Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares

I was watching Tricia Yearwood one morning and she made these. I thought they sounded pretty amazing and they definitely were!! I took them to a CrossFit competition as an after work out goodie and then gave Stephen some to take to the football office- they were all gobbled up right away! I am not one to continue to make the same thing over and over, but I must admit I couldn't get enough of these :) Definitely recommend!

1 1/2 sticks butter, melted

2 cups pretzel rods, crushed into crumbs

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup plus 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter

1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips (I actually did 2 cups)

Directions: 

• Crush pretzels into crumbs (I just used my vitamix and pulsed twice)
• In a bowl, combine pretzels, butter, 1 cup peanut butter and sugar and mix thoroughly
• In an ungreased 9x13 dish, press the pb mix evenly. 
• In a microwave safe bowl, put chocolate chops and 1/4 cup peanut butter and put in microwave for 30 seconds at a time and stir each time. 
• When chocolate is glossy and melted, spread over the pb layer
• Refrigerate at least 1 hour before cutting into squares!

Paleo Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Everyone had been asking for a Paleo Chocolate Zucchini bread on the challenge, so I finally got over the fear of zucchini I have had for the past almost 8 months and made it :) I found the recipe on PaleOMG.com and I doubled the recipe... thank goodness, if I didn't it would have been a pretty tiny loaf! The bread was delicious... moist, extremely chocolaty and pretty much guilt free I thought! Definitely recommend!! Also- for those of you with picky kiddos - you don't see any green in this bread, as far as I am concerned you can tell them it is chocolate bread ;) Next time I make this bread, I am going to experiment a little - add some banana, walnuts and probably coconut!!

2 medium zucchinis (3 cups) shredded and drained well

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups peanut butter or almond butter (I use PB, next time will try AB, can also use sunbutter)

2/3 cup raw honey

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup coconut flour

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg (optional but I love it so I added it)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

  

Directions:

• Shred and drain the zucchini well. You want it to be pretty dry.
• Add all the ingredients in a bowl and mix until fully incorporated
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake for approximately 35-40 minutes if you are doing one large loaf like I did. You want a tooth pick to come out pretty clean but not too dry - want to keep that bread moist.
• Let cool and serve!!



Aunt Jackie's Chocolate Chip Cookies

I was craving chocolate cake today, but for some reason decided to cook something a little more portable. My aunt is a baker, and came up with this recipe after much testing, so I decided to try it myself! I think what makes these cookies bake well is refrigerating the dough for an hour before cooking them and then just using a scooper to place them on a cookie sheet (not pushing down). They stay soft, fluffy and great!  The only things I changed was I added 2 1/2 cups choc chips (original was 1 1/4 and added 2 tsp vanilla instead of 1). I also baked for only 14 minutes, recipe called for 18. Mine were brown on the edges at 14 so I didn't want to bake them any longer. 

2 1/4 c. Flour

2 tsp. cornstarch

3/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. sugar

3/4 c. melted butter

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 c. Chocolate chips OR Mini M&Ms

Directions: 

• Mix all dry ingredients and set aside. 
• Melt butter and cream with brown sugar & sugar then add eggs & vanilla continue to mix until blended. 
• Then slowly add dry ingredients until blended then chocolate chips.
• Now you can do one of 2 things:
• Refrigerate dough in mixing bowl for at least an hour.
• OR
• Use a cookie scoop and scoop out cookie dough on cookie sheet ( i use parchment paper) and put in refrigerator for about 15 min or until good and firm.
• Bake at 325 for 14 minutes. 

Skinny Gluten Free Banana Coconut Bread

Having a good friend over for brunch tomorrow and I wanted to make some homemade goodies that were still...eh sorta good for me? I decided to make some banana bread with some bananas I had on the counter and I found this recipe! I made a couple changes from the original, seriously, YUM. These are sugar free (besides honey), gluten free and packed with great stuff for you.  I love this bread!

3/4 cup coconut oil

1 cup honey

6 egg whites

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups mashed bananas

1 1/4 cup Gluten Free AP flour *

1 cup Gluten Free Oats (rolled oats), pulsed in food processor to make an oat flour

1/2 cup vanilla protein powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:

• In a large bowl, cream the coconut oil and the honey. do not melt the coconut oil first, you want it to be solid so it acts like a butter mixing with the honey.
• Add the egg whites, vanilla and banana and mix completely. 
• Sift the flour, oats, protein powder, cinnamon, and baking soda. 
• Slowly add the flour mix, alternately with the coconut milk, to the banana mixture. Do not over mix. 
• Stir in the shredded coconut and chocolate chips by hand. Next time i make this recipe i will also add 1 cup chopped walnuts too!
• Divide the batter in the loaf pans and sprinkle with some additional mini chocolate chips.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. 
• Let cool in the pans before flipping out onto cooling racks. 
• Keep bread in sealed container for 5-7 days or freeze the loaves to have on hand later! Makes 4 mini loaves or 1 large loaf. 

* If you don't want to make it with Gluten Free flour, you can easily substitute 1-1 normal AP flour and rolled oats. 

Gluten Free Pumpkin Cupcakes with Vanilla Maple Frosting & Maple Bacon Crumbles

Today I really felt like baking, just one of those days where Stephen was at football, I probably should have been working out, and just felt good :) I am trying not to eat wheat or gluten (as much as possible) so I made these gluten free! I am also not supposed to be eating white sugar, but we will keep this a secret right? AAANdddd because there is bacon on them, that makes them Paleo right? :) Honestly, the ingredients list below looks really long, but these cupcakes are super simple!

Cupcakes
1 cup Gluten Free AP flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 large eggs at room temp
1 cup pumpkin puree 
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Frosting
8 ounces cream cheese at room temp
4 tablespoons butter at room tempvanilla beans removed from 2 pods

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used my homemade extract)
1/2 teaspoon imitation maple flavor (NOT maple syrup)
2 cups sifted powdered sugar

Topping
1/2 pound crumbled Maple Bacon

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line your cupcake tins with liners (This recipe makes approx 18 medium sized cupcakes)
• Into a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.
• In a larger bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vegetable oil. Add the flour mixture and stir until combined.
• Divide the batter among the prepared tins and bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Set aside and cool.
• Before cooking, cut up bacon into small pieces then fry up. Set aside and cool completely
• Make the maple frosting by using an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream cheese and butter on low speed until smooth. Stir in the maple flavoring and vanilla extract. With the mixer still on low, slowly add the powdered sugar and mix until smooth.

Adapted from Ina Garten

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

My mom and I went to a birthday party a few weeks ago and my friend Alyssa had made some really yummy lemon blueberry cupcakes with a lemon curd. It inspired me to make these lemon meringue cupcakes for my brother. He LOVES anything lemon and for his birthday BBQ I knew I had to make something special. These cupcakes are truly delicious! Although there appears to be several steps, they really are fairly easy and definitely worth the time- and to make the cupcakes a little bit easier on myself, I took some help from a boxed cake mix for the cupcake part!

Lemon Curd ( I doubled this recipe)

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup lemon juice

zest of 2 lemons

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon corn starch

pinch of salt

6 large egg yolks

Cupcakes

1 box of your favorite white vanilla cake mix

2-3 vanilla pods, beans removed

Meringue Frosting

6 egg whites

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cream of tarter

Directions: 

• Bake the cupcakes according to the box instructions, and add extra ingredients listed. 
• Remove from oven and let cool completely
• I recommend even doing these the night before so they are set up nicely and cooled completely

Lemon Curd:

• Melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium-low heat. Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice and zest. 
• Mix together the sugar, salt and cornstarch and add it to the pan.
• Whisk in the egg yolks until smooth and return to the heat.
• Cook over medium-low heat for roughly 10 minutes until the mixture has thickened and coats the back of a spoon. 
• No not allow the mixture to boil.
• Once thickened, strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl. 
• Allow to chill in the refrigerator completely before using. 
• When cooled- using a Bismarck tip and piping bag, push the Bismarck tip approximately 3/4 of the way into the cupcake and slowly pull up, this will fill the center of the cupcakes with the lemon curd. 
• If any of the curd comes out, just lightly spread it over the top of the cupcake to give it some extra lemony-goodness!

Frosting Directions:

• Beat egg whites until frothy then gradually add sugar, and then cream of tarter, continuing to beat until stiff peaks form. Make sure you don't rust this process- you want the meringue to be stiff. 
• Add vanilla. 
• Pipe onto cupcakes and using a small pastry torch, cook the topping until peaks are nicely browned.

NOTE: I ended up doubling the meringue recipe (oops) and ended up with a crap load of meringue. Not wanting to waste it- I ended up making a lemon meringue pie (found some vanilla wafer cookies at my moms house and mixed that with butter for the crust) and then some meringue cookies! The pie was GOOD! The cookies, eh. I liked them, not no one else loved them- I think its a texture thing. You either love or hate meringues. Stephen is still confused over what they were- he thinks they would be good- on TOP of a normal cookie :)

Yonanas

My mom got Stephen this awesome gift for his birthday this year, its called Yonanas! It makes soft serve ice cream with just fruit!! There are tons of other recipes that use other ingredients besides bananas, but the bananas make it the perfect consistency. Stephen and I made a banana-berry soft serve last night. This machine is amazing!!! Just fruit, nutritious and satisfy s our craving for ice cream. I recommend this machine to everyone.

2 frozen bananas

1 cup frozen berries

Gluten Free Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Found this recipe here- but just changed out the flour for AP Gluten Free flour and gluten free rolled oats! Delicious- the banana in them is perfect!

2 cups gluten free all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cups butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 mashed banana

1 cup rolled oats gluten free

2 cups chocolate chips

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Whisk together flour, salt and baking soda in a small bowl and set aside. 
• Please butter and sugars into a mixing bowl and beat on medium speed until pale and fluffy.
• Reduce speed to low and add egg vanilla and mix until combined.
• Mix in banana
• Add flour and mix until just combined.
• Stir in oats and chocolate chips. 
• Put balls of dough approx 12 inches apart
• Bake for 12-14 minutes. Mine were done every single time at exactly 12 minutes. 

Coconut Bars

Ever have one of those days where you are craving gooey brownies? Well fortunately, I found an awesome website that had this recipe for coconut bars that are vegan, sugar free and gluten free! They take about an hour to set up, but making them literally took me 5 minutes! Best part- they are no- bake too!! I found the original recipe way too sweet, so I made some adjustments below.  Also- if you are OK with having a small amount of caffiene, these would be EXCELLENT with some chopped dark (at least 60%) chocolate mixed in or drizzled on top! If you are making these for more than 2-3 people I would double the recipe to make more.

1 cup unsweetened coconut (make sure it is not sweetened)

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1/4 cup agave

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2  teaspoon vanilla (I used my homemade vanilla!)

Directions

• Put all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until all incorporated and no large lumps
• Push into a small Tupperware or dish, mine was like 4 x 5 inches. 
• Put in the refrigerator and let set up 45 mins to an hour. 

Apple Cookies

I really couldn't go several weeks without something sweet, so I went in search of something I could actually eat. I got this recipe from a friend and made a few minor adjustments to make them vegan :) Just to let you know, because these cookies have applesauce in them and no real binder, they are not your normal cookies and are a little crumbly - maybe I should call them fork or spoon eatin' cookies?

2 large apples or 3 small-medium apples

2 cups almonds

1/2 cups applesauce (make sure no sugar or high-fructose corn syrup)

1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

2 teaspoons coconut oil, melted

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons agave

5 dates, chopped

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Put apples in blender or food processor to puree them, I just left the skin on
• Put almonds in the food processor and pulse a few times to make them chunky
• In a bowl add all the ingredients and mix well. 
• Spoon batter onto a baking sheet (use silpad or wax paper if you have it)
• Bake for about 30 minutes until the edges are golden brown. 
• Remove from the oven and let cool on the silpad for 15 minutes then careful place on a serving plate!

Pecan Pie

Happy Thanksgiving week!! I wanted to make a pecan pie this year, my Grandpa's favorite! Of course I turned to my favorite "celebrity" chef, The Pioneer Woman, she had an amazingly simple recipe and it was insanely good. You must try. Click here for the recipe, below you can see some of my pictures :) I must say, I am pretty proud of myself, I am not really a pie maker.

No Cream Ice Cream

I saw this recipe on Pinterest and thought "eh not sure how good that will be, but I will Pin it anyways." Well on Saturday night I was desperate for frozen yogurt and neither Stephen nor I wanted to get dressed and head to the store. We always have frozen bananas in the freezer for smoothies, so I decided to try this one out. It was SO good!! Stephen was extremely skeptical, thinking there was no way something with only 3 (ok 4 because I wanted it a little sweeter) ingredients could be so good. This is a must try- and hey, it really is not too unhealthy!

2 frozen bananas, cut into slices

1 tablespoon peanut butter

1 teaspoon powdered sugar

1 tablespoon dutch cocoa powder

Directions: 

• Put bananas in a food processor and pulse. You will need to scrape down the sides a few times to make sure the bananas are getting pureed. 
• When the bananas are getting smooth, add the rest of the ingredients and continue to pulse until all blended and smooth. 
• Put back into the freezer to get it to harden up a little more to the consistency of ice cream. 
• You can skip the last step and eat right away too!

Pineapple Cupcakes

We were heading to a BBQ last night and I was asked to bring a yummy treat. I wasn't able to go to the store, but fortunately I keep a stockpile of cake mixes. Wanting something light for summer I chose a pineapple cake mix and added crushed pineapple. It was delicious!

1 Box pineapple supreme cake mix

1 1/2 cups crushed pineapple

3 eggs

1/3 cup oil

1 container whipped cream cheese frosting

Directions: 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Mix the cake mix, pineapple, eggs and oil together and fill mini cupcake (or normal cupcake) liners 3/4 full 
• When the cupcakes puff and a toothpick comes out cleanly, remove from oven. 
• If you do not have a pre-whipped cream cheese frosting, put the frosting in a bowl and mix with a mixer for 3-5 minutes until it becomes lighter
• Put into a decorators bag and frost with whatever tip you like best! For these, I used a large round open tip. 
• Sprinkle your favorite sprinkles on!

Strawberry Shortcake Cocktail

Ok- best cocktail EVER!! Even the manliest of men will like this drink. It is super refreshing and a perfect pairing for a summer BBQ (or in our case, our cheese themed potluck party). You can also make this drink non-alcoholic, but it will taste more like a strawberry limeade. Below are the ingredients for 1 cocktail.

1-2 shots cake vodka 

3 tablespoons strawberry puree

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 teaspoons simple syrup

club soda

ice

Directions: 

• To prepare to make the drinks, juice your limes, make your simple syrup (bring 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar to a boil, stirring frequently to get sugar dissolved), and use a food processor to make strawberry puree. 
• Using a cocktail shaker, add the first 4 ingredients and the ice and shake
• Pour into a glass and top with club soda!
• If you are making this non-alcoholic, I would add 7-up or sierra mist instead of the club soda. You can also make it a little more tart by adding more lime juice (make sure its fresh squeezed!) 

Boston Cream Cake

I am not the biggest fan of pies, but I love Boston Cream Pie. The chocolate, the cream, you can't go wrong! So when I saw this recipe, I had to try it! Probably the easiest cake I have ever made! It was so good. It's also a cake that I think gets better as it sits in the fridge. I had a piece 3 days later and it was just as yummy!

1 box butter or yellow cake mix

2 boxes of vanilla instant pudding mix

1 container chocolate frosting

Poke holes in the cake when it comes
out of the oven

Make pudding mix with milk and let sit for
2 minutes to start to get firm. Then pour
over warm cake.







Cooookies

I LOVE these cookies that are from an adorable baker at Farmers' Market- my goal- to learn how to make them!

Coffee Meringue Shrooms, Bleeding hearts (cookies filled
with strawberry filling) and Chocolate, toffee, pecan
cookies!!

Lemon cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream

Holy yum, these are amaaaazing!! Made these on Easter for brother because he LOVES lemon :)  You HAVE to make these, I think they are my new favorite cupcake!

Cupcakes:
1 box lemon cake mix 

Ingredients that the cake mix calls for

Lemon Glaze:
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2-1 cup powdered sugar

Frosting: 

2 sticks of butter

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/3 cup strawberry jam

pinch of salt
1/2 cup fresh strawberries cut very very small

6 cups powered sugar

2-3 tablespoons of cream

Directions: 

• Bake the lemon cakes in cupcake holders as directed on the box. Remove from oven and let cool.
• Make your glaze by mixing ingredients together. You will want the glaze to be somewhat thick, so keep adding powdered sugar until you get a medium thickness glaze. Once they are mixed, poke small holes in the top of the cupcakes and spread over the top, careful to not let it all run down the sides. Do this 2-3 times after each back soaks in to make them extra lemony! See the first picture for this step
• To make the frosting- first start by beating the butter and vanilla until it is creamy. Best to start with butter that has been sitting out for 30 minutes to an hour.
• Mix in strawberry jam, strawberries and salt
• Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, beating until combined. 
• Then add cream 1 tablespoon at a time until you get the desired consistency
• Devour!
• I topped with a little  lemon decoration :)

Cake Balls

I am sure everyone has seen these. They are delicious little bites of heaven! I have made them as pops before, but this time just made some cake balls. These are SO good you have to try them. They do take a while to make, and you need to plan ahead a little, but they are worth it.

1 box cake mix (I used devils food)

1 container frosting (I used milk chocolate)

Candy Coating Chocolate (I used mint dark chocolate, purple white choc and blue white choc)

Directions:

• Bake the cake mix according to the directions. Then let cool. I usually make mine the night before I want to make the balls. That way its fully cooled and just one less thing I have to do the next day
• Once cooled, break the cake up and crumble into a bowl, making sure you don't have any large clumps.
• Add 3/4 of the container of frosting. Don't use the whole container or your cake will be too moist.
• Roll the mix into 1 1/2 inch balls. I used a medium scoop to make sure all my cake balls were the same size.
• Put the cake balls onto a baking sheet lined with wax paper or aluminum. Put the cake balls in the refrigerator, I usually leave them in there at minimum 2 hours so they set up.
• Once they cake balls are cooled, melt the candy chocolate according to the directions and dip the cake balls into the candy mix to fully cover.
• Put back in the fridge for about an hour to let the coating harden.
• Eat!!

Valentines Day

Well now that I am aware of the incredible simplicity of rice krispy treats, I have NO clue why I never made them before. I think I might have become obsessed with them. This year, Stephen and I didn't want to spend $ on gifts for Valentines, just spend some quality time together, which is so much better anyways!

I made a heart shaped rice krispy treat with homemade buttercream frosting to decorate a little Valentines flare. Since I already did the recipe for the treats, I will give you the recipe for this buttercream, it was insanely good! Give it a try! The recipe below is for a smaller batch of buttercream. If you want to make a full batch to have 10-12 servings, just double each ingredient (except the vanilla bean).

1/2 cup butter

1.5-2 cups of powdered sugar

1 vanilla bean pod, beans removed

1.5 tablespoons of heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

• Start to cream the butter and slowly add in the powdered sugar until it is all incorporated
• Add the vanilla beans, cream, and vanilla extract and beat on medium for about 1 more minute.
• If the buttercream is too thick, you can add a little more cream or milk, if it is too runny, you can add more powdered sugar.
• Top this on your favorite cupcakes, cakes, or in my case rice krispy treats!

Rice Krispy Treats

So I am sure I am the last female on earth to never have made Rice Krispy Treats. Although you can get the recipe right from the box, I wanted to document my first time making them :)  You will notice I made the rice krispies with a store brand. When I went to the store that day to buy the cereal, the brand name was over $5 a box! The store brand, however, for only 1 ounce less was $2.25. I think its a no brainer why I chose the store brand.
I added some little special touches to my treats, so obviously they are optional!

6 cups rice cereal

3 tablespoons butter

1 package (10 oz) of marshmallows

1 Hershey chocolate bar

sprinkles (I used hearts because Valentines day is soon!)

Directions:

• In a large saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.
• Add the rice cereal and stir until well coated
• Using buttered spatula or wax paper, evenly press mixture into a 9x13 baking dish that has been coated with cooking spray. 
• Let cool and then drizzle melted chocolate over the top and top with festive sprinkles!
• Cut into squares!