Chocolate Almond Oat Bars

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.

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.

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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Creamy Grape Salad

I am quite aware this blog is primarily filled with baked goods, sticks of butter, cups of sugar, and an inevitable spike in your virtual cholesterol. There's a good reason for it, too. I love working and kneading dough with my hands. I love the smell and sound of bubbling browned butter. I love the soft sweetness that adding just a hint of sugar brings to dark and decadent desserts. Most importantly, I love eating these sweet treats. But every once in a while I find a recipe that, even though it doesn't have anything to do with baking, is just too good not to share with you, blog theme be damned.

I'm hoping you'll forgive me.

Today, I'm going to step out of my frosting covered comfort zone and share a salad with you.

My mother actually made this grape salad for a potluck lunch. She had read raving reviews about it and promptly decided she needed to know what all the fuss was about. I'm glad she went to the trouble. Even though the salad may look a little peculiar (and to be honest, I was initially very skeptical about it), it is undeniably delicious. Even the guests who were hesitant to try it inevitably came back for seconds. That speaks volumes.

Since I can't get enough of this grape salad, I made it again, this time just for myself. If you're lucky, I just might share it with you.

This Creamy Grape Salad is fresh and light, with just the right balance of sweet and tart. Cream cheese and sour cream are mixed together with a touch of sugar to make the base. Though the combination of these ingredients might sound strange to you (as they did me), keep in mind that these are the primary components of fruit dips. The salad features both sweet red grapes and tart green grapes which mingle together with toasted almonds and brown sugar. The complete recipe is perfect for a potluck or friendly get-together while halving the recipe will provide just the right amount for your own family. You don't want to miss this.

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Blueberry Coffee Cake

I remember the first time I tried coffee very clearly.

A friend and I had agreed to ditch our college classes for a day and drive four hours away with one of our professors to a conference to hear a Nobel laureate give a speech. Because we were skipping out on a day of work, we pulled an all-nighter to try to finish the homework we'd miss the next day. When you happen to be a physics major, there unfortunately aren't many breaks from the books. At 7 am, we hit the road, incredibly exhausted.

I remember very little of the conference. We arrived, food was involved, and an incredible amount of scientific information went completely over my head. In my zombie-like state, my only focus was on a nice warm bed.

Late afternoon, it was the big event. The moment we'd all been waiting for. The Nobel laureate in physics was going to give a speech. As a future scientist, I was very lucky to even be sitting in the audience. This man was going to give us his secrets. Even so, I was falling asleep standing up. This is when my friend and I decided to take drastic measures—we'd drink the free coffee in hopes of staying awake.

This was a big deal. Even though we had reached our 20s, coffee had somehow eluded both of us until this moment. We decided to share (as one will do when they are fearful of what is in the cup). Nearly 1/4 cup of sugar was poured in. Cream colored the coffee nearly white. We were afraid of the acidic, bitter drink so we tried to mask it as best we could. And then, we drank.

I had never tasted something so awful in my life.

After one sip, it was clear we both had enough. Yet, the speech was going to begin and this was the whole reason we got ourselves into this mess in the first place. We figured, after this much work, we might as well be awake to hear what this man had to say so we took the coffee with us.

Each time one of us would nod off, we'd have to drink. These were the rules. It was a terrible game we played. Though our efforts were valiant, every single word of this man's speech was completely lost on me. I had no idea what he even talked about. I couldn't tell you the vaguest details about what his Nobel was even for. But I did learn this: it is possible to actually fall asleep sitting up perfectly straight on a set of bleachers.

Also, coffee tasted like gasoline. Possibly worse.

Nevertheless, I did eventually come around to coffee (and it really does taste better if you don't put in so much sugar). It's a good thing too because otherwise I would miss out on the wonderful world of coffee cake. By definition, coffee cakes are destined to be served with coffee (or tea) and this coffee cake is no exception.

This blueberry coffee cake is lightly sweetened and stuffed full of blueberries. The cake is partially made with whole wheat flour to give it a healthy spin. The cake is tender and light, but the crumble really helps this cake truly shine. Almonds, brown sugar, and cinnamon come together to give this cake some much deserved crunch. If you're looking for a coffee cake to enjoy for breakfast or dessert, this may be exactly what you have been searching for.

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