Skinny Banana Bread

Myth about whole foods:

Your food will never taste like the "normal" recipe does when you adapt it for whole food natural living!

NOT TRUE! I can't tell you how many awesome recipes I've been able to adapt to fit my lifestyle of whole food, healthy living! It is an amazing journey when you start, to feel your body actually love you for what you are putting into it...that feeling of happiness grows even more when you see your family love everything they are eating also! It's amazing.

So if you think you will be sacrificing taste and delicious comfort food to eat healthy, whole and natural...I'm going to prove you wrong with this revamp of my comforting banana bread! It was amazing! I made it for my husband who requested banana bread. Well the night I made it, he worked late. The kids and I slaved and slaved, then probably ate half the loaf (yes you read that right)  and then I tucked the rest away nicely for my husband to enjoy for breakfast and while he was in class!

When I got home from work the next day I asked him if he liked his banana bread, because it was all gone. He said he didn't even get ONE PIECE! I laughed so hard, between my kids and our babysitter the next morning they ate the rest of the loaf of banana bread! It lasted less than 24 hours!

So I promised I'll make it again soon for the hubs...

If you want a guiltless loaf of banana bread this is your lucky day! Originally this recipe contains 1 cup of sugar and 1/2 a cup of shortening! Yikes! This baby needed a makeover...Enjoy, I know you'll love it

Skinny Banana Bread

3/4-1 c raw stevia

2 T vegan margarine

1/4 c unsweetened applesauce

2 flax eggs- (2 T ground flax + 6 T warm water ) I also added about 1/4 tsp chia seed

3 ripened bananas, mashed

1 3/4 c whole wheat flour (or any flour you'd like)

1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)

1 tsp baking soda

2-3 T dark chocolate chips or nuts of choice

Cream together margarine and stevia, slowly add applesauce and continue to cream. Add flax eggs and mix well. Add bananas, mix well. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and chocolate chips. Fold together well. Place in a loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes until golden and fork comes clean (your house will smell amazing!)

Enjoy

Peanut Butter Cup Oatmeal

Cold Cereal in the morning can get pretty boring, and it isn't the healthiest choice out there. I'm not perfect and you can find me many mornings placing cold cereal in front of my kids. I try to have healthier breakfasts, but I leave for work at 6 am most of the time...not a whole lot of time to make great breakfasts. 

My son has been on a picky cycle for awhile, I've been having a difficult time getting him to eat dinner, lunch, basically anything besides fruit. I'm happy with fruit, but I know he needs his vegetables, beans, and healthy fats. He's still my little guy and his brain is still busy learning and growing. So I sat and thought I need to give him something besides bananas for breakfast...that's all he eats! I wanted to either do avocado green smoothies or oatmeal...well my daughter voted oatmeal~ so here we are. I added some Adam's Natural Peanut butter, if you guys haven't tried natural peanut butter please do! The flavor is amazing and the price isn't that much different! We were sold from day one! Well anyways then I garnished the oatmeal with a few mini dark chocolate chips just to get the kids excited! And what do we have! Oatmeal that is like a peanut butter cup!

Moment of truth for me, this was not my favorite oatmeal. I prefer more fruity oatmeal flavor, but and a big but, the people I wanted to down this....DEVOURED IT! They loved it. My son actually ate his entire bowl without flinging it all over the floor! I was so excited...do you want to know what else...later that day he actually ate an entire hummus wrap from the tasty hummus I made! He was on a role yesterday...hopefully today is the same! 

Peanut Butter Cup Oatmeal

2 c oats

2 1/4 c water

2 -3 T natural peanut butter

dark chocolate chips for garnish

Cook oats in a sauces pan with water until water is absorbed and the oats are tender and moist. Fold in peanut butter so it is swirled throughout oatmeal. Top with chocolate chips! Enjoy

for gluten free, make sure you use gluten free oats!

Crock Pot Peppermint Patty Brownies!

No dinner recipe to post this evening~ it's all sweet tooth tonight! These brownies have been made healthier, but still eat in moderation, the homemade sweetened condensed milk has some sugar in it! The good news....you can make these in a lot of different ways, I kept mine vegan, but you can use an egg, or real sweetened condensed milk, my version is just lighter in sugar than canned milk! It is much faster cook time in the oven for brownies, but you can't beat just throwing the ingredients in the crock pot and letting them cook themselves! And it was just kind of a fun shake up of things! These little babies are quite homely looking in my pictures, but they were so tasty, my kids wanted to eat all of them, I told them they had to save some for their dad who has been at school all day! I'd say these will be a nice treat for him to come home too!

The idea from crock pot brownies came from a blog I found on one of my many google searches for unique crock-pot meals! I obviously made some changes from the original to make it better for you, but I think they turned out as tasty as a brownie can be. 

Some ideas for revamping this recipe to make it your own, for your own tastes:

~ Blend 5 pitted dates with 1/2 C almond milk and throw that paste in for all sweeteners

~Use nuts instead of oats

~ add peppermint extract to the homemade sweetened condensed milk or brownie mix instead of using the candy peppermint patties

~ melt dark chocolate chips on top

~ Use a gluten free flour to make it gluten free

Wow, take your pick of how you make this, I'm sure it will still come out awesome!

Peppermint Patty Brownies

1 T vegan margarine

1 C water

1 chia -flax egg (1 T chia seed +1 T flax seed +3-4 T warm water)

1 1/2 C spelt flour (or any whole grain flour)

3/4 C cacao powder

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 C date paste (optional)

1/2 C oats

4-5 small peppermint patties

Homemade sweetened condensed milk

2 T vegan margarine

1/4 C raw turbinado sugar (sugar in the raw)

1 1/4 C vanilla soy milk

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional) 

Add 1 T margarine to crock-pot while on low. While it is melting begin making the sweetened condensed milk. In a small sauce pan add margarine and melt it, in another sauce pan add soy milk and bring to a low boil. Add sugar to melted margarine and stir constantly until it is a rolling boil. Combine with soy milk and heat until low boil. Stir in cinnamon.

After the margarine is melted in the crock pot add the chia -flax egg, water and brownie mix (make sure you mix the dry ingredients together first) Mix until the dry ingredients are wet,

 add sweetened condensed milk and top with oats.

 Cook on low for 2-3 hours. Check with a fork and see if it is done. Add patties to the top and cook another 30-45 minutes. Enjoy

* if you use a date paste add the paste before the brownie mix then mix it well and don't add sugar to the sweetened condensed milk!

We did enjoy dinner tonight, we didn't just eat brownies I promise. I wanted to show how I was able to utilize some great leftovers and make a tasty healthy dinner! I used the leftover sauce from the zucchini boats the other night and cooked up some wheat noodles. I mixed in the sauce so it was lightly coated and let the noodles cool slightly, then I mixed in some spinach and carrot chips and topped it will a small amount of balsamic, or you can use a little Italian dressing. The sauce from the noodles helps create a dressing! And there you go! A tasty quick meal full of healthy ingredients! Use those leftovers! Has anyone been able to create something deliciously healthy using leftovers?

Vegan Chocolate Orange Brownie (GF)

Sweet, Tangy, mouth watering orange flavor perfectly balanced with rich dark chocolate is what will be in my personal heaven someday! I have had such a sweet tooth lately. I've been doing really well and haven't indulged myself too much! I decided to try and create something for alphabet days letter "V" that was a treat, but not full of sugar (I realize the only "V" in this is vegan). Even if I do use raw sugar, I still have to watch it.

Did anyone know that medjool dates are commonly used in place of sweeteners? I haven't used them for a long time, but today I was gung ho on using them to decrease my sugar amount in these decadent brownies! These were perfect to make use of my new cacao powder from my giveaway, be sure and enter, these products are sooooo worth it! Most of my gluten free brownies involve beans, not these ones these are very cake like and will be served often! The orange flavor was subtle, but showed it's self at the same time...perfection! I love chocolate oranges so I loved this flavor, however you really could use any flavoring you'd like, coconut, raspberry, almond, mint, peppermint...make these yours! The glaze is optional, but highly recommended. The reason it calls for being optional is...it does have sugar. I tried, but I have yet to perfect a good glaze without throwing in some powdered sugar. If anyone has any suggestions please feel free to comment at the bottom! You'll thank me later after you try these, preferably nestled next to some berry soft serve!

Vegan Chocolate Orange Brownies

1 1/4 white rice flour +1 3/4 all purpose gluten free flour

(or 3 cups of whole wheat flour)

1/2 C cacao powder (or regular cocoa powder)

1 1/2 T baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 C applesauce

1, 12 oz container of firm tofu

1/2 C non dairy butter, I used vegan smart balance

1/2 C pitted medjool dates

1/4 C agave

2 C almond milk

1 T vanilla

1 T orange extract

Glaze

1/4 C cacao powder

1/4 C powdered sugar

1/4 C agave

2 T non dairy milk

1 tsp orange zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, cacao powder baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add butter and pitted dates to blender or food processor. Blend together for 20 seconds. Add remaining wet ingredients to the blender. Blend well for about 2 minutes to make sure tofu and dates are well blended. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients in the bowl. Bake for 25-30 minutes until toothpick comes clean. 

while the brownies are cooling combine all your ingredients for the glaze. Once brownies have had time to cool spread the glaze over the top! Serve warm. Keep refrigerated. Enjoy

source: bring-joy.com

Raspberry Chocolate Freezer Bites

This summer has been perfectly mild most days. It has had a few scorchers, but I have felt that it has been sunny, comfortable perfect frozen treat weather.

As I said in my earlier post I had planned on making something involving raspberry and chocolate...okay the excuse was because we are learning the letter R but mostly it's because I am a fool for raspberry flavor...okay okay and chocolate!

In my mind the simple recipe was going to work out perfectly. It was going to form round little pieces of chocolate that would be sinfully delicious and put DOVE chocolate to shame :)

....this little dream land didn't work out so perfectly. My original thought didn't set up for some reason...it was crazy. It was just a nice tasting liquid blob for over two hours. So I had to really think and brainstorm on how I could get this creation to set up nicely. After some extra ingredients added in, I finally was able to get it to solidify, but if you leave them out too long they do start to thaw very quickly! They turned out really yummy and they will be a fun freezer snack whenever the urge hits for a sweet!

Raspberry Chocolate Freezer Bites

1 C fresh raspberries

3/4 C dark chocolate chips

1/2 C oats

1 tsp vanilla

2-3 T almond butter

1 banana (optional, banana can help things mold. I personally didn't use one)

Add raspberries to saucepan and heat over medium. Stir until they are a liquid. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients. Stir until chocolate is melted. Spoon mixture onto cookie sheets covered in parchment or wax paper. Place in freezer for 1-2 hours to set up. Keep covered and store in freezer. 

 

*you could also use carob chips if you prefer

Silken Protein Shake

Is anyone not really a huge breakfast eater? I know sometimes I'd rather have a nice smoothie or something instead of something larger. In the blazing summer it's always nice to cool down with something cold and silky in your mouth! If you leave this in the refrigerator for a few hours it turns into a pudding! So you could make fruit parfaits or something for breakfast. I found this recipe here

I have a slight confession, I was terrified to try this! As some of you might be! The way it turned out....well it tasted like a peanut butter, chocolate protein shake! Ah, sigh of relief. My kids wanted it as a dessert they thought it was so tasty, (my little mad did get really frustrated with the slowness of a straw, we moved on to a spoon :)

I've taken a challenge through this blog to do things your afraid of during august. Oh this is so small, just trying something that sounds yuck to me. It's all about the principle behind it though. I'm learning through this lifestyle to branch out, try new things, go against social norms at times. It's increased my confidence to try new things as well as dig up old passions that I have let just kind of fizzle out!

One of those dreams and passions was to always be a published author. I'm finding that is a passion or desire for a lot of people! Well over the last few weeks my husband and I have been working on a project together. An eBOOK! We've designed a fun book on living a healthy lifestyle while living with a tighter wallet! I am so excited to launch this. I find myself just writing all my passion about healthy living into those pages and I can't wait to share them with a larger audience! It's going to a rip roaring party on here on launch day, it's still a few weeks away, we're still learning about all the marketing and things like that!

Anyways, this month if you'd like to share in her challenge. Step out of the box and do something you've pushed way back in your mind that you've always wanted to do or do something your afraid of! Even if it's as simple as trying a new ingredient in a recipe!

Silken Protein Shake

19 oz of silken tofu

4 T cocoa powder

3-4 T agave

2 heaping T of peanut butter

3-4 frozen bananas

Combine all ingredients into high powered blender. Blend on high for about 2 minutes until everything is combined! Refrigerate left overs. Enjoy

           

Carrot Muffins

This morning was a good day for muffins. I'm tired of my kids eating so much cold cereal, so I've set a goal to make some different breakfasts to shake it up a bit. I didn't know what type of muffin to do, then I saw I had a bag of shredded carrots and thought, yeah that would be good. I decided to make carrot muffins. I did a quick search here and found a good sounding recipe. I did change some things around. I really liked how they turned out, my son ate 1 1/2, but my daughter was not thrilled to see carrots in her muffins. It did turn into a battle. I had to do the typical lines..."You need to eat one bite before you get down, just try them you'll like them, you can pull the carrots out." Things like that. It probably was my fault I didn't cut up or shred the long shredded carrots at all. I know if they were hidden better it wouldn't have wigged her out so much. I don't know what the deal is though she loves carrots. Hmmm... oh well I guess it's just one of those things.

These were pretty simple to make, but next time I will make the carrot chunks A LOT smaller. I didn't mind it, but I guess I can see why kids get weirded out when they see big stringy vegetables poking out of their breakfast :)

Carrot Muffins

2 C whole grain flour (I used spelt)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 C coconut sugar

1/2 C ground flaxseed

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 C applesauce

2 C finely shredded carrots, very fine :)

1/4 C raw honey

1/2 C almond milk

1 T apple cider vinegar

1/3 C semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all dry ingredients into medium bowl. Mix carrots, honey, milk, vinegar, and applesauce in small bowl. Combine wet ingredients with dry ingredients. Mix well. Fold in chocolate chips. Spoon batter into greased muffin tip so they are 3/4 full. Bake for 18 minutes, until tops are golden. Enjoy!

Mini Double Chocolate Cookies

It's "M" day, so I must honor the Disney Freak in me!!!!

Today is all about mini size!!! 

I've posted before that when I first was discovering healthy alternatives for baking and recipes I found beans to use in baked goods. At first I was disgusted and was sure that they would be gross and your cookie would taste like a sugary burrito!

Well I finally was brave enough to try a recipe and have now since made many different bean baked goods, two of my favorites are the Heavenly Bean Cookies and Butter Bean Scotchies! 

So today I thought about making one of these cookies but just making them into mini balls, after awhile I thought...no. They are both white bean cookies that are quite similar, they're delicious, but I needed to go out on a limb and try a different type of cookie with a different bean! I've made black bean brownies before since I have a gluten free recipe and I made them for my mom (I just need to make them again, take a picture and post them, they're great), but I've never used the black beans in a cookie!

After the cookie making today I can now say that beans in themselves could have their own cookbook. 100 ways to use beans in baking and cooking!!!! They offer protein, vitamins and they don't bust out they're flavor and make your sweets all beany. They can be bold when they want, and invisible when they want!

So obviously we had another bean cookie hit! They were cute, tasty, healthy, and chocolatey! Yay! They are about 30-40 calories a cookie due to the size and it'll depend on how many chocolate chips you use!!! You can't beat that. My daughter settled in the second they were out of the oven with her glass of almond milk, and popped down two cookies!!!!

Be brave, try these! I am such a fan of beans in my cookies and baking. These are not gluten free, but there are so many recipes available that use beans instead of flour for those who can't have gluten! I also feel that beans are an important part of a natural diet, so what better way to get them in than through a cookie!!!

Mini Double Chocolate Cookies

1/2 C oats

1 cup whole grain flour (I use spelt)

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 C cocoa powder

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 C canned black beans

1 T bean liquid

1/8 C coconut sugar 

1/4 C Raw cane sugar

1/4 C agave sweetener

1/4 c unsweetened applesauce

1/2 tsp vanilla

4-6 T water

1/4 tsp almond extract (optional)

1/2 c. semi- sweet  chocolate chips

dash of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all dry ingredients in medium bowl. Add wet ingredients including beans to blender. Blend on high for one minute or until smooth. Combine wet and dry ingredients. Fold in chocolate chips. If it is too dry add some more water, slowly!

  Drop by 1/2 table spoons onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. You can make them smaller if you want, but just make sure you lower the bake time! Let them cool about 5 minutes before taking them off the sheet! Enjoy

"D" day treats and snacks, Dip day!

I love a fun snack that really can be a whole family affair! This idea for Alphabet Days was really to involve my kids in learning, so these two snacks were really fun because they were able to help out a lot. Do you want to know something that makes it even better...no baking, I'm so sick of my hot oven in the middle of July...sweet. To go along with "D" day I decided to have a chocolate dipping sauce that would harden for a little extra sweetness. Don't be fooled though, the chocolate sauce is made with natural ingredients and the super bars are chuck full of nutrients! That's why I call them super bars, they have three major super foods all rolled into them! These were simple to make and kids can easily help you assemble them. The super bars just take some time to set up in the freezer before they are ready to be gobbled up! My family specially sets aside one night a week for a "family night" we teach lessons about values and we of course always have a treat, I thought this would be a perfect  family night snack! Enjoy

Graham Cracker Sandwiches

8 full graham crackers

All natural peanut butter

Break graham cracker pieces so they are in the smallest pieces they can be, spread peanut butter in desired amount. Sandwich peanut butter in between crackers. Set aside. Dip in fudge sauce (recipe at the bottom)

Super Bars

3 c oats

1 c chopped almonds

1 c chopped cashews

1 c dried blueberries

2 T ground flax seed

2 T chia seeds

1 c natural peanut butter or almond butter

2 T coconut oil

3/4 c raw honey, or mixed with agave

1/4 tsp vanilla (optional)

1/4 c chocolate chips (optional)

Combine all dry ingredients in large bowl. In small microwaveable bowl combine coconut oil, honey, peanut butter, and vanilla. Microwave for 30 seconds, then stir until all ingredients have melted together. Combine wet ingredients with dry ingredients. Stir and fold together until completely combined. Smash into a baking dish until the bottom is completely covered. Put in the freezer for about an hour to stand up. Take them out and cut them into squares. Dip in chocolate sauce if desired! Store in the fridge! These are great for workout recovery!

Chocolate Sauce

1 T peanut butter or other nut butter

1/4 c cocoa

1/4 c coconut oil

1/4 c agave

combine all ingredients into small sauce pan. Heat over medium, whisking continuously until all the ingredients have turned into a thin chocolate sauce. Pour into a bowl so you can dip your snacks. This might firm up in the fridge if you'd like to use if for ice cream or something instead, so you may have to re-melt it down!

yes we got some slobber mixed in with ours, our sweetie couldn't keep her hand off the chocolate! :)

*For gluten free option be sure and get gluten free graham crackers and gluten free oats!!!

Banana Fudge Cups

This was a fun little snack/treat to tie into our "B" day! They are soooo tasty too! They use natural sweeteners and topped with yummy bananas make it a guiltless little treat! The original recipe used mini cupcake tins, but I only have large ones so that's okay though they still turned out great!

These were so quick and use ingredients that I had on hand anyways, I didn't have to do any special planning. I found the recipe at ohsheglows.com right here and only made a few tweaks, this is a fun recipe to do with kids, they could be in charge of scooping the fudge sauce, or putting the bananas on top!
We had a great time spelling out banana, and quizzing each other on what ingredient started with what letter! I think you could coat the tortillas in cinnamon for a sweet shell, or top this with different fruit, like berries or something! Enjoy

Banana Fudge Cups

1/4 c cocoa powder

1/4 c agave (or maple syrup)

1/4 c coconut oil 

1 T nut butter any type (I used cashew because of the milder taste)

3 wheat tortillas 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. If you're using mini cupcake pans cut 2 inch circles out of the tortillas, if you are using larger cupcake tins cut the tortillas into fourths and place the tortilla pieces into the tins

Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden. Be sure to watch closely. There is no need to grease the pan they just pop out!

Meanwhile place all ingredients into sauce pan and heat over med-low until coconut oil and nut butter are completely melted together, whisking constantly. 

Spoon fudge sauce into tortilla cups. You can just tip the ends of the cups with the fudge then fill with fruit, or fill the entire bottoms of the cups for more chocolate (that's my favorite option) Place in the freezer for 15 minutes so fudge sauce stands up. Top with whatever you'd like, I liked the bananas, but I also think raspberries would be awesome...or why not just go for it and add some more dark chocolate chips! :)

Enjoy!!!

for a gluten free option use gluten free tortillas...easy right!

Overnight Buckwheat Parfait!

I had a jar of buckwheat that I had sprouted and I wanted to use! I found this recipe at my favorite vegan website for a buckwheat parfait! It sounded perfect! It almost has no prep time! It would be a super healthy breakfast and really easy! Buckwheat is full of nutrients, it has been linked to helping with varicose veins, lowering cholesterol and it is full of amino acids! Who wouldn't want to tie these little babies into something! The parfait turned out really great! I loved it and you can add so many different things to make it taste exactly how you'd like it to! We all kind of made it our own at our house. My little girl wanted just a few chocolate chips and my husband added  some crumbled up butter bean scotchie cookies! On my parfait I sprinkled some cinnamon! It was really tasty! Just be aware to use sprouted buckwheat you can find some instructions on how to do that here, it does take a few days! But the powerhouse of nutrients it brings is worth it! You can find the original parfait recipe here

Overnight Buckwheat Parfait

1/2 c sprouted buckwheat

1 c almond milk

2 T chia seeds (these thicken it up)

1 banana

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla

Place buckwheat in small container and cover with water. Place it in the fridge overnight. Combine remaining ingredients, be sure to mash the banana really well. Whisk until there are no lumps, put in a bowl, there is no need to cover  it if you don't want and put it in the fridge over night. 

In the morning rinse and strain buckwheat until any starchy residue is off. Add buckwheat to the banana chia seed mixture and completely combine. Place in glass, with any toppings desired! Finish by topping with maple syrup or cinnamon!

Possible Toppings

Kiwi

Strawberries

Raspberries

Banana

Granola

Oats

Chocolate Chips

Mango

Blueberries

Blackberries

Nuts, seeds

Cinnamon

Coconut Sugar

Coconut Flakes

Nut butter

Protein Powder

Chocolate sauce

Crumbled muffins/breads

The sky is the limit

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes

These were AWESOME! I debated whether I should put them on here, they aren't the worst thing you can eat, but they aren't the healthiest recipe I've got on here, but I have a crush on them and my family does too, so I had to share them. I got the idea from a doughnut recipe at this link, but it turns out I don't have a doughnut pan, and apparently no stores near by choose to carry a doughnut pan. So I played around with the idea of a bunt cake, but then I didn't know how long to bake it, then I thought of doughnut holes, but the batter is to thin you can't form the ball...next thing I know my husband just walks in a takes one look at my predicament and says "why don't you just do cupcakes!" ding ding, they would bake the same amount of time as the original recipe and the glaze would be really nice on them. I tweaked the flour just a bit in my recipe, but they still tasted great. I don't know if I got a cookie vibe, so try them out and let me know if you can think of something else to call them. I also think they would be great without the chocolate....whhhhaattt did I just say that? Yes, I think the cinnamon and other sweet flavors make it nice without adding chocolate! But you decide for yourself!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes

1/2 c non-dairy milk

1/4 c earth balance (or another margarine) melted

3 T applesauce

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar)

1 c all purpose flour (I used Spelt Flour)

1/2 c sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 c  semi sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Glaze

1/4 C + 1 T non dairy milk

1/4 c cashew butter

2 T margarine, melted

1/4 c flour

1/4 c sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk wet ingredients in medium bowl. Sift in dry ingredients and mix together. Fold in chocolate chips if using. Fill greased muffin tins 1/2 full and bake for about 12 minutes. Meanwhile place all glaze ingredients in blender or food processor and blend until all combined and smooth. When cupcakes are done, remove and let cool for about 15 minutes before you put the glaze on. These will keep about 3 days! 

*tip don't add glaze until your ready to eat one to avoid the cupcake from getting soggy!

Chocolate Dream Cookies

Have you ever just thought of an idea for a recipe but had no idea where to start? Well that's what happened here. I thought a chocolate cookie with coconut flakes would just be wonderful, but how would I make it natural, and healthier? I could've jumped on my friend google and probably found a trillion different recipes, but I decided to take on the challenge myself and see if it was even possible for me to invent a cookie from my head! Well I'm happy to say after two tries I think I have a winner! The first batch to me had a great flavor but they were super dry...like take a bite, drink something, take a bite etc. So that had to be changed asap! My son, absolutely loves these...he sits at the counter where they are cooling just trying his hardest to reach too bad he's only two feet tall! These were pretty simple, once I had my flow going and figured out the ingredients I needed to make these.

I had originally planned on using eggs, but when I went into my fridge...well they were all gone. So that is where the beans come into play, so just to let you know they may work fine with 2 eggs, they may not I haven't tried it. If the beans don't sound great (you can't taste them I promise) then try some eggs, better yet try a flax egg (1 T ground flax see +2-3 T water, simmer together 5 minutes and cool)...let me know how it goes! I still think you should get out a glass of almond milk with these...who doesn't like milk with chocolate!

Chocolate Dream Cookies

1/2 c vegan margarine (or I've used smart balance, lite)

1/2 c coconut oil

1 c cane sugar

2 c whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c coconut flakes

1 cup agave nectar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 c black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 c cocoa powder

1/4 c applesauce

1/8 c almond milk (optional)

1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream cane sugar, agave, coconut oil and margarine in small bowl. Add to blender along with remaining wet ingredients. Blend until smooth. Whisk together dry ingredients in medium bowl, add in wet ingredients. Fold in chocolate chips. Roll dough into small balls and place on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees! 

*these won't really flatten out thin, they stay more in the ball form. If you'd like them flatter before you bake them flatten them with your hands.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

Rainy weather always brings a sweet tooth for me, I don't know what it is! I just want to get into sweats, with a treat and watch a movie with my family! Today was no different....the rain hit and I left work with the intention of whipping up something sweet and popping in a Disney movie with the kids :) Well because of the holiday I wanted to clean it up a bit with the sweets, but I still wanted the taste...just not the waist right :) Well I found this recipe on Chef Chole's website, and loved the idea. I changed a few things around to make it even a little bit cleaner than the original, I was completely happy with the results, you can find the original recipe right here.

  These are really easy to make, you just need to wait a bit for them to chill and set up! These are keepers though in my recipe box :) Start by creaming the sugar and margerine, then adding the rest of ingredients and mixing it all together to form the dough

 

(Happy kids during this step)

Now comes the waiting game, you need to let the dough chill for about an hour before making the balls! 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

1/2 c vegan margarine (or a I'm a fan of smart balance, non-vegan)

2/4 c coconut sugar

1/4 c lite brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 T vanilla

2 T water

1 1/4 Spelt Flour (or all purpose flour)

1/3 c semi-sweet chocolate chips

12 ounces semi sweet chocolate (for dipping)

Line cookie sheet with wax paper. In medium bowl beat with mixer margarine, sugar, vanilla, salt and water, until creamy. Add flour and chocolate chips until smooth and combined into a dough. Place dough in refrigerator for 1 hour until chilled. 

Roll chilled dough into balls and place on cookie sheet. Freeze for 15 minutes. Meanwhile melt remaining 12 ounces of chocolate on stove top or microwave. Dip cookie dough balls in chocolate and remove with two forks. Place balls back onto cookie sheet and place in the refrigerator until chocolate is firm, about 20 minutes. Keep in the refrigerator until serving. 

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Crunch "blizzard"

Is it possible to have creamy, tasty shakes anymore without cream, sugar and milk? How can your ice cream taste creamy while being vegan? You have just discovered your answer!!! This creamy, tasty gem is so smooth and satisfying to me there's no reason to buy my shakes again :)

I LOVED this recipe! It was so fast, I had everything on hand, it gave me a fun way to use the peanut butter cookie dough ball recipe and it is good for you! It's summer and it's hot what better way to spend an afternoon than with a frozen treat! My little boy couldn't get enough of this. My little girl wasn't as easy to warm up to the idea of her ice cream coming out of our blender...I think she thought I meant I was going to take her to get ice cream when I asked if she wanted to make ice cream...so she boycotted the treat...silly girl. But my little man and I downed it! I found this recipe at ohsheglows.com at this link, I love how easy she made it! And I have been dying to try it out to see how it compared to a sonic shake, I was totally satisfied, I loved it and  now I don't even have to leave the house to go and get a shake :)

Peanut Butter Crunch Blizzard

4 frozen bananas

1T heaping with peanut butter

3-4 peanut butter cookie dough balls to pulse in

2 cookie dough balls to sprinkle on top

Add bananas and peanut butter to blender and blend until smooth like soft serve. Add peanut butter balls and blend together until chunky. Serve into cups or bowls and sprinkle with remaining peanut butter balls! Serves 2-3!

* If you really don't want to use bananas you can use your fav ice cream too!