Double Chocolate, Doubly Delicious, and Seriously Guilt Free

I've been on a serious, and I mean serious, clean eating kick for the past three weeks.  I love it!  I have more energy to make it through my 18-hour day, I feel great and I'm gaining a new body and healthy image!  Processed junk foods no longer have the same appeal it once did. I go to a buffet and long for the colorful salad bar!  And I find it challenging to see what clean eating sweet treats I can create without tearing open a bag of Chips Ahoy. 

I'd like to thank Chris Freytag for a lo-ot of that.  I've been committed to her circuit workouts for nearly two years now and just recently purchased her new eBook about clean eating.  I thought I was doing well before and I have several Eat Clean cookbooks, too.  I was way off kilter.  I was doing it wrong!  I was inconsistent.  I purchased Chris's eBook which uses recipes from Slender Kitchen and the menu suggested a Cookie Pie recipe.

Omg it sounded heavenly. And I made the cookie dough dip before, too-also sinfully delicious. But I didn't want a Cookie Pie. I wanted more chocolate. More goodness. More.  I honestly don't think any other decadent food can top the health benefits of sweet and sinful chocolate.  Yup, this dessert packs in healthy yumminess!

This recipe calls for garbanzo beans in place of flour.  Yes, this is a Gluten Free dessert!  I'm sure you may have heard of this substitution, if you are familiar with gluten free subs. Even black beans are common substitutes. But did you know garbanzo are super good for you?  I mean, top notch, get your blood moving good!  Like, the healthiest bean out there!  Not to mention the chocolate!!!  That's my kind of MUFA (monounsaturated fatty acid) right there. 

Okay so I had to do it; I added more chocolate!  And yes, I kept the calories way down.

Double Chocolate Brownie Cookies-Gluten Free

1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup PB2 peanut butter chocolate flavor [if you can't find the PB2 (I ordered mine online), you may use 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter and omit the 1 Tb]

1/4 skim milk (I used soy)

3 Tb uncooked oatmeal

1 Tb cocoa powder

1 Tb creamy peanut butter

2 tsp vanilla

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/6 tsp salt

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350*F.

Grease 8" square baking pan lightly with   cooking spray. Set aside. 

Combine all ingredients except chocolate chips in food processor or blender until smooth.  Fold in chocolate chips. 

Spread into prepared pan and bake for 35 min or until set about 2 inches from edge.  Cool slightly and cut evenly into 16 bars.  Dust with powdered sugar if desired. 

I served these up immediately because my 9-year old couldn't wait to try the cookies, since he had to suffer smelling them while they baked. I didn't tell him they were healthy. And he ate two!

These are surprisingly satisfyingly filling!  I came home from work tonight famished.  You know when you can't wait for dinner to be ready and you are serving your kids their afternoon snack and you so want to stick your hand into their bag of chips or cookies?  And I'd had plenty a fill of fruits and veggies today.  So I had a square of gooey Double Chocolate Brownie Cookie with a glass of water and I felt content not to nibble on dinner while cooking.  Every bite-guilt free goodness.  Yep. You'll love it. No picky shark version needed here!  This one is especially good for them.