This is a somewhat healthy recipe, being whole wheat and refined sugar-free. I used natural peanut butter, pure raw honey and pure maple syrup to make these bars sweet, but still nice and peanut butter-y, too.
Monday, October 10, 2016
Peanut Butter Candy Corn Cookie Bars
The fall recipes continue, and this time, not with pumpkin or apple, but candy corn! I've seen recipes recently of homemade Butterfingers being made by melting and combining peanut butter and candy corn. Who would have thought? So, even though Peanut Butter Candy Corn Cookie Bars may seem like an odd combo, candy corn and peanut butter do pair well together, as proven by Butterfingers.
The bars are a cinch to whip together. They only require one bowl, a handful of regular baking ingredients, and of course, candy corn. When they first come out of the oven, they will be somewhat puffy, but they will sink down after cooling down a bit.
Thursday, September 29, 2016
S'mores Cookie Cake Bars (Skinny)
Summer is ending, but that doesn't mean the summer treats are! I proved it by making these S'mores Cookie Cake Bars. The chocolate and marshmallow combination should never go out of season, and now it doesn't have to.
The bars are made with coconut flour, which might sound crazy or rare, but it can be found at almost any grocery store. It is gluten-free, and much healthier than regular flour. However, since these bars are made with it, they are much more cake-y and less like a tough cookie (no pun intended there, actually). They're dense and chewy and go perfectly with a glass of milk.
These are, believe it or not, healthy S'mores Cookie Cake Bars. They are gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free and butter-free. I know, how is there anything tasty even in these bars? I don't know how it works, but it just does! (Okay, I do know how it works. They're topped with chocolate chips and marshmallows, so the healthiness ends there.)
Friday, September 23, 2016
Cheesecake-Filled Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
I'm doing a happy dance, metaphorically and literally, because I just successfully baked one of my favorite recipes! I'm a huge lover of pumpkin, and since yesterday was the first day of fall, I celebrated by making these: Cheesecake-Filled Pumpkin Snickerdoodles. What a name.
These cookies are cake-y, soft, fluffy, flavorful and super moist from the cheesecake filling. Yes, all those adjectives were necessary to accurately describe them. They are perfectly coated in a brown sugar mixture, and they have just the right amount of pumpkin flavor. My personal favorite part is the cream cheese filling, though. It really stands out in these cookies. That being said, my boyfriend doesn't like cream cheese, and he still liked them. I told him I'd make these sometime without the filling so he could really enjoy them. So, that's always an option, too, if you know someone who isn't a fan of cream cheese (why are we friends with people like that again? Just kidding.).
Believe it or not, these are health-ified cookies compared to similar recipes. These are made with (white) whole wheat flour, reduced sugar, reduced fat cream cheese and no granulated sugar. Most recipes are made with all-purpose flour and more sugar, but pure maple syrup replaces a portion of the sugar in these, which not only makes them a smidge healthier, but also helps bring out the fall flavors.
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Oat & Jam Bars
Does anyone else buy fresh fruit jam at farmer's markets and then have nothing to do with them? This could very possibly be just me, but when I buy fruit jam, whether fresh or from the store, I don't want to eat it on toast. And, I usually don't know what else to do with it.
I have now made these twice, and I love them. They are subtly sweet, hearty and filling. Besides the taste, they are SO EASY to make. You just stir a few things together in a bowl, bake it, top with the remaining ingredients and bake again. The total time is about a half hour, so this is great for a last-minute treat.
So, a few weeks ago, I tried a new recipe to use some of the jam I have stored in the fridge. I had apricot, raspberry, strawberry, peach and pear all at once, so I thought I'd have some room for testing... And that's what I did - test some healthy and easy oat and jam bar recipes.
Apple Crisp Cheesecake Bars
Fall. Fall. Fall. Fall. It's one of my favorite times of the year (almost)! Though I love spring and summer because of the heat, I can handle the fall season because of the fun foods. My favorites always include apple, pumpkin or candy corn. For this recipe, I went with an apple theme.
I took these bars to a football tailgate, and they were a hit. There were hardly any left! If you love festive fall treats like me, make these Apple Crisp Cheesecake Bars! They are great for gatherings, but if you want this dessert for just a few people, it can easily be halved for an 8x8" or 9x9" pan. Happy (almost) fall!
Although, for this recipe, I wanted to make it a little healthier than most. I adapted this recipe from three others, which is more than usual for me. But, I wanted to make sure this recipe was the healthiest it could be while still remaining subtly sweet and tasty. I used (white) whole wheat flour, whole grain oats, reduced fat cream cheese, and, believe it or not, a largely reduced amount of sugar. This recipe could not really be made sugar-free, but I did try to make it as healthy as possible. Everyone deserved a treat sometimes, right?
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
Gluten-Free Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins
Summer is coming to an end, and I've gone to my annual trip to the farmer's market for zucchini! I always get loads of zucchini, and it ends up being way too much. But, so far, I've been doing pretty well using it up in different recipes, this being one of them!
I've made several different zucchini breads, but this is the first one I've made that is gluten-free. Normally, it wouldn't affect me if muffins were gluten-free or not, but my brother is supposed to steer clear of gluten, so I wanted to use up some of his gluten-free flour for these. And, I am SO glad I did because I LOVED these! They are so filling and dense and flavorful.
These yummy muffins pleasantly surprised me. They are easy to make (besides taking the time to shred and squeeze the zucchini... That part can be time-consuming.) and fluff up like the beautiful cupcakes they are. You could omit the chocolate chips if you wanted, but really, who wants to do something crazy like that?
There is no butter, refined-sugar, gluten or dairy in these muffins, so they are extremely diet-friendly. They could also be made egg-free by using two flax eggs. They are 225-250 calorie muffins, so they are great for a quick breakfast or a convenient grab-and-go snack.
These yummy muffins pleasantly surprised me. They are easy to make (besides taking the time to shred and squeeze the zucchini... That part can be time-consuming.) and fluff up like the beautiful cupcakes they are. You could omit the chocolate chips if you wanted, but really, who wants to do something crazy like that?
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
Black Bean Almond Butter Brownies
I ran out of sweets in the house earlier this week. Well, really, I ran out of healthy sweets (usually our house is equipped with store-bought unhealthy cookies, but, surprisingly, I'm not exactly into those.) Therefore, I had to try a new recipe! I wanted something chocolate-y, so I came across a recipe for Black Bean Brownies.
Thursday, July 28, 2016
Healthy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
I like to do this thing where I pin about 3,584,267 healthy peanut butter-and-chocolate recipes on Pinterest. And then I get overwhelmed looking at all of them because they're so similar, and I can never decide which recipe to try.
But! This week, I up and chose one to try! And it was one of the best decisions I made all week. I revised the original recipe quite a bit, removing the sugar and subbing some unhealthier ingredients with better-for-you ones. It was a risk, but it was one I was willing to take. (After all, I've created multiple healthy recipes before that ended up tasting not great whatsoever, so I'm used to it.)
Now I LOVE baking with almond butter, but one of my friends recently told me she was way more into peanut butter than almond butter. Also, she was wanting to experiment with chia seeds, a super healthy and nutritious food, filled with protein, fiber, Omega-3 fatty acids, etc. So, I made it a mission of mine to bake something yummy with both peanut butter and chia seeds.
Healthy Banana Oat Muffins
So I noticed my freezer was starting to get pretty full...of overripe bananas...which may sound ridiculous, but I was excited because that meant I had to try a new recipe. (Yes, I had to, I had no choice...)
The result was these awesome and healthy banana oat muffins. They're super easy, with minimal ingredients, and I love the sweet flavors from the banana and coconut.
This is a quick, 30-minute treat everyone will love, perfect for kids and adults. My brother scarfed down two of these in less than two minutes, so I took that as a good sign. (I may or may not have done the same thing right before him.)
Monday, May 30, 2016
Skinny Chocolate Strawberry Poke Cake
Chocolate and strawberries - one of my favorites besides chocolate and peanut butter, of course. I bought chocolate pudding mix to use on a recipe a few weeks ago, but didn't end up needing it. So, how do we solve that problem? I couldn't just make the pudding to eat by itself.
So the solution was to try a new recipe - Skinny Chocolate Strawberry Poke Cake. I have yet to find a poke cake I don't like, and this is no exception. Light, yet dense strawberry cake, topped with chocolate fudge pudding (that's like regular chocolate pudding, but intensified), topped again with Cool Whip, and then again with fresh strawberries. YUM.
Ironically enough, I think I liked this cake the least out of my entire family. I cut it into 24 slices, and there were five of us trying it. When I put it back in the fridge, there were only 10 pieces left! Everyone said they liked it because it was light and not too sweet. (And, therefore, they could handle eating a few more pieces, I guess.) Success!
Ironically enough, I think I liked this cake the least out of my entire family. I cut it into 24 slices, and there were five of us trying it. When I put it back in the fridge, there were only 10 pieces left! Everyone said they liked it because it was light and not too sweet. (And, therefore, they could handle eating a few more pieces, I guess.) Success!
Monday, May 2, 2016
Apple Butter Streusel Muffins
I never even knew apple butter existed until probably less than a year ago. I know, I'm crazy, right? The first time I had it was at my first trip to Cracker Barrel, and right then, I was sucked in. Who can resist sweet, warm cornbread muffins with apple butter? Not me, I found that out right away.
It's been sitting there, just waiting to be used. Not on toast, no. But, instead in and spread all around on STREUSEL MUFFINS. How could I not have thought of this? I didn't think of it myself, but came across a recipe on Pinterest and knew I had to try them.
So, I bought some apple butter with the intention to use it on toast for breakfast or something similar. Well, I couldn't even tell you the last time I had toast. I don't really even like it very much, so that was a bad idea on my part. Therefore, there has been a barely used jar of apple butter sitting in the fridge for weeks now.
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Peanut Butter Chocolate Tagalong Cupcakes (Skinny)
Surprise, surprise...another chocolate peanut butter dessert. I just can't help myself. But, it doesn't help because it was just Girl Scout season, so I had to create a recipe to use the ones I'd bought because otherwise, I'd just eat the whole package myself.
Last month for Easter, I made my Lemon Cream Cheese Pie with the Girl Scout Lemonades cookies I'd bought. This time, I wanted to use up my other (and last) box of Girl Scout cookies, the Tagalongs (or Peanut Butter Patties).
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Pumpkin Cobbler Lava Cake
I'm not really sure why I'm celebrating this new spring weather with pumpkin treats, but I'm not complaining one bit. I whipped out the canned pumpkin last week to try a new recipe, pumpkin spice waffles. They were great! But, I had leftover pumpkin, and I couldn't let it go to waste. So, ta-da, Pumpkin Cobbler Lava Cake.
This Pumpkin Cobbler Lava Cake is sweet, gooey and unbelievably awesome topped with pecans and whipped cream, not to mention a big ol' scoop of vanilla ice cream. Besides the taste being spectacular, it's also really simple to make and can be thrown together quickly. The ingredient list may look a tad lengthy, but three of the ingredients are spices, so I promise it's easy!
The recipe I adapted this from looked super yummy (of course), but it had so much sugar in it. So, I cut the sugar pretty drastically, incorporated whole wheat flour, and subbed some other ingredients to lighten it up. And I am PUMPED because YOU CAN'T EVEN TELL. AT ALL. I'm not lying! Sometimes I can tell if a recipe has whole wheat flour or reduced sugar because the texture is off. This is not one of those recipes! *happy dance*
Friday, April 1, 2016
Lemon Cream Cheese Pie
I feel like each new season that rolls around is my favorite because of the delicious seasonal foods. I love the fall flavors of pumpkin and apple, I love the winter season of peppermint, and now is finally the spring season of fruity and lemon-y deliciousness.
I was a little nervous to make this pie because I wasn't positive how it was going to turn out. But, I am so glad I made it because it is the BOMB!
This pie is so light, creamy and fluffy, and the perfect mix of all of those. I reduced the sugar from the original recipe, so it's not too sweet, not too tangy and not too rich. It is just right. And I love it.
This pie is so light, creamy and fluffy, and the perfect mix of all of those. I reduced the sugar from the original recipe, so it's not too sweet, not too tangy and not too rich. It is just right. And I love it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)