(gluten & dairy free) hazelnut butter brownies + a giveaway! / March 10, 2015 by Lindsey | Dolly and Oatmeal

hazelnut butter brownies | dolly and oatmeal

hazelnut butter brownies (gluten + dairy free) | dolly and oatmeal

important things today! i've got brownies and a giveaway for you! but first, these cake-y, hazelnut-y brownies!

i've making my fair share of desserts and treats laced with chocolate over the past few months, which i basically chalk up to eating my feelings: feeling #1: being cold. feeling #2: stressed. and feeling #3: chocolate, because chocolate is totally a feeling! these brownies were born out of a love for the happy marriage of chocolate and nuts, and the wonderful things they produce when mixed, stirred and mushed to together. point in case, these brownies! they're adapted from sarah's chocolate chunk nut butter blondies which i made a few weeks ago for valentine's day; they were awesomely delicious and totally inspired me to try a different, nut-based take on a traditional dessert. but because i wanted more brownie and less blondie, i tweaked the recipe by adding hazelnut butter and a bit of raw cacao - so yeah, they're basically NUTELLA brownies! i can't tell you how insane the taste of nutella, in brownie form is, just too good.

and now for the giveaway! my awesome pal, jessica recently released a lovely e-book, a year of breakfast! when she emailed me last year asking if i would like to contribute a breakfast-y, plant-based recipe to her book, i was super thrilled! the book is filled with awesome breakfast recipes; from muffins, to smoothies, and a savory grit recipe i'm dying to make! jessica's just one of those people who has a magnetism about her; whether it's about her work, her little babe, or the things she believes in, she's just one of those super sparkly gems! and jessica's so awesome that she's giving away two copies of a year of breakfast, to 2 lucky peeps!

***to enter a chance to win: in the spirit of friends and recipes, leave a comment below sharing what your favorite recipe is, either from a friend, family member or interweb pal, and i will choose 2 winners at random. contest ends monday, march 16th at 6pm, good luck, y'all! xo

***also, you can still vote for your favorite blogs for the Saveur Blog Awards until march 13th!

hazelnut butter brownies (gluten + dairy free)

the brownies here were made with 2 eggs, resulting in a cake-like texture. however, it you're looking for a more dense, fudgy brownie, use one egg. also, i think these could benefit from some crunch, perhaps leftover chopped hazelnuts, or topped with puffed quinoa were both thoughts that came to mind!

adapted from My New Roots

| makes 16 brownies |

hazelnut butter

2 cups raw hazelnuts

brownies

3/4 cup coconut sugar
1-2 eggs (1 egg for dense brownies, 2 eggs for cake-like brownies)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup hazelnut butter
1/3 cup raw cacao powder (or cocoa powder)
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2.5 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate (65%-70% cacao), divided

instructions

hazelnut butter

preheat oven to 375°. roast hazelnuts in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet for 10-15 minutes, until toasted and fragrant. let cool completely. rub hazelnuts with fingers or in a dish towel to release skins. place skinned nuts in a high speed blender, blend hazelnuts into a creamy consistency, stopping blender to scrape down sides when needed. place in a lidded jar and refrigerate until ready to use

brownies

preheat oven to 325° and line an 8x8-inch square baking pan with a piece of parchment - long enough to hang over 2 sides
in a medium mixing bowl, briskly whisk together eggs and sugar; add vanilla and hazelnut butter and whisk again until thoroughly combined. in a separate bowl, sift cacao, baking soda and salt; stir into hazelnut butter mixture. then fold in half of the chopped chocolate
spread brownie batter evenly into the prepared pan, the batter will be very sticky; use fingers if necessary to spread out. sprinkle with remaining chocolate, and bake in the center of your oven for 30 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean
allow brownies to cool completely before cutting. brownies can be stored at room temperature in an air tight container for up to 5 days

enjoy!

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chocolate dipped, oatmeal-hazelnut cookies / January 28, 2014 by Lindsey | Dolly and Oatmeal

when it rains it pours. that's how the past couple weeks have felt, from car troubles, to personal and interpersonal disappointments, to feeling the pressures of work, to disgusting plumbing problems. i'm sure i'm not the only one who feels the weight of being overwhelmed by the ebb and flow of life, and believe me, i am fully aware that the feelings i'm talking about are super minor compared to a lot of other issues out there in universe. that being said, i tend to put myself under a lot of pressure, and hold myself to certain standards, especially when it comes to relationships, both personal and professional, leaving my brain feeling really full and overworked at times. my husband does a great job at listening and finding ways to put things into perspective. while out celebrating 6 months of marriage the other night, out of nowhere he looked at me with his deep, penetrable eyes and said, life is good. i could have cried, in times when i am feeling the weight of life i totally over complicate and analyze things. but this guy, with all his wisdom, uttered 3 little words that made it all a little less suffocating. so, despite the day's hardships life, overall, is just really f*@%)!^ good. here's to enjoying the the life you have and the one's you love.

speaking of life's goods: cookies! i was totally inspired by One Part Plant's Jessica Murnane's cute new e-book, A Year Of Cookies! which has really great recipes from Baked, Laura Wright of The First Mess, Julie Lee of Julie's Kitchen and many others. so, i set out to make an oatmeal cookie of my dreams. i'm not a big fan of the usual chewy oatmeal cookie studded with raisins or perhaps other dried fruit. to me, cookies are best when sweet and crunchy, and all that remains after your first bite is a lick of salt on your lips. also, cookies of my dreams regularly contain nuts, it's a rule. i wanted to incorporate something toasted and nutty and thought the hazelnut meal would suite that need perfectly. and generally when i think of hazelnuts in a sweet sense, i think chocolate. so, naturally, chocolate dunked cookies were in order this go round. hope you enjoy : )

chocolate dipped, oatmeal-hazelnut cookies

| gluten free + dairy free |

makes 20 small cookies or about 10 large

ingredients

3/4 cup gluten free rolled oats
1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted and skins removed (for hazelnut meal and sprinkling - directions below)
1/4 cup brown rice flour
1/4 teaspoon + a pinch fine grain sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon coconut palm sugar
1 free-range egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup dairy free chocolate chips (Enjoy Life brand is my go-to)
1 teaspoon coconut oil

instructions

for the hazelnut meal

in a food processor, pulse 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons of the toasted hazelnuts until you are left with hazelnut meal - you don't want to pulse them too long or you will be left with hazelnut butter. remove the meal from the food processor and set aside.
add remaining hazelnuts to the processor and pulse until roughly chopped. set aside for later

make the cookies

preheat oven to 350° and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper
in a large bowl whisk the rolled oats, hazelnut meal, brown rice flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon until combined. in another large bowl, whisk the melted coconut oil with the sugar until dissolved. add the egg and vanilla and beat mixture until combined. add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix with a spatula until combined
using your hands, form small balls of dough (about 1/2 tablespoon), place on prepared baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie. place cookies in the refrigerator for 5 minutes. remove from fridge, and place in oven; bake for 13-15 minutes, rotating halfway through, until edges of cookies are slightly brown and crisp. remove from oven and transfer to cooling racks. let cookies cool completely

chocolate dip

while cookies are cooling, place chocolate chips in a double boiler or heatproof bowl over simmering water; stir the chocolate until melted. remove from heat and mix in the coconut oil; transfer to a small bowl or cup
one at a time, dip half the cookies into the chocolate and sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts. allow the chocolate to solidify at room temperature before eating
cookies will stay fresh for up to 4 days on at room temp covered with a piece of parchment paper

enjoy!