Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cinnamon Rolls

A while back I looked over The 30 Minute Vegan cookbook and was intrigued by the raw cinnamon roll recipe.  I finally made it a few weeks ago, and we loved it. How could we not?  Raw treats are basically healthy versions of the dough for cookies, cakes, etc. that my kids have always loved more than the final baked product anyways. Which got me thinking, "What about a chocolate chip cookie dough cinnamon roll?" I envisioned a deceptively healthy treat combining two of our favorite desserts. And here it is: sweet success.

Please note that if you don't have coconut butter, you can make your own! As long as you have a good food processor, that is. Fill the work bowl at least 1/3 full of flaked coconut and buzz it until totally smooth (takes about 10 minutes for me).

 For the dough:

1 1/2 cups rolled oats (You could, of course, use GF oats.)
1/2 cup pitted dates, soaked for a few hours in enough water to cover to soften them up
2 Tbsp. coconut butter
2 Tbsp. coconut oil
1/8 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 Tbsp. agave nectar

For the filling:

1/3 cup raw, shelled pumpkin seeds
1/2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp. agave nectar
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. grain-sweetened vegan chocolate chips
1 Tbsp. water

For the frosting:
3 Tbsp. coconut butter
1 Tbsp. agave nectar
1 1/2 Tbsp. cocoa powder

1.  Place all of the dough ingredients in the food processor and pulse until totally combined and a soft cookie-dough consistency has been reached.
2. Scrape the dough out onto a cookie-pan-sized sheet of parchment paper and using damp hands press the dough out into a roughly 8 inch by 4 inch rectangle.
3. Clean out the food processor bowl and add all of the filling ingredients except for the extra 2 Tbsp. chocolate chips. Puree until a uniform, thick paste forms. Spread the filling paste evenly over the rolled out dough. Sprinkle with the remaining chocolate chips (chop them up if you would like a more even distribution). 
4. Roll up the dough, starting on one of the short sides. Pinch as you go to hold everything together. With a serrated bread knife, cut the log into about 10 pieces. Really, you can cut them as thick or as thin as you want, but I got about 10, 1/2 inch thick pieces.
5. At this point you can either enjoy the rolls as is, or you can frost them to up the chocolate factor. To make the frosting, just buzz the cocoa butter, agave, and cocoa powder in your food processor and slather it on top of your cut rolls.  


This recipe is featured in Allergy-Free Wednesdays and Wellness Weekend.