I am in the throws of the “December chaos,” I like to call it.  There is always so much I want to accomplish in December, and so very little time to get it all done.  This year I am getting a little smarter, and will actually take a couple of days off from work – just to be home by myself – and be ridiculously productive.  Between work, kid stuff and holiday stuff – I am completely maxed out.

Last week I was involved in a 2-day offsite at work.  I will admit, it is not easy stepping away from the my day job for two days – it is not like works stops around you.  You just sign up for working a lot at night.  The ironic part was that during this offsite, we had some folks at the Energy Project work with us for a half-day.  It was definitely sobering.  I know that sleep is incredibly important – in fact, nothing they told me was a surprise – but it really got me thinking.  I am already so productive during the day…what if I actually got 7-8 hours of sleep every night?  Would I become unstoppable?  Would I actually accomplish more so I had more time to rest?  Who really knows, but I am going to try hard to figure it out.  The problem is that I am not willing to cut out baking/cooking to reach that goal.

Everyone has their “thing.”  I know that when you don’t sleep a lot, you need to get your energy from another source.  Many people that don’t get a lot of sleep are overweight – they replace building energy from sleep with eating – which is another way to drive energy.  I actually don’t do that (or maybe I do, but I also love to exercise, so it cancels out the food…), but believe it or not, I get energy from baking.  Cooking not as much, but definitely baking.  I often get so much energy from baking, that I have no desire to really eat what I made.  Of course I will take a bite to try it, but I am certainly not baking to eat.  I am an enigma.

I found this recipe in Cooking Light – in a section where they were focusing on healthy snacks.  Now, I hardly think that these should be classified as healthy, but I guess everything is relative.  These had a wonderful oat crust, and the filling was chocolate heaven.  They were not too sweet, but definitely rich, so a small square is all you need for those mid-afternoon chocolate cravings.  So even if you didn’t get a lot of sleep the night before, no need to worry – these will definitely give you the energy you need – but seriously, shouldn’t we have our fudgy oatmeal bars and eat them too?  Don’t skimp on the sleep.

Ingredients

Crust:

• 4.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• Baking spray with flour

Filling:

• 3.4 ounces all-purpose flour (about 3/4 cup)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup evaporated fat-free milk
• 1 tablespoon instant espresso granules
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2  large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips