Grain-Free Fudge Brownies

Yikes! It seems as if I’ve been away for SO long! With summer fast approaching, our yogurt business is ramping up, my family has been in town for a visit and I haven’t had much time in the kitchen this week. I did have time for chocolate though…I MADE time for brownies.

After all, chocolate + baking = important. Agreed?

I can’t resist a good brownie and these were no exception. Coconut flour goodies have been hit or miss with me, but I was really pleased with the result of these chocolately squares. I don’t think the photos do them any justice though, they were much more fudgy-tasting and fudgy-looking in person, that might have something to do with refrigerating them overnight and the raw cacao powder used. Either way, these are scrumptious!

Grain-Free Fudge Brownies

Ingredients
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup cacao powder, cocoa or carob powder or a combo (I used raw cacao which resulted in a lighter color)
1/3 cup coconut/palm sugar or 1/4 cup honey/agave for denser, fudgy brownie
2 Tbsp chia meal or flaxseed meal
1/8 tsp pure stevia extract (or 3 more Tbsp of sweetener)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 eggs
3 Tbsp coconut oil (or butter/ghee), liquified/melted
2 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce (or more oil/butter for a richer brownie)
2 Tbsp nut butter (or more oil/butter for nut free), melted
1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I used coconut milk)
3-4 Tbsp chocolate chunks or chips
1/3 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped (if desired – omit for nut free)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a loaf pan for thicker brownier or a 8×8 baking dish for thinner brownies and set aside.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients (flour through salt). In a separate small bowl, stir together wet ingredients (eggs through milk).
3. Add wet ingredients to the dry and stir until moistened. Stir in the chocolate and nuts, if using.
4. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared baking dish. If desired, sprinkle additional nuts/chocolate on top. Bake for 16-20 minutes until cooked through. Let cool in pan for atleast 15 minutes prior to cutting.

These were tasty from the pan but I enjoyed them chilled overnight from the fridge…I may or may not have had these for breakfast once or twice

Bite-Size Peanut Butter Layer Cups (No-Bake, Grain-Free)

Happy Friday! Here’s a sweet treat to kick off the weekend

I’ve been a little lazy lately with turning on my oven. I have a toaster oven and a typical stove + oven but these warmer Spring days have me craving chilled dishes and fuss-free snacks and desserts.

Plus, dessert isn’t an option for me. I LOVE SWEETS. I eat dessert every night in some form or fashion which gives me the extra push to health-ify my treats so I can enjoy them without the guilt.

These cute little cups fit the bill. 

I’ve professed my love for nut butters over and over again and here’s another tribute to my all-time favorite food. These grain-free peanut butter cups are little bites of heaven…the perfect ending to my day (or anytime you need a little sweet pick-me-up)!

Bite-Size Peanut Butter Layer Cups (No-Bake)

Ingredients

Crust Layer:
3 Tbsp coconut flour
3 Tbsp peanut flour* (OR almond flour or almond meal)
1 Tbsp flaxseed meal
2 tsp coconut oil, melted
1 Tbsp honey, agave,coconut nectar or maple syrup (do not use honey if vegan)

Peanut Butter Filling Layer:
7 Tbsp unsweetened, all natural creamy or crunchy peanut butter*
dash of pure vanilla extract
2-3 tsp honey (agave, coconut nectar or maple syrup could be subbed) + a pinch of stevia if you wanter a sweeter filling
2 Tbsp peanut flour or almond flour (or more if needed to hold together, depends on how runny your nut butter is)
pinch of sea salt

Chocolate Layer:
2 Tbsp raw cacoa powder, cocoa powder or carob powder
2 Tbsp peanut butter (I used all natural, unsalted crunchy but creamy works too)
2 tsp coconut oil, melted
1 tsp honey, agave, coconut nectar or maple syrup (add a pinch of stevia if you want a sweeter topping)
pinch of sea salt (omit if using salted nut butter)

For garnish, optional
unsalted or salted peanut halves

Directions

1. For crust: Combine all ingredients in a small mixing bowl until well incorporated and mixture sticks together. (I used a fork).

Divide evenly into 11-12 mini silicone cupcakes molds and press evenly to create firm mini crusts. If you do not have a silicone pan, line a mini muffin tin with plastic wrap for easy removal. Set pan aside while you create the filling.

2. For the peanut butter filling:  In the small mixing bowl (you don’t have to rinse the bowl out), add all of the ingredients and stir to combine. If the mixture isn’t holding together and is too runny, add more peanut/coconut flour a little at a time (this will depending on the consistency of your nut butter, I used a fairly thick peanut butter).

Divide evenly onto the crusts and press firmly to form a flat layer, repeat with remaining cups. Freeze the cups for a few minutes while you prepare the chocolate topping (optional but helps harden the topping more quickly).

3. For the chocolate topping: In a small bowl, stir all ingredients together until smooth and uniform. Spoon on top of the filling and garnish with peanut halves if desired. Refrigerate the cups until chocolate layer is hardened and enjoy!

Makes about 12 mini cups (can be doubled or tripled). Store in the refrigerator.

*If you looking for a nut-free option, substitute sunflower seed butter for the peanut butter, and use pulsed sunflower seeds to make a seed meal (or buckwheat flour or even finely shredded coconut) for the peanut flour. You may need to increase the sweetener slightly unless you are using sweetened sunflower seed butter; I find sunflower seed butter to be a bit more bitter than other nut butters but it’s completely up to you!

PS. Get ready! I am dedicating next week to pizza, another one of my all-time favorite foods…
Have an awesome weekend

Green Tea “Pound Cake” with Cashew Cream Drizzle

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

To conclude the week of green foods, how about a green tea pound cake?

After seeing multiple posts from other bloggers using matcha green tea powder, I was itching to buy some for my own kitchen experiments. So far, I’ve only used matcha in a smoothie and in this cake recipe, and I’m quite pleased with the results so far. This fun-shaped cake is dense, moist and has a light matcha green tea flavor with a hint of almond and coconut.

I’ve concluded I really dig almond flavored cakes; there is something about the combination of almond flour + almond milk + a bit of almond extract that makes me happy It just happens to be dairy-free and grain-free as well!

When St. Patty’s Day rolled around this year, I couldn’t wait to use the set of shamrock cookie cutters my mom gave me a while back. To me, food is more fun when consumed in different shapes..plus I’m always excited to make festive recipes! I used the HUGE cutter for this cake and cut out two shamrocks from my two 6 inch cake pans. And you better believe I happily ate all those leftovers “scraps”

I had to put “Pound Cake” in parentheses because the texture of the cake turned out much more dense than a fluffy white cake. Although this wasn’t my initial idea, it was still filling and very delicious! I am not sure how they would turn out if you baked them in a loaf pan like a traditional pound cake, but mini versions would probably work nicely.

Confession: I had this cake for breakfast three mornings in a row! I am happy to report that I didn’t crash from carb overload AND I was full for hours!

Almond Green Tea “Pound Cake”

Ingredients

3/4 cup coconut flour
3/4 cup blanched almond flour
6-8 Tbsp coconut palm sugar, erythritol, xylitol or other granulated sweetener
1/8 to 1/4 tsp pure stevia extract (or to taste)
2 Tbsp + 1 tsp unsweetened matcha green tea powder
5 eggs, whisked (room temperature is best)
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
6 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup almond milk
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
6 Tbsp coconut oil, liquified (or butter, ghee or other oil of choice)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease two 6-inch cake pans* with coconut oil/butter/oil and line bottoms with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients (flours through salt) and whisk to combine. In a separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients except for coconut oil and whisk to combine.
3. Pour wet ingredients into dry along with the coconut oil and stir until combined.
4. Divide batter into two pans and smooth with a spatula or back of a spoon. Bake for 22-26 minutes or until cooked through. Let cool completely and remove from pan. Cut with a giant cookie cutter if desired, drizzle with cashew cream (recipe below) and a dusting of matcha powder and enjoy!

*You could make about 16-18 cupcakes instead or you could bake this cake in a 11×7 pan, but please note that the baking time might need to be adjusted.

For the icing/glaze, I made a simple cashew cream drizzle with a little boost of protein. After all, I was eating this cake for breakfast Even if you do not make the cake, this drizzle is versatile and can be used over scones, cakes, pancakes, waffles or donuts…yummm

Vanilla Cashew Cream Drizzle

Ingredients

1/2 cup raw cashews (I used cashew pieces), soaked for at least four hours
3/4 cup almond milk (or more if too thick)
2 tbsp honey or agave
1/2 scoop unsweetened vanilla protein powder (optional, can omit and add a dash of vanilla extract)
pinch of sea salt, optional

Directions

1. Soak cashews in water for four hours or more. Drain and add cashews to a high powered blender along with the almond milk and blend until smooth.
2. Pour into a small mixing bowl and add honey/agave, protein powder and salt. Whisk until smooth and well combined. Drizzle over cake.

Chocolate Kissed Red Wine Donuts

Happy Valentine’s Day!

If everything goes according to plan, The Frozen Moose yogurt store should be open today (keep your fingers crossed for me!). I wrote this quick post ahead of time in anticipation that I wouldn’t have time to sleep or breathe anything but frozen yogurt but I still wanted to share a festive post. I couldn’t stay away from you all!

Chocolate + Wine sounds romantic, doesn’t it? Continuing on with my love for donut pan, I was set on coming up with a recipe that used wine and chocolate for Valentines’ day. I am not a wine drinker myself but I sure enjoyed this combination in these cake donuts. I tried multiple batches of these vegan donuts for Fork and Beans Valentine’s Day bake-off with many failures (ie. coming out completely flat and gummy).

Although they aren’t perfect, these donuts are moist, chocolately and easy to pull together. They could be a little bit lighter in texture and height (maybe add an egg or use egg replacer for vegan?) but I still enjoyed them very much…what’s not to like when something is covered in chocolate?

Chocolate Kissed Red Wine Donuts

Ingredients

For donuts
1/4 cup oat flour (millet, brown rice or sorghum could be subbed)
1/4 cup buckwheat flour (millet, brown rice, or sorghum could be subbed)
1/4 cup flax meal
1 Tbsp coconut flour (or could use 2 more Tbsp of oat or buckwheat flour)
3-4 tbsp cacao or cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup coconut palm sugar or sucanat
1/4 cup Earth balance, or refined coconut oil (no coconut taste), melted (room temp)
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup red wine
1/4 cup non-dairy milk (room temperature)

For chocolate glaze
1/2 cup dairy-free dark chocolate bar, chopped or chocolate chips (I used Endangered Species 72% bar)
2 tsp refined coconut oil (no taste) or all-vegetable shortening

Optional toppings
chocolate shavings or cacao nibs
2 Tbsp fruit-sweetened strawberry or raspberry preserves (mixed with 1/2 Tbsp powdered sucanat and slightly thinned with 1 tsp of red wine, only add this prior to serving)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease donut pan and set aside.
2. Add all dry ingredients (flours through sugar) into a medium mixing and stir to combine. Add wet ingredients (earth balance/oil through wine) bowl and stir together gently.
3. Spoon batter into prepared donut pan and smooth with spatula or press down gently. Bake donuts at 350 F for about 15-16 minutes (should be moist but also cooked through).
4. Let cool in pan for at least 5 minutes before gently removing.
5. To prepare glaze, add chocolate and oil/shortening in a double broiler, stir often until chocolate is melted. Carefully dip tops of donuts into the melted chocolate, sprinkle/drizzle with other toppings if desired and enjoy!

Makes 6 donuts

*If you don’t have a donut pan, you could still make these in mini cake form. Just use greased ramekins or cupcake/muffin liners – will probably make 4-5 so cooking time will most likely increase by a few minutes.