies an extra fudgy texture! Dates are loaded with health benefits, which is why I love using them as a sugar alternative in baking.

These Date Brownie Cookies call for oat flour, which is one of my favorite gluten-free flour alternatives. I usually make my own oat flour by placing oats in my blender or food processor and blending until a flour consistency is reached.

1/2 a cup of unsweetened apple sauce is used in this recipe as a vegan egg replacement. Plus, it also helps add moisture. A good rule of thumb is that you can replace one egg with 1/4 cup of apple sauce.

I hope you enjoy these easy, guilt-free, and delicious date cookies as much as we do! Be sure to check out some of my other healthy cookie recipes: Healthy Banana Oat Cookies, Chickpea Peanut Butter Cookies, and Healthy Peanut Butter Patties. Happy baking!

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Date Brownie Cookies

Course Dessert, Snack

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup of dates pitted
• 3/4 cups oat flour can be made by blending whole oats in your blender or food processor until you have a flour consistency
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 salt
• 1/2 cup of unsweetened apple sauce
• 2 tablespoons of natural nut butter I use peanut butter
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
• 1/3 cup of chocolate chips

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Bring a small pot of water to a boil, once water is boiling remove from heat and allow dates to soak for 10 minutes until soft.
• While you are waiting for your dates to soak, add the rest of the ingredients (aside from chocolate chips) to your food processor and blend until combined.
• Drain your dates and add them to the food processor and blend until evenly combined (About 30 seconds to a minute). You may want to stop periodically and scrape the sides to ensure everything is evenly combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
• Scoop out cookie dough with a tablespoon and place it on lined baking sheet. The dough will be sticky, but these cookies do not spread in the oven so try to shape and flatten the cookies to your desired size. Top each cookie with desired amount of chocolate chips.
• Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until the tops no longer appear to be wet. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving and enjoy!

The post Date Brownie Cookies appeared first on Splurge with Ella.

This healthy and amazing Banana Bread recipe has become one of the most popular recipes that I have shared on my Instagram, and I am so excited to finally be publishing it here.

There’s nothing better than a warm slice of banana bread fresh out of the oven, and this recipe is made with 100% wholesome ingredients that you can feel good about. If you love banana bread I promise you will love this guilt-free recipe, and so will everyone else who tries it.

Why this recipe works

Vegan banana bread recipes often call for egg replacements like flax seeds or other substitutes that you may not have on hand, but this recipe sticks to the basics.

Banana happens to be one of my favorite egg replacements when making vegan desserts, which is why this recipe calls for three whole overripe bananas. Another benefit of incorporating banana into a recipe is that it acts as a natural sweetener. This is why this recipe only calls for 1/3 of a cup of maple syrup.

I decided to use coconut oil as the fat source in this banana bread because using coconut oil in cakes or breads will always ensure that they turn out moist and obtain a tender crumb.

A combination of oat flour and whole wheat flour ensure that this vegan banana bread is healthier than traditional banana bread recipes, and they give this bread an extra special flavor that I love!

Of course, I had to incorporate chocolate chips because…well who doesn’t love chocolate? Chocolate chips also help to give this banana bread another element of sweetness that is just perfect.

Pro tip:

Pro tip: if your bananas are ripe, but not overripe yet, pop them in the oven at 350 degrees until the peels turn completely black. Then remove them from the oven and allow time to cool before slicing off the peel with a knife – now you have perfectly soft and sweet bananas! Magical.

If you love banana, be sure to check out some of my favorite banana forward recipes: Blueberry Banana Muffins, Healthy Banana Oat Cookies, Blueberry Banana Baked Donuts, and my Peanut Butter Swirl Banana Nice Cream. This Banana Bread is easy to make, but even easier to eat. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do! Happy Baking!

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Vegan Banana Bread

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

• 1 cup of oat flour made by blending 1 cup of oats in the blender until four consistency
• ¾ cups of whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp of salt
• ½ tsp of cinnamon
• 1 1/3 cups of mashed banana about 3 overripe OR baked bananas
• 1/3 cup of coconut oil melted
• 1/3 cup of maple syrup plus 3-4 more tablespoons depending on desired sweetness
• ¼ cup of almond milk slightly warm so it does not solidify the coconut oil
• 1 tsp of vanilla
• 1/3-1/2 cup of chocolate chips I like to add more to the top – vegan if desired

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 and grease bread pan with coconut oil.
• Combine the first 6 dry ingredients together in a medium bowl and whisk until combined.
• Combine the mashed banana, maple syrup, melted coconut oil, almond milk, and vanilla in a small bowl and stir to combine. Add the wet ingredients into the dry and gently fold in to combine.
• Add in desired amount of chocolate chips and fold in to combine.
• Pour batter into prepared bread pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and the top springs back when touched.
• Cool bread before removing from pan and slicing. Enjoy!

The post The Best Vegan Banana Bread appeared first on Splurge with Ella.

If you’re anything like me, you’re always looking for healthier dessert alternatives. I am so excited to share this recipe with you because these Healthy Banana Oat Cookies have become my new favorite sweet tooth fix. I have been making these cookies FIVE times a week because they are just that good, and not to mention they make for a wonderful breakfast option because they are packed with wholesome ingredients. Cookies for breakfast? Count me in!

These Healthy Banana Oat Cookies are:

soft and chewy

gluten free and vegan

quick and easy (less than 20 minutes and no mixer required)

made with SIMPLE and CLEAN ingredients

perfectly balanced with banana, peanut butter, and chocolate chips

Recipe Breakdown

These cookies only call for 100% vegan and clean ingredients that you can feel good about “splurging” on, but they still taste and feel indulgent. Let’s talk about how a handful of magical ingredients work together to make this result possible.

The base of these cookies is made up of whole oats and oat flour (which is easily made by blending whole oats in a blender until flour consistency is reached). Oat flour is one of my favorite flour alternatives because it results in a chewy (gluten-free) texture.

The source of sweetness within these cookies comes from the banana and a few tablespoons of maple syrup. Feel free to substitute honey in for the maple syrup if that is your preferred sweetener. In this recipe, the banana doubles as a sweetener as well as a vegan egg replacement, giving these cookies their soft and addicting texture.

This recipe calls for 1/4 cup of peanut butter and three tablespoons of coconut oil. These two ingredients team up to create a healthy (and delicious) fat source. I love the flavor that peanut butter adds to these cookies when paired with the banana and chocolate, but you can substitute any nut or seed butter that you prefer.

Oh, and last but not least, the perfect amount of chocolate chips bring these cookies to the next level.

In less than 20 minutes you can have these amazing, easy, and completely guilt-free cookies at your fingertips! Be sure to check out some of my other favorite cookie recipes: Double Chocolate Brownie Cookies, Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies, and my Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. Happy baking!

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Healthy Banana Oat Cookies

Course Dessert

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 8 minutes minutes

Servings 10

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups of old fashioned oats gluten free if desired
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon of oat flour made by blending whole oats in a blender or food processor until flour consistency is reached
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 overripe mashed banana
• 4-5 tablespoons maple syrup depending on desired sweetness
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips I like to use mini and vegan if desired
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 tablespoons melted coconut oil
• 1/4 cup of peanut butter can be substituted with preferred nut or seed butter, but the flavor of the cookies may change

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Whisk the first 5 dry ingredients in a medium bowl until combined.
• Add in the rest of the ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.
• Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheet and press down slightly to flatten (these cookies do not spread a lot in the oven).
• Bake for 7-8 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Cool on wire rack and enjoy!

Notes

These cookies are so good after they have been frozen! I love putting a few in the freezer overnight and eating them the next day for breakfast.

The post Healthy Banana Oat Cookies appeared first on Splurge with Ella.

Unlike most homemade jams, this strawberry jam requires no refined sugars or pectin! I love starting my morning with strawberry jam, but it can be hard to find a recipe or brand that is free from unhealthy additives. After reading countless nutrition labels at the store, I decided to make my own homemade jam that I could feel good about eating.

Why this recipe works

I wanted this jam to highlight the sweetness and flavors that strawberries naturally contain. I chose to utilize honey as a healthier sugar alternative. Not only does honey contain many vitamins, but it also has a lower glycemic index than white sugar. This means that it will be digested more slowly, which helps to prevent spikes in blood glucose levels. Most jam recipes require you to use pectin. Pectin is a settling agent used to thicken jams or jellies. This recipe calls for cornstarch, which also works as a thickening agent as the jam cools. Lastly, a tablespoon of lemon juice helps to brighten and enhance the jam’s strawberry flavor.

Many homemade jam recipes can often be time-consuming and will call for large amounts of ingredients, but this recipe only requires 2 and 1/3 cups of strawberries. This cooks down into one 8 oz jar of jam. If you want to make a larger quantity, feel free to double the recipe, although it may require more time on the stove.

In less than 25 minutes you can have amazing, healthy, and homemade jam at your fingertips..so what are you waiting for?! If you want to start your day with another healthy recipe checkout my favorite Granola recipe.

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Easy Strawberry Jam

This Strawberry Jam recipe is easy to make, healthy, and only requires 4 simple ingredients. In less than 30 minutes you will have amazing homemade jam that you can feel good about!

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

• 2 ⅓ cups fresh or frozen strawberries (or berries of choice)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3-4 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch

Instructions

• Add berries to a food processor or high powered blender and blend until smooth.
• Add the blended berries to a small pot or saucepan over medium heat along with all other ingredients. Stir mixture constantly until it begins to bubble. Lower heat to medium-low and stir frequently (almost constantly) for another 15-20 minutes until the jam begins to thicken (It will thicken more as it cools).
• Remove from heat and transfer jam into a jar. Cool and store in fridge and serve on bagels, toast, biscuits or anything else desired!

Notes

Makes about 8 ounces: If you want a larger quantity of jam, double or triple the recipe, and allow to cook down longer on the stove. 

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