Healthy deep dish chocolate chip cookie pie

It's no secret that I'm not vegan. I respect those who are and understand their reasoning. We recently had some friends come over for dinner, and one of them was dairy and soy free. She also happens to love dessert, so I wanted to make something that we all could enjoy. I feel like vegan desserts sometimes get a bad rap because people fear that they'll taste bad. This was not the case at all.

As I've shared with you all before, I follow a vegan dessert blog called Chocolate-Covered Katie. I've made many of her creations, most of which were successful. I found this deep dish chocolate chip cookie pie on her blog, and it happens to be one of her most popular recipes. It's easy to see why.

The pie truly tasted like a large, warm chocolate chip cookie. My friend was ecstatic that she could eat something so awesome that happened to be dairy and soy-free. Even the two men (my husband included) ate an entire slice without blinking. I sent our friends home with most of the leftovers so they could enjoy them at home.

Shockingly, my husband actually declared this as one of his favorite dessert recipes to date. I make at least two desserts a week, and somehow a vegan one made its way into his top 10. Wow. That's truly saying something. Looks like I'll be making this healthy chocolate chip cookie pie again.

Healthy deep dish chocolate chip cookie pie

• 2 cans white beans or garbanzos (drained and rinsed)
• 1 cup oatmeal
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 3 TBSP oil (canola, vegetable, or coconut)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 and 1/2 cups brown sugar (I used light brown sugar)
• 1 cup chocolate chips (or more - I used closer to 2 cups; if you want this truly vegan, you can use vegan chocolate chips)

Directions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Using a food processor (NOT a blender, unless you have a super high speed/powered one like a Vitamix or a Blendtec), pulse everything together except the chocolate chips until you get a smooth batter.

Turn off the food processor and fold in the chocolate chips by hand.

Transfer the batter into a 10-inch springform pan (can also use a greased tall round cake pan or a smaller springform pan - you may need to adjust your baking times). Bake in your preheated oven for about 35-40 minutes (I baked mine for slightly longer, as the middle still looked too underdone). The center might still appear slightly underbaked.

Turn off the oven, transfer the pie to your countertop and allow it to cool for at least 10 minutes before removing from the springform pan and serving.Top with (vegan) ice cream, chocolate sauce or (vegan) whipped cream if desired.

Yield: One 10-inch pie

Source: Chocolate-Covered Katie