Romance Biggest Winner

Guilty pleasures By Helen Seely

What is better than chocolate chip pie?

Warm. Chocolate. Gooey.

This pie is everything you’d want in a cookie.

Except, oh yes, it happens to be five times thicker!

But really, you don’t want to know all of this, do you? You just want the recipe.

Side note: If you make 1/4 of the recipe, you can put it in a mini springform pan for a baby pie, like the one above. And if you make a half recipe in a shallow pan, you can have… a healthy cookie cake!! (You know, like the ones at the Great American Cookie Co in the mall?)

Deep-Dish Cookie Pie

(gluten-free!).

• 2 cans white beans or garbanzos (drained and rinsed) (500g total, once drained)
• 1 cup quick oats (or certified-gf quick oats)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 3 T canola oil
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 and 1/2 cups brown sugar (You can sub evaporated cane juice or white sugar. EDIT: sugar-free version coming soon!! Be sure to check back!)
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Blend everything (except the chips) very well in a good food processor (not a blender). Mix in chips, and pour into an oiled pan (I used a 10-inch springform pan, but you can use a smaller pan if you want a really deep-dish pie.) Cook at 350F for around 35-40 minutes. Let stand at least 10 minutes before removing from the pan.

Perhaps calling it “healthy” is a stretch. After all, there’s still sugar, and there are still chocolate chips. But in comparison to your standard cookie pie—with its plethora of butter, eggs, and white flour—the above version is a much healthier alternative, while still tasting just as naughty. Plus, you get lots of fiber and protein from the oats and chickpeas.

And I promise no one can tell that these ingredients are in there. This dessert is a real crowd-pleaser, even with people who aren’t used to eating healthy desserts.

Imagine cookie dough in the form of a pie.