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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Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

At times, I can be very domestic. I spend more time in the kitchen than anyone really should. Baking, cooking, eating, I love it all. I am a part of the rare breed that actually enjoys grocery shopping. If you catch me in the right mood, I don't even mind cleaning.

But, I will never be a true domestic because I am awful at laundry.

First off, I hate laundry. I normally don't use the word "hate" but for laundry I'm making an exception. In the past, I have strategically arranged my clothing so I can go as long as humanly possible without doing laundry. My record is 5 weeks. Everything in my entire wardrobe was worn. Old shirts from high school band, free over-sized t-shirts from radio stations and organizations I know nothing about, the horribly outdated pants I bought 8 years ago that still fit so I can't justify getting rid of them—nothing is safe.

I have gone out in public looking like a far less fashionable Kelly Kapowski from Saved by the Bell. Now, that is just how much I hate laundry.

Since ironing is an extra step in the laundry process, it's a skill I've avoided learning. I don't iron. If I happen to buy clothes that wrinkle more than a Shar Pei puppy, I wear my wrinkled clothing in stride. I try to convince the world that wrinkled dresses are the new black (though I'm not sure it's quite working).

Nevertheless, last week I tried to teach myself the art of the iron. I received a fancy (expensive) pair of shorts for my birthday, but they were wrinkled past the point where even I wouldn't consider wearing them. So, I sucked it up, took out the iron, and went to work. Well, I melted the shorts. Literally, melted a hole straight through the fabric. That definitely didn't help my loathing for laundry.

From now on, I should just stick to what I do best—baking cookies.

These Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies are one good cookie. Even though they are made with whole wheat flour, you might not guess it when eating them. These cookies are a little heartier than your average chocolate chip cookie, with a subtle boost from oats and sliced almonds. You can optionally add a touch of orange zest to spice up the flavor (chocolate and orange will always be one of my favorite flavor combinations). The hint of orange adds a unique touch and brings something new to the classic chocolate chip cookie.

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Chocolate Raspberry Pots de Creme

To my mother,

Thank you for anything and everything you do for me. I appreciate it all, even if I don't express it to you nearly enough. You're my editor. You're my shoulder to lean on. You're my source of wisdom. You're my mentor. You're my friend. But most of all, you're my mother and I love you, forever and always.

Thank you for letting me move back home while I'm in between places. I know I never seem to make my bed and my room is always a mess. I know the kitchen is always covered in a thin, immovable layer of powdered sugar and flour and it's totally my fault. I know, in my 22 years of life, I haven't quite figured out that my dirty clothes go in the laundry basket instead of on the floor.

Thank you for understanding this is a difficult concept for me.

I can't express my appreciation to you for allowing me to take as much time as I need to figure out what I want to do with my life. You don't rush me or push me towards one direction over another. You listen to me thoughtfully and try to help me figure out where I belong. Thank you for supporting me, no matter what my "career of the day" happens to be.

I love you because I can count on you to watch every romantic comedy with me, no matter how awful or cheesy it may be. I love you because you support my obsessive baking even when we're all watching our calories. I love you because we both have lofty dreams of being gardeners even though we can't be bothered to weed our vegetables once we plant them.

But most of all, I love you for being the kind of mother I can only hope to be someday. Happy Mother's Day!

Love,
Kristin

These Chocolate Raspberry Pots de Creme are dark, decadent, and rich. Dark chocolate is melted and mixed into a base of cream cheese. Raspberries are then infused into the chocolate, bringing a touch of sweetness and a new dimension of flavor. These pots are not for the faint of heart. If you are wary of such a dark and decadent dessert, feel free to use a semi-sweet or even milk chocolate to cut the bitterness of the dark chocolate. It will give it more sweetness and a lighter tone.

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