chocolate Archives - Page 5 of 6

Gluten Free Cannoli Bars

July 18, 2012 · by Ari ·

When I was a little girl, my dad and I would always eat cannolis at the pizzeria near our house. I love cheese. I love dessert. Cheese + dessert? Done.

I remember one time the pizza place ran out of shells, and I didn’t even care, because honestly, I just love the filling. I used to scrape all of the filling out and leave the shell behind, like weird people do with oreo cookies. That I don’t get. The cookie part of the oreo is the best!! I wish they made them with no cream. Just cookie. And cannolis with no shell. Wait, I made that last thing 😉

All of the delicious flavors of this decadent Italian treat, on top of a brown sugar and oats crust that beats any flavorless deep fried shell I’ve ever tasted. Plus, I love things in bar form. Cheesecake, cookies, you name it.

Also, can we just talk about ricotta cheese for a second? Why is it so freaking good? I could seriously eat it out of the tub with a spoon, ~~and I have~~. Don’t judge me. I’ve eaten a lot of cheese by itself in my day. Chomped on a block of sharp cheddar, ricotta by the spoonful, it may or may not have been kind of a…problem…

These bars however, are the perfect dessert solution to that problem. That’s me, a super awesome problem solver. Figuring out ways to eat lots of cheese, and not feeling guilty about it always and forever. As Terra would say, you’re welcome the world.

Gluten Free Cannoli Bars

yield approx 3 dozen bars

2 cups gluten free oats
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup + 2 tbs light whipped butter, melted
1 tsp cinnamon
40 oz part skim ricotta cheese
4 oz light whipped cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup mini dark chocolate chips
crushed pistachios for topping (about 2 tbs)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9×13 pan with nonstick spray, and set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, melted butter and cinnamon. Press into the bottom of 9×13 pan, and bake for approx 25 minutes until golden. Set on a wire rack to cool
In a large bowl, combine ricotta, cream cheese, and powdered sugar. Fold in chocolate chips. Spread ricotta mixture onto completely cooled crust, and sprinkle with crust pistachios. Let set for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight.

Triple Chocolate Cupcakes

June 19, 2012 · by Ari ·

My mom loves chocolate. She used to tell me that a dessert without chocolate was a total waste.

Most of my life, I was more of a vanilla person. I liked chocolate in things, but I never liked chocolate based desserts–I always thought they were too overwhelming. In fact, at one point in my life, I swore off chocolate thinking it would help with my weight loss. It didn’t. Turns out when you replace your mocha with a caramel macchiato, and make your chocolate chip cookies with butterscotch chips, it actually makes no difference at all. Funny how that works.

When I did the awful carb diets and swore off sweets for entirely too long (if you can imagine me eating no dessert–it’s a scary thought), my tastes entirely changed. Suddenly, the richer, deeper, and more intense the flavor was, the more I loved it! Dark chocolate became more appealing than my once favorite white, and I started craving brownies instead of snickerdoodle cookies.

These days, it depends on my mood, and if you offered me a chocolate and a vanilla cupcake, I would probably want a vanilla one with chocolate frosting. Or a chocolate one with vanilla frosting. But my mother–she will choose all chocolate. Well, to be honest, it probably doesn’t matter what kind of cupcake it is, because all she really wants is the frosting 😉

Frosting is an other thing I used to not like. But I think that’s because I was eating store bought frosting, and that’s gross. In fact, I find most buttercream kind of disgusting. So sickeningly sweet that it makes your mouth feel funny. I look at the amount of sugar in most frosting recipes, and usually end up taking almost a cup of it away! Now don’t get me wrong, this frosting has plenty of sugar, but it isn’t overwhelming. You can taste the cream cheese, and the chocolate, and not just get a mouthful of sugar. Cream cheese and whipped cream frostings are something I can get behind. You can keep your buttercream and fondant.

These were my mom’s birthday cupcakes. Chocolate cupcakes made with coffee to enhance the chocolate flavor, filled with white chocolate, and topped with my very favorite chocolate cream cheese frosting. Rich chocolatey flavor, without feeling heavy. That is my kind of cupcake. Especially delicious with a glass of almond milk. Mmmmm.

Triple Chocolate Cupcakes
yield 1 dozen

Cupcakes inspired by Brown Eyed Baker

1 1/3 cup white whole wheat flour
1/3 cup dutch process cocoa powder (or Hershey’s special dark)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
dash salt
½ cup unsweetened almond milk
1/2 cup strong brewed coffee
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup turbinado sugar
1/4 cup egg substitute
1/2 cup all natural white chocolate chips
1/2 batch Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners, and spray lightly with nonstick spray.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat together applesauce, sugar, and egg substitute until well combined. In a measuring cup, combine the milk, coffee, and vanilla. Slowly add the flour mixture, alternating with the coffee mixture, ending with the flour mixture. Fold in white chocolate chips.
Divide the batter evenly between the 12 liners. Baking for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
Cool cupcakes completely on wire racks. Meanwhile, prepare frosting. When cupcakes are completely cooled, frost and enjoy.

Heath Bar Fro-yo

June 14, 2012 · by Ari ·

Well, I guess whether or not we had a perfect 85 degree Memorial Day weekend, that is long gone, and summer is here to stay. Although, I’m not. Come Sunday, I will be on a plane to Oregon where I will be spending most of the summer! I get to do theatre in a beautiful location with some of the most amazing people. I cannot wait! But while I’m still here “enjoying” the triple digits, you better believe I am getting my fro yo fill.

Not that I need warm temperatures to eat frozen yogurt. We all know that it’s my weakness in any temperature. But there is something special about the cool treat in the hot weather, especially when it’s made at home.

And can we talk for a second about Heath toffee bits? Is there anything more delicious to put into a cookie, cupcake, bowl of ~~cereal~~ ice cream? They’ve always been one of my favorite additions. I used to make these super unhealthy cookies filled with white and dark chocolate chips, and ridiculous amounts of toffee bits that gave it a slight crunch, and made the whole thing taste like toffee. You should try it sometime. But keep them far away from me, because I will eat the whole batch. Then make more.

It’s okay, I have this bowl of deliciousness to keep me occupied. And it has Greek yogurt, so I can eat it for breakfast, and call it healthy. I love dessert for breakfast. I am totally my mother’s daughter. She never likes to eat her dessert at night. Instead, she saves it, and eats it for breakfast the next morning. She also loved ice cream. And chocolate. She’s basically me, with a New York accent.

Mom, come over and eat fro yo. Okay, actually, it’s all gone (I’m sure you’re shocked), but it honestly is the easiest thing to make ever, and it is basically fool proof. Even I can’t mess it up!

So, I know my house is not Yogurtland. I will never forget the first time I made frozen yogurt for my friends, and they asked me where the toppings were. But, I would say Heath and chocolate are among the best of toppings. And Yogurtland’s sprinkles suck. I love my sprinkles crunchy. I can’t stand a soft sprinkle. Is that weird? Do other people out there have a sprinkle preference?

Rainbow and crunchy. Or pink and crunchy. No chocolate sprinkles. Those are lame, and boring. Apparently, I’m a sprinkle connoisseur. That is because sprinkles go on fro yo (they may not be in the picture, but you better believe they made it onto my bowl), and I am, without a doubt, a fro yo connoisseur. And this fro yo is creamy, filled with delicious vanilla bean (if you’ve never used one, you don’t know what you’re missing!!), and the delicious crunch of one of the best candy bars around.

Heath Bar Fro-yo

yield 12 4oz servings

3 cups nonfat plain Greek yogurt
3/4 cup turbinado sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split length wise
1/3 cup Heath toffee bits
1/3 cup mini dark chocolate chips

Directions:

In a medium bowl, whisk together yogurt, and sugar. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into the bowl, and combine. Cover and chill for 1 hour.
Freeze according to ice cream maker instructions.
When yogurt is frozen, gently fold in toffee and chocolate chips before serving, or transferring to a container to freeze for later.

Speculoos Cookie Dough Truffles

June 10, 2012 · by Ari ·

Sometimes, you just need to eat raw cookie dough dipped in chocolate.

Okay, at all times I really need raw cookie dough dipped in chocolate. Who am I kidding? But, for some greater good, or something, I surpress my need, and save it for the days where I need a little pick me up.

Like, you know, when you find out you need surgery, and you’re going to miss out on the race you’ve spent the last 3 months training for. Wahhhh. It’s okay though, because these made me feel better. A lot better. Like in Ratatouille when that little rat takes the bite and the fireworks go off around him, and the whole world stops. I heart Pixar.

I would tell you that these are a huge problem. And they ~~are~~ were. I ate them all up. Problem solved. I am so good at solutions. Have a food problem? Here is the solution: Give it to me. Unless it’s strawberries. Or pineapple. Or beets. Yuck. Also, crisco, but is that even food???? It can’t be! It gives me the creeps. Some people I know keep pounds of it in their pantry. I have strange friends. 😉

Anyway, I made 3 kinds of truffles. When you’re indecisive like me, and you can think of a million ways that these truffles could taste good, it would be silly to choose just one. So I made some with fleur de sel (fancy for sea salt–don’t worry, you don’t have to spend $15 on your salt; regular sea salt will do), and I topped some with cinnamon chips, and drizzled white chocolate over the rest. The salted ones were my favorite. Shocking, right?

All I can say is you’re welcome. Or, I’m sorry. Depending on how you take eating a dozen truffles in one sitting….

Speculoos Cookie Dough Truffles

yield 1 1/2-2 dozen truffles

2 tbs light whipped butter
1/2 cup TJ’s Speculoos Cookie Butter (or Biscoff spread, or any other Speculoos spread you prefer)
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
2/3 cup dark chocolate, melted
optional toppings: fleur de sel, cinnamon chips, white chocolate

Directions:

In a medium bowl, beat together butter, cookie butter, vanilla and flour until well combined. Cover and chill for 30min-1 hour.
Roll dough into 1/2 tbs sized balls, and use a fork to dip and fully coat in melted chocolate. Set on parchment paper, and repeat with remaining dough. Freeze for 1 hour to set, then keep in freezer or refrigerator.

Toppings:

If using fleur de sel, or cinnamon chips, top before freezing. Sprinkle fleur de sel on top, or place 2-3 small cinnamon chips into the top.
If using white chocolate, wait until set. Melt desired amount of white chocolate and drizzle lightly using a toothpick. Refreeze to set.

Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

June 1, 2012 · by Ari ·

This never happens. We eat a lot of bananas in this house, so they never stick around long enough to make banana bread/muffins/etc.

But I guess one day I got overzealous on my banana buying. Or we got sick of them for a while, because all of the sudden I had more over ripe bananas than I knew what to do with.

Okay, that’s a lie. I knew exactly what to do with them!

Note to self: bananas don’t typically stick around too long. Banana muffins don’t make it through the night.

I always talk about how I love experimenting with cooking for different diets. I won’t ever, ever, ever do an other diet with rules again, unless I develop some medical condition in which it is necessary or I’m going to die, and even then I’d still consider my options. Kidding. Mostly. 😉 I do love trying different things, however, and cooking in different ways. I’ve been dying to find some amazing looking recipe to make Diana some candida baked goods! Soon, soon, soon. But for now, amazing people like Jen that can’t have dairy, can eat delicious muffins (and Jen, I promise I am sending your cookies before I leave for camp!).

I could not get over how soft and moist these muffins were! Honestly, what is the point of butter in a muffin? Bananas and applesauce do the same thing and, in my opinion, like a million times better. I mean, don’t get me wrong…I love butter. It’s sick, really, how much I love butter, but well…now I feel slightly embarrassed because about my last statement, so let’s get back to these muffins which don’t fill my love of butter, but fill my bigger love of baked goods and chocolate. And now I am reminded of how sad I am that there are no longer any left in my house. First world problems people. This means you should make them, and enjoy them for me!

Like, perhaps, while lounging by the pool. 😉

Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

yield 1 dozen

2 1/3 cup white whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
dash salt
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
3 extra-ripe bananas, mashed
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup turbinado sugar + more for sprinkling
1/3 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/2 cup non dairy dark chocolate chips (I recommend using the mini size)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tin with paper liners, and spray lightly with nonstick spray.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat together bananas, vanilla, applesauce, 3/4 cup sugar, and almond milk, until well combined. Slowly, beat in dry ingredients, then fold in chocolate chips.
Evenly divide batter between the 12 muffin tins. Sprinkle an extra pinch of turbinado sugar on the top of each muffin (optional), and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer immediately to wire racks to cool.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes

May 31, 2012 · by Ari ·

Want to know what’s special about these cupcakes???

Well for one, they are my first batch that were ordered and SOLD! EEEEEK!!!!

Susan ordered them for her Niece’s graduation party, along with a bunch of candy cups to contribute to my fundraising goal!

So, confession: I was ridiculously nervous about this! Sure, I love to bake and share my recipes, and invite people over to ~~help me not inhale 7 servings of my food~~ enjoy my food with me, but am I really good enough for someone to pay for it??? I honestly still don’t even really consider myself a cook, or a baker, or much of anything, other than someone with a sweet tooth the size of Canada. This was a big and scary step! The good news? They came back to rave reviews!!

Everyone I know goes crazy over chocolate covered strawberries. Me? I don’t like strawberries. Not a bit. However, my taste tester said they were delicious, soft and fluffy with the perfect strawberry flavor. The perfect strawberry flavor for me would be not, but I kind of liked that because it meant I consumed way less batter during the process. The frosting…well that’s an other story. It’s my favorite.

You know what else? I took all of these photos myself! Check out my rude husband taking all the credit with his signature 😉 To be fair, he did help me get everything set up, but then it was all me! I’m learning, and I’m really enjoying getting better at the photography!

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes

yield approx 2 dozen

For the cupcakes:
adapted from Eat Live Run

3 cups white whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
dash salt
1 1/3 cups pureed fresh strawberries (from about 2 cups whole strawberries—puree in a blender until smooth)
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 tsp vanilla
zest from one large lemon
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 3/4 cup turbinado sugar
1/2 cup egg substitute (or 3 more egg whites)
4 egg whites

For the Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

barely adapted from How Sweet It Is

3 x 8 oz blocks reduced fat cream cheese (you could also use fat free, I just had red fat on hand)
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups powdered sugar
2 1/2 oz grain sweetened chocolate chips, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract
sprinkles for topping (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 cupcake tins, and spray with nonstick spray.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk together pureed strawberries, lemon zest, milk and vanilla. Also set aside.
In a large bowl, beat together applesauce, sugar and egg substitute. Add egg whites one at a time, beating after each, until combined. Alternate between adding the dry ingredients and the wet strawberry ingredients to the sugar mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined.
Evenly divide batter between prepared cupcake tins (I used a cookie scoop). Bake for 25-27 minutes or until golden, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer immediately to wire racks to cool completely.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl , beat cream cheese on medium speed until smooth. Add vanilla extract.
Add in powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time, beating on low speed, followed by cocoa powder.
Increase to medium speed and add melted chocolate. Beat until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl often.
Frost completely cooled cupcakes, then top with sprinkles if desired.

Bacon Chocolate Chip Pancakes

May 23, 2012 · by Ari ·

Yup.

That happened.

You guys…I don’t even know what to say. These should have had like a zillion calories. With the name, and the deliciousness, and the whole eating dessert for breakfast thing. But really, a little dark chocolate is good for us, yes?

Okay, so I’m not about to switch out my Greek yogurt, pumpkin puree, chopped apple weirdness and turn bacon chocolate chip pancakes into my staple breakfast, but on a Sunday morning? Hell, yes.

I’m really sad you weren’t here to share in the fun. Although, I bet Steve and Jason are not in the least bit sad, because it meant more pancakes for them.

Sweet, salty, fluffy, melt in your mouth pancakes that will satisfy every single breakfast craving you’ve ever experienced. And just a little hint: whole wheat pastry flour is the secret to perfect whole grain pancakes. Do not used regular. Do not use white whole wheat. And please, do not think you need to add in bleached out white flour.

Oh, and my final instructions: Save that middle section with the most chocolate for last. It will be the best bite.

Bacon Chocolate Chip Pancakes

yield 6 servings

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
dash salt
2 tsp sugar free maple syrup (or honey, agave, or pure maple syrup)
1/2 cup egg substitute
2 cups unsweetened almond milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 slices center cut or turkey bacon, cooked, chopped and cooled
1/2 cup all natural dark chocolate chips

Directions:

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gently mix in syrup, egg substitute, milk, and vanilla, stirring until just combined. Then fold in cooked bacon and chocolate chips. Let stand for 10 minutes.
Preheat a large pan over medium heat, and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Pour approx 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Cook until top forms small bubbles and bottom is golden brown. Flip and continue cooking until both sides are golden.
Serve topped with any combination of Greek yogurt/syrup/light whipped butter

Nonfat Brownie Batter Fro Yo

May 16, 2012 · by Ari ·

Friends, it is getting hot in Phoenix. The high today is something gross like 105, and it’s only May. Not a fan.

Okay, let’s be honest for a second–I eat fro yo year round. It could be snowing and I would still want fro yo. In fact, no other dessert really satisfies my craving the way frozen yogurt or gelato does.

And when it’s hot outside, it is even more refreshing. I could eat frozen yogurt for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

In fact, today when I came back all hot and gross from my run, all I wanted to do was eat this for breakfast.

Remember when you were a kid and you had parents to tell you that you weren’t allowed to eat dessert for breakfast? That’s what I need. MOM LOOK! I am actually asking you to tell me what to do! That is a far stretch from my teenage years, right?

All I’m saying is watch out Yogurtology! You may have the best self serve in Phoenix, but I can also serve this myself, and it is creamy, chocolatey and also packs quite a bit of protein! HOW MUCH PROTEIN DOES YOUR YOGURT HAVE YOGURTOLOGY???? HMMMM???? Sorry, I love your yogurt, really. I just really love mine too 😉

Brownie Batter Fro Yo

adapted from my BBFF Nicole

3 cups nonfat Greek yogurt (I used TJ’s vanilla bean)
1/4 cup turbinado sugar
2-3 tbs Splenda
1/2 cup + 2 tbs No Pudge or Reduced Guilt brownie mix (or gluten-free brownie mix if desired)

Directions:

In a medium bowl combine yogurt, sugar, Splenda and brownie mix, stirring together until well combined. Chill mixture in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Pour chilled mixture into the bowl of an ice cream maker and freeze according to the ice cream makers instructions.

Orange Chocolate Lava Cookies

May 11, 2012 · by Ari ·

Have you ever had one of those big chocolate oranges? I always thought they were weird, but it turns out orange and chocolate together is brilliant and delicious. I guess those chocolate orange people were right all along 😉

Is it just me, or do things seem fancier when they have a filling? It’s pretty deceptive, really. These are just as easy to make as chocolate chip cookies, but it’s so much more fun to take a bite and have melty, gooey, rich chocolate surprise you in the middle.

Apparently this chocolate was too impatient, and couldn’t wait to be a surprise. Silly chocolate.

I love surprises. Poor Steve…I always tell him “I require a lot of surprises.” Whether it’s coffee, fro yo (my #1 fav surprise), or a note, it just makes me happy. 🙂

But ya know what I do not prefer? When someone tells you they have a surprise for you, and then refuses to tell you what it is!! What is that about? If you have a surprise, then just surprise me! Don’t tell me you’re going to surprise me! I can’t deal with not knowing things, people!

Clearly, I am the easiest person on Earth to be married to. I bet you’re all sad that you didn’t scoop me up first. Sorry guys. I know it sucks.

But seriously, I like to think that my baking at least slightly makes up for the fact that I’m kind of an obnoxious human being. I mean, I still have friends, so it must be the cookies.

This is where you compliment me, and tell me I have a personality that shines like a star, or something cheesey like that. Ready, go!

Okay, back to the cookies, because these cookies are ridiculous. Sweet, citrusy, chocolatey, tons of flavors and textures all fitting together to make up cookie heaven.

I’m on a bit of an orange dessert kick it seems. Which is funny, because I don’t even like actual oranges. Or orange juice. But I do like these…and also these.

Orange Chocolate Lava Cookies

1 1/4 cups gluten-free baking blend (or white whole wheat flour)
1/2 tsp baking powder
dash salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tbs orange zest
1/4 cup fat free cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup apple butter
1 tbs fresh orange juice
1 egg white
4 oz dark chocolate (small squares or coarsely chopped)

For the glaze:

½ cup powdered sugar
1-2 tbs orange juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together baking blend, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl mix together sugar and orange zest. Then beat in cream cheese, apple butter, egg white, and orange juice until combined.
Beat dry ingredients into wet until combined, scraping down sides of the bowl as necessary,
Roll cookies into 1″ balls, then stuff with a 1/4 tsp size chunk of dark chocolate (eye ball it–you want to make sure it is bigger than a chocolate chip, but that the dough can still cover it completely). Re-roll into 1″ ball, making sure all chocolate is covered. Repeat with remaining dough.
Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden. Let stand for 3-5 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Meanwhile, in a small-medium mixing bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and 1 tbs orange juice. Slowly continue to add more orange juice (and I mean very slowly. A little bit of liquid goes a long way with powdered sugar) until desired drippy consistency.
Dip tops of completely cooled cookies into the glaze, then let stand to set on a flat surface.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookies

April 30, 2012 · by Ari ·

So the thing is, we are definitely not perfect, but Steve and I have learned a bit about photography (him), food presentation (me), and composition (both of us) since starting this little blog. Whenever I go through my old recipe posts, I cringe and hope the people visiting my blog don’t look at them and run away forever. I keep them because the recipes are good, but I have this grand plan to recreate everything I love and get some good quality pictures so that everything on here looks cohesive. And not like a 5 year old made it. The problem is, I get excited and creative and want to make new recipes! However, these I love. Like a to the depths of my heart kind of love.

They were actually pretty popular around the internet too. I mean seriously, peanut butter, chocolate, and pretzels. It’s kind of a sure thing.

My favorite thing about these cookies is all of the contrasting flavors and textures.

Sweet & salty.

Crunchy & soft.

Perfect balance.

I may not always achieve perfect balance with my personal, professional, and health goals, but the most important thing is that I can accomplish it in a cookie, right?

Okay, good. As long as we’re all on the same page. Since we’re going with balance, I even made these slightly healthier this time around, and you know what? They were equally delicious. So to balance out the healthy, I ate about 7 of them in one day. It was awesome.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookies

yield approx 2 dozen

1 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
dash salt
1/2 cup apple butter
5 tbs packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter (preferably PB & Co White Chocolate Wonderful)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips
1/3 cup white chocolate chips
approx 24 pretzels (one per cookie)

Directions:

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat apple butter, sugars, and peanut butter until smooth.
Add egg and vanilla. Mix well.
Slowly stir the dry ingredients.
Fold in chips. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Roll dough into small 1″ balls, or use a cookie scoop and drop on prepared cookie sheet.
Bake for 7 minutes, then press a pretzel into each cookie. Cook for an additional 7 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack.

Black & White Peanut Butter Chip Brownies

April 16, 2012 · by Ari ·

In case you missed it, which would be super sad for you, Monday was my BBFF Nicole’s birthday! To celebrate, I made her brownies!

Now, I’ll be honest. I don’t usually make brownies from scratch. I usually let TJ’s Reduced Guilt Brownie Mix or No Pudge Brownie Mix do the work for me, because they are both delicious and easy. However, there was no way I was going to use a box mix for Nicole’s birthday. Have you read her blog??? She’s like a real chef. In fact every single time I cook for her, or she eats something I make, I get suuuuuuper nervous.

Luckily, these turned out much better than the gnocchi incident of 2012. In fact, they came out ridiculously good.

And now I have a huge problem on my hands…

All I can think about is brownies!!

Brownies, brownies, brownies, brownies, bbbrrrooowwwwnnniiieeesss!!!

Rich, sweet, gooey and chocolatey with peanut butter chips perfectly complementing the white and dark chocolate.

Or in other words YUM!

Black & White Peanut Butter Chip Brownies

yield 36 brownies

For the white layer:

2/3 cups white whole wheat flour
5.5 ounces Sunspire white chocolate chips
2 tbs light whipped butter
6 tbs nonfat vanilla yogurt
1/3 cup turbinado sugar
1/3 cup Splenda
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup + 2 tbs egg substitute
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup Sunspire peanut butter chips

For the black layer:

2/3 cups white whole wheat flour
5.5 ounces Sunspire grain sweetened chocolate chips
2 tbs light whipped butter
6 tbs nonfat vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup turbinado sugar
1/3 cup Splenda
1/2 cup + 2 tbs egg substitute
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup Sunspire peanut butter chips

For the White Chocolate Glaze:

10 oz bag Sunspire white chocolate chips
1/2 tbs light whipped butter
3 tbs unsweetened almond milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
sprinkles for topping (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the sides and bottom of a 9×13 glass baking pan. Line the pan with parchment paper.
Start with the white layer.
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour and salt together.
Put the white chocolate and butter in a large bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water (or a double broiler), stirring occasionally, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and smooth. Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water and add sugars, Splenda and yogurt. Whisk until completely combined, then remove the bowl from the pan.
Add eggs substitute and vanilla to the white chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Do not over mix.
Gently fold in flour mixture followed by peanut butter chips. Batter will not be completely smooth. Tiny flour clumps will bake out.
Pour into prepared baking pan.
Repeat steps 3-6 with black layer.
Pour black layer on top of white. Use a butter knife to gently swirl.
Bake for 40-50 minutes, turning once in between to ensure even cooking.
Let stand for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely (this is where the parchment paper comes in handy!)
Make glaze by microwaving white chocolate and butter together in a medium bowl on 20 second intervals, stirring after each, until melted.
Add vanilla and milk and stir until combined.
Spread over completely cooled brownies, top with sprinkles if desired and allow to cool for approx 1 hour.

Skinnified Sunday: Monster Cookies

April 15, 2012 · by Ari ·

I have always been a sucker for monster cookies. There are so many ways to make them, but the basic concept includes peanut butter, chocolate chips, M&Ms, and oats. How could you go wrong with those ingredients?! Seriously. I had some at a friend’s birthday and have been dying to make my own ever since. When I noticed that Sunspire had their own version of M&M’s, I bought them immediately knowing monster cookies were on the horizon!

I found the original recipe from Taste of Home

My swaps:

¼ cup Better’n Peanut Butter for half the peanut butter (-fat, -calories)
TJ’s Honey Apple Butter for butter (-fat, -calories, -saturated fat, -cholesterol)
Splenda* for some of the sugar (-sugar, -calories)
Egg substitute for whole eggs (-fat, -cholesterol, -calories)
Rolled oats for quick cooking (just what I buy)
Sunspire Sun Drops for M&M’s (-sugar, -calories)
Sunspire grain sweetened chocolate & peanut butter chips for butterscotch chips (-sugar, -calories)
No peanuts (-fat, -calories, and I don’t like nuts in cookies)
White whole wheat flour for all-purpose (+fiber, +protein)
Extra cinnamon & vanilla (+yum)

*Some people feel really strongly about Splenda. You can easily use all sugar real sugar, I just prefer to cut some of the calories.

I was a little nervous about swapping in the Better’n Peanut Butter, but I was amazed at how well it worked!! That stuff is okay on its own, but it doesn’t compare to the real stuff. In baking, however, I would have never even known there was anything different!

PS, what is the difference between Better’n Peanut Butter and PB2? Does anyone know? All the popular bloggers use PB2, but I couldn’t find it 🙁 And obviously, if all the cool kids are doing it, I don’t want to be the lame one using the wrong peanut butter substitute. Clearly, I have really grown up and no longer use junior high mentality 😉

Okay, but back to the cookies…ummmm…they were gone in one day. Actually like 6 hours.

Whoops.

I think Jason may have eaten 4 in one sitting. Don’t judge him. They were really that delicious. And they’re “healthy” so that means you can eat the whole batch, right?

Skinnified Monster Cookies

Yield 2 ½-3 dozen cookies

1/4 cup PB & Co White Chocolate Wonderful (you can use regular PB, but this is just my favorite!)
¼ cup Better N Peanut Butter
¼ cup honey apple butter
¼ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup turbinado sugar
½ cup Splenda
¼ cup + 2 tbs egg substitute
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups rolled oats
½ cup Sunspire Sun Drops
¼ cup grain sweetened chocolate chips
¼ cup Sunspire peanut butter chips
½ tsp cinnamon
1 cup white whole wheat flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325. Spray a large cookie sheet with nonstick spray.
2. In a large bowl, cream peanut butter, Better N Peanut Butter, apple butter, and sugars. Add egg substitute, then baking soda and vanilla.
3. Add oats, M&M’s, butterscotch chips and peanuts; let stand for 10 minutes.
4. Stir in flour.
5. Use a medium cookie scoop cookie dough onto the baking sheet, then use a sprayed piece of wax paper to flatten slightly.
6. Bake for 15-18 minutes until edges are golden. Let stand for 5 minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to wire rack to cook completely.