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Guess where I am!

A big thank you to whomever put this recipe on Pinterest. All of a sudden, it’s getting a ridiculously crazy amount of views, which is really exciting.

Even more exciting was getting to meet the world’s largest rooster:

Chocolate Covered Katie before and after

Actually, the chickens pretty much ignored me.

The pigs were much friendlier:

rescue pig

I had to make a quick trip to NYC last week, and so I took a side excursion to one of my favorite places: The Catskill Animal Sanctuary, a safe haven for abused, abandoned, and neglected animals.

Other trip highlights so far:

gobo_thumb1

Ginger seitan from Gobo, an Asian fusion restaurant. Normally I’m really not a mock-meat fan. (Prior to this trip I don’t think I’d eaten seitan in over a year, which was perfectly fine by me.) But Gobo’s seitan is amazing.

Angelica Kitchen

Soba and veggies from Angelica Kitchen. See that basil pesto sauce on the top? I’m not exactly sure what they put in it to make it taste so good, but I don’t think it’s legal!

hangawi-cheesecake_thumb7

Cheesecake!!

I’m a cheesecake snob and have very high standards. A restaurant called Hangawi makes one of the best NYC-style cheesecakes—vegan or otherwise—that I have ever eaten. This time I bought four slices so I can take some home with me to Texas. They are that good.

Link of the Day:

macadamia-cookies_thumb

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Published on September 30, 2012

Meet Katie

Chocolate Covered Katie is one of the top 25 food websites in America, and Katie has been featured on The Today Show, CNN, Fox, The Huffington Post, and ABC's 5 O'clock News. Her favorite food is chocolate, and she believes in eating dessert every single day.

Learn more about Katie

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140 Comments

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  1. Elizabeth says

    Healthy poptarts pretty please! Poptarts are a guilty pleasure but I refuse to eat them now that I know how many calories are in each one! A healthy version would be awesome.

  2. Michelle says

    I agree! That cheesecake from Hangawi is AMAZING! I won’t eat any other vegan (or otherwise) cheesecake after having that.

  3. mrsluckypants says

    I vote for Pop Tarts as well. I’m sure you have a million ideas going through your head, but what about a vegan cake pop recipe? I don’t recall seeing anything like that before, if there is please let me know where it is on your site.

  4. Mackenzie says

    First one for Cookie Dough!!!! I <3 Cookie Dough! I was just about to make your cookie dough popsicles… But either way, I bet it'll be great! 😀

  5. Anonymous says

    That cheesecake looked simply scrumptious! 😉
    &i vote pop tarts ALL THE WAY. They were a childhood guilty pleasure of mine. I’d like to see them get a healthy makeover.

  6. TB says

    I’m not sure who recently posted that recipe on Pinterest recently, but I know that the Pinterest posting of that recipe is how I stumbled upon your blog a few months ago. Right around when the Presidential debates were in full swing, an article was written about how Ann Romney uses Pinterest and she “pinned” that chocolate egg recipe. Regardless of your (or anyone’s) political ties, we can all appreciate a great recipe when we see one. Perhaps her page has once again become popular? Either way, I am SO glad I found this blog (and so are my friends)!

    • Chocolate-Covered Katie says

      Thank you for letting me know, and for such a kind comment. I just went to her page and she has my granola bars pinned as well, which put the biggest smile on my face. (I also like how politics don’t matter when it comes to Pinterest. Sometimes you need a break from heavy subjects like politics. What better place for that than the site known for its adorable animals and pretty photos? :))

  7. Gabrielle says

    haha, I know I’m not the only one, but I pinned that!

    I knew that if I couldn’t stop drooling while looking at it, it would be a big hit with the folks on pinterest (i.e. the majority of the female population).

    Your photography has gotten so fantastic lately! I just love these pics from the restaurants you attended – they should hire you as their official food photographer! You’re giving them some excellent publicity 🙂

    Love love love your blog and you and just everything here.

    Cheers,

    Gab

  8. Emilia says

    I have never had an interest in going to Angelica Kitchen, but that meal makes it look delicious! Definitely going to have to head there soon. Congrats on the crazy pageviews, that recipe definitely warrants them 🙂

  9. Evelyn Neal says

    I NEED POP TARTS!!!! I gave them up because of the white flower/white sugar and calories (not that I completely abstain from those, but they are addictive) French Toast pop-tarts were my favorite flavor. Not a fan of the extra sweet ones with frosting.

  10. Sydney says

    Pop tart would be amazing! Btw love your website and totally applaud what you are doing! I recently tried becoming a vegatarian earlier this year but with my busy schedule it was very hard to do. I was wondering if u had any tips on going veggie for the first time? Going to start with going veggie and vegan will just have to wait…

  11. Mary says

    Pop tarts. I’d love to see how you transform these convenient morning treats into something suitable for our kids ( and us)!

  12. brianna says

    Pop tarts. I’d love a low cal breakfast pastry. I love those Pillsbury Toaster Struedels – something similar to that would be good.

  13. Christy says

    oh and here are flavors that i would love for the pop tarts! chocolate and pumkin, fudge, mocha, chocolate coconut, and blueberry. im so exited for the pop tarts AND the cookie dough. numnumnum

  14. Peanut Butter Bunny says

    Sorry I haven’t been here to post in a while, Katie. *Grin* But you’re doing fantastic, as you may already know. ^^ The site hasn’t had a server crash or anything – Always a good sign! 😀
    Question of the day!! Yay!!! I’m gonna have to go with…pop tarts. I’m kiddin’, the pause was fake. XD Pop tarts, definitely!
    The animals are so cute! I love piggies, and chickens. :3 And horses and cows and…well all animals. ^__^ I’m so envious though. THAT FAUX MEAT LOOKS SO GOOD. And the pasta, and…I think you killed me with the cheesecake.

  15. Andrea says

    Pop tarts get my vote!

    Part of me wishes I still lived in NY! I didn’t grow up in the city, but I was only a few hours north of it. As a kid I didn’t really appreciate it. As an adult I’ve never lived there (I moved to Canada as soon as I turned 18). They have so many restaurants that sound amazing! Where I live now we don’t have much variety, and there’s only one vegetarian restaurant. I find eating out fairly difficult a lot of the time. Even for salads I normally have to request they not add meat! 🙁

  16. snenny says

    Poptarts for this girl please!!!

    Your visit looks lovely <3 We rescued some battery hens recently, and now we have three chooks living in our back garden. It's wonderful seeing them begin to recover, grow their feathers back, and learning that people can be good things (like bringers of corn). Well done for visiting the Sanctuary, it's great that you support these places, and that you post about visiting 🙂

  17. Jeanine (The Blue Sash) says

    Just wanted to add another vote for Pop Tarts!

    Loved Hangawi when we ate there last year. Didn’t know about the cheesecake but will put it on the must-try list when we go again in April. Thanks for the tip!

  18. Sophie says

    POP TARTS!!!! YES YES YES! every day at lunch, i’m surrounded by people eating pop tarts and all that junk. The temptation to indulge in pop tarts is usually present, so to have a healthy pop tart recipe would be awesome!

  19. Anna Banana says

    Pop tarts for sure! I told my boyfriend about the possibility of them and he is *really* excited for tomorrow.

    One of my earliest memories was at the Catskill Game Farm, which I believe is closed now. I was 3, planted myself on a bench with a goat I named Willie, and refused to move again until it was time to go. He just lay with his head in my lap while I pet him (there’s photographic evidence of this, even).

  20. Casey says

    I know this is not one of your choices but have you ever concidered making a healthifed vegan egg nog? Out of those two though I would have to say cookie dough!

  21. Granger says

    Cookie dough pop tarts! LOL Actually I prefer cookie dough but I’ve never seen a pop tart recipe before so that should be interesting

  22. Cookie Dough Luver says

    YOU HAVE TO DO COOKIE DOUGH!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!!! YOU HAVE TO DO THE COOKIE DOUGH ONE!!!! I WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER EVEN THOUGH I ALREADY DO!!!!! :O

    😀

  23. Becca Rarick says

    Poptarts! I have yet to find a decent poptart replacement. There are already several fantastic cookie dough recipes on here already 🙂

  24. Alyssa says

    I looooove any sort of cookie dough. Even as a kid I didn’t care for pop tarts…I’m a strange one 🙂 Glad you got to spend time with the animals!!

  25. Steacy says

    Scrap the “pop” and go for a good ol’ tart! I tweeted you awhile ago about it. I’m waiting!!! Don’t rush though…I’m doing fine with your other amazing recipes. I made pumpkin cream cheese bars, crazy ingredient chocolate cake with hot chocolate butter and cornbread just this week! I love everything you do! Thanks Katie 🙂

  26. Kathy says

    Personally, I prefer cookie dough! I’ve never quite been a fan of pop tarts, except maybe it’s because I haven’t eaten pop tarts in a about 4 years!

  27. Kristy says

    Always cookie dough for me! I am eating your cookie ball pops (just as dough, though) right now! 🙂 Love it! I like to use 1/3 cup white flour and 1/4 cup whole wheat flour. Good flavor. I leave out the butter to save myself a few calories. 😉 It’s even good without the chocolate chips! I know, what fun is that? Haha!

    I also pinned your recipe for the chocolate PB eggs, but haven’t had a chance to make them yet. I must do that soon!

  28. Kayla says

    I love cookie dough a lot.. So that’s tempting..

    BUT

    Pop Tarts because there are already cookie dough recipes. 🙂

    On a side note, is there any chance you could make some sort of pumpkin pie recipe? Thanksgiving is next Monday here in Canada!

  29. Katie Yeung says

    Hi Katie,
    I posted a link to your site on my FB and because I am known for vegan sweets amoungst my friends they all thought it was MY site. I wish I were to chocolately gifted!
    I have a blog that I then pin some of the recipes to pinterest from.
    Here are some of my mostly vegan creations.
    My hot tip is the Jaffa vegan brownies. They stop traffic (ok, only because they were being used as road trip snack food and the driver dropped some down her cleavage and had to pull over to get it out…..)

    Keep up the amazing/inspiring cooking!

    Katie
    🙂

  30. Katherine Rowe says

    Healthy, vegan, all natural Pop Tarts would be amazing! And if they were low fat & could have a sugar free option, that would be heaven! 🙂

  31. benni blasini says

    Hi Katie!
    I’ll be making mass quantities of halloween cookies for a monster party coming up, and I was about to google ‘coconut oil’ frosting. Seems logical, right! But if it exists … You would know.
    What’s the scoop?
    Thanks & take care,
    benni
    la,ca

  32. Moni @ {Moni Meals} says

    Cool I want to visit there someday too. It’s been on my to do list!!

    I love Pinterest!! I would love to do your idea and make a community board of posting all are yummy goodies—especially chocolate. 🙂 count me in and I follow you anyways there!!
    I think I’ll go with pop tarts btw. 😉

  33. Susan Risdal says

    I found that the pumpkin cookie dough ice cream was repinned the most. Within 5 minutes, almost 20 people had repinned it!

  34. Melomeals: Vegan for $3.33 a Day says

    I am sooo in love with pigs..

    I’m with you about seitan.. I rarely eat it… it has to be prepared very specifically if I’m going to enjoy it.

  35. Kara says

    at starbuck’s this morning i noticed the return of the pumpkin cream cheese muffin and thought to myself, “i wonder if CCK has created a copycat recipe for this delicious but not-vegan, not-healthy muffin…” have you?

    • Chocolate-Covered Katie says

      I have the “single lady” pumpkin chocolate chip muffin. You could always omit the chocolate and frost it with my “better than pillsbury frosting” recipe. Not sure if that would be what you’re looking for!

  36. Jenny Leigh Evans says

    Hey Katie! Any updates on the cookbook???

    -Anxiously awaiting!

    P.S. I’m loving all of the pumpkin posts as pumpkin, chocolate and nut butters are my favorite foods of all time!

    Jenny

  37. Vyvacious says

    I didn’t even know it but I grew up eating seitan since I was a kid! It was just something that my family naturally included in their diet. I am not a big fan of what I’ve tasted at different restaurants but I am always a huge fan of whenever my mom or aunt makes it. It is one of the most flavorful, amazing dishes you can imagine! They do so many variations too, I love it 🙂

    As for your question, I would love to see the healthified pop tarts! 😛 I’m allergic to all beans which is usually the base in healthy cookie dough sadly…

  38. dyan says

    Have you ever compiled a list of your favorite places to eat/shop in NYC? I’m going for the first time in a couple of weeks and i’m all about vegan food tourism. 😉

  39. Stephanie says

    COOKIE DOUGH!!!! I LOVE your cookie dough dip recipe, and I don’t know how you could possibly beat it with something even better, but I have full faith in you!

  40. Lil Deli says

    YES! Healthy Poptarts please! We don’t get poptarts in France and I would LOVE to be able to make them! 🙂 I made a version of your choc chip cookie dough yesterday and posted it to my blog. It was delicious.

  41. 58Teresa says

    Oh my – you’re only an hour away from me – are you still here? If you are – we’re at 130 Remsen St., Cohoes, NY (More Bread and Jam) 🙂

  42. Jeanie says

    That rooster is HUGE and absolutely gorgeous!

    It’s so nice to learn of new animal sanctuaries in my general area. If you ever get to Northeastern Pennsylvania (just a hop, skip and a jump away from NYC, really 😉 please check out Indraloka Animal Sanctuary. Indraloka is named after the Sanskrit “heaven for the Gods”, and is founded on two principles:

    1) the earth herself and all life are sacred
    2) we are all related

    It’s a heaven on Earth! I have just recently begun volunteering there and love visiting.

    Have you ever been kissed by a 1200 pound pig? 😉

  43. Dave says

    You know, katie. you could really use a hamburger and milkshake once in a while. You’re not “trim and fit,” you’re borderline emaciated. Come on, baby, choke down some grilled meat for daddy…

  44. erica says

    Hello there. I would love some help. My sister bought candy corn oreos (vanilla cookie). I want to make a healthy version. Can you help me? I love candy corn, but am trying not to eat things with tons of sugar and dye 😀

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