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.

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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.)

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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!

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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.

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.

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.

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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). 

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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.

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*

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!

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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.

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