Chia Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Here it is ladies and gentlemen: my Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap post!

Let’s start with the other wonderful goodies I got from three lovely ladies across the country, shall we?  First dozen I received was from Krissy over at Krissy’s Creations.  She made some scrumptious Black Forest Chocolate Cocoa Crinkles.  She also gets extra points for super cute wrapping! =D

The next batch was from Hilary at Baking Bad.  She included appropriately themed Reindeer Crunch Cookies.  They were really tasty.

My final 12 cookies arrived from Bunny and Madison at The Dessert Pocket.  They sent me a dozen Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies.  I was awfully excited when I took a bite out of my first one and found an awesome peanut butter center.

I loved all the cookies I received.
Thanks ladies!
You are all wonderful.

Now, for my contribution to this wonderful bake fest I decided to create my own recipe.  On the day I decided to do this I was really feeling cookie bars so I came up with a chocolate chip cookie bar recipe with a healthy twist: chia gel in place of any butter, oil, or other baking fat.  Check out the recipe –>

Chia Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
A DNA and Dessert original recipe.

A delectable cookie bar with a healthy punch from chia seeds.  Makes one 9x13 pan, about 40 two-bite bars.

Ingredients:
1 cup chia gel (1 cup water mixed thoroughly with 5 tsp chia seeds)
⅔ cup white sugar
⅔ cup brown sugar
4 egg whites
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 ¼ cups flour
½ tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup chocolate chips

If you don’t have chia gel just lying around the fridge, combine the chia and water, shake/mix, and let sit for 30 minutes then proceed!

How to:
1. Combine the chia gel, sugars, egg whites, and vanilla.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. Add the dry mix to the wet slurry. Mix well.
4. Fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Chill the dough for 1 hour.
6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
7. Line a 9x13 pan with aluminum foil and coat lightly with cooking spray.
8. Pour batter into pan and evenly spread.
9. Bake for 20 minutes.
10. Remove from oven and cool in pan for 10 minutes.
11. Using foil, lift the bars out of the pan and allow complete cooling before cutting into bar/square shaped pieces.
12. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

I ended up sending three dozen out to Carrie at Bakeaholic Mama, Courtney at Sweet Tooth, Sweet Life, and Jill at Home Sweet Hopkins.  I used vintage tins and then sent them through the USPS and I was actually told today that apparently the tin that arrived at one of the above blogger’s houses looked like it had been hit by a MAC truck but the cookie bars were fine on the inside.  Whew!

This event was really a cool thing to be a part of.  Not only did it spread holiday cheer but it made the country seem just a tad smaller, the food blogging community seem just a bit tighter, and my desserts a whole lot tastier!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!