Healthy Eatmore Fudge Squares—Paleo, Grain Free, Refined Sugar Free, Dairy Free—Delicious!

These fudgy squares of slightly frozen chocolate banana gooey-ness are not only no-bake, they are also grain free (Paleo), refined sugar free and dairy free.  I can’t wait to make them again, but after making them a few weeks ago, I still have a few of them left.  They are a perfect treat when I need something and the rest of the family is enjoying ice cream or something else I’m not eating right now.

I’ve been having fun searching the world wide web for healthy treats and finding there are so many options for gluten free, grain free, sugar free goodies.  So far I have liked all the things I’ve tried and am excited to try more recipes.  This one today is from  Christal at Nutritionist in the Kitch.  The fudgy bottom layer is simply some dates, almonds, walnuts and cocoa powder (I added a touch of raw honey).  This made a perfect no-bake, healthy fudge that would also be good by itself or even just rolled in to balls.  After that is spread into a pan, a frozen pudding-like topping is made with bananas, almond butter, cocoa powder and honey.   Once that layer is added the dessert is put in the freezer for a short time. 

Once the squares are frozen enough, you must hurry to take their picture or they will start melting! ;)

‘Course, never fear—they are delicious frozen, too!  (Just give them a few minutes at room temperature and they are perfect.)

Healthy Eatmore Fudge Squares, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!, adapted slightly from Nutrition in the Kitch (Give it up for Christal and check out her blog!)

Bottom Layer--

1 cup pitted dates

1/2 cup almonds, toasted

1/2 cup walnuts, toasted

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon raw honey (optional)

Top Layer--

2 ripe bananas

1/4 cup cocoa powder

4 tablespoons almond butter

4 tablespoons raw honey

Soak dates in a bowl with warm water for 30 minutes.  Drain.  Line a 9x5 bread pan or an 8x8 square baking pan with non-stick foil.  Put the dates, almonds and walnuts in a food processor and pulse until it is starting to chop everything up nicely.  Add the cocoa powder and honey and process until everything starts sticking together, almost forming a ball.  Spread it in the pan and press down making an even layer. 

In the food processor (no need to wash it out), combine the bananas, cocoa powder, almond butter and honey and mix until well blended.  Pour this mixture over the dates layer and spread evenly.  Place pan in the freezer for an hour.  Remove from pan lifting the sides of the foil and cut into squares.  Store in the freezer.

Try not to eat them all in one sitting.  Ha.   I feel like they are actually quite filling and one square will do ya—then they’ll last longer, especially if you don’t share them.  My boys were not even interested when I told them they had dates in them.   I’ll try something else and fool them one of these days.  Head over to Christal's blog, Nutrition in the Kitch to find more ideas and great recipes.

Perfect Kale Chips

I’ve always liked kale chips since trying them a few years back.  I even posted a recipe for some two years ago.  But today I tried baking them a new way and love them much more.  I feel bad because I saw this recently on a Facebook post from somewhere and can’t for the life of me remember where.  So there is a source out there that I’d give credit to if I could remember who it was.  I’ll be sharing the recipe as I made them here, but it’s the method I read about that I like.

You’ll never feel left out again when people around you are eating potato chips and you don’t have anything to munch on.  These are the answer.  Make them.  They are crunchy and a little bit salty, but they aren’t fried food with high carbs—it’s kale—a superfood.  They are so good and so good for you!

So easy to make—just tear the kale in to pieces—1-2 inches in size.  Wash them and spin them dry in a salad spinner.  Lay them in a single layer on a baking sheet, spray with a little non-aerosol olive oil spray, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and some parmesan (my favorite topping, but you can use endless spices and herbs).  Have the oven already preheated to 425 degrees F.  When you put them in the oven, turn it off and let them sit for 12-15 minutes.  I thought they were perfect at 14 minutes.  They were more light and perfect than the way I’ve made them before (in my other post), with no burned pieces.  A perfect, healthy treat, or side to your lunch, or as I made them—they were my lunch along with some fruit.

Perfect Kale Chips, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1 bunch of kale, washed and dried, stems removed, torn into 1-2 inch pieces

salt and pepper to taste

1-2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, finely grated

*olive oil non-aerosol spray

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Wash and dry kale (salad spinner works best).  Remove stems and tear into 1-2 inch pieces.  Spread kale evenly on a baking sheet.  Spray with olive oil (*or lightly drizzle and mix with hands to make sure all pieces get oil).  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then parmesan cheese.

Put baking sheet in oven and turn oven off.  Let kale bake for 12-15 minutes (Mine was perfect in 14 minutes).  Let sit on baking sheet to cool slightly for a few minutes. Carefully scrape kale into a dish and serve.  Try not to eat it all in one sitting, but if you do—there is no guilt!

When they come out of the oven, they will look shriveled up, never fear, they are crispy and perfect. 

You’ll even fight over them with your kids.  Two of my four boys really like them.  The other two won’t even try them.  If you’ve never tried kale chips, you need to as soon as possible! ;)

Gluten Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, Refined Sugar Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free (Vegan)

Don’t freak out with that title thinking these must not taste very good with all those things missing—these cookies were great!  They are chewy, have a great nutty taste and are studded with healthy dark chocolate.  Winner!

I’ve been enjoying searching for new recipes that I can make and still have a little treat now and then, but stick to my new trial of eating gluten free and refined sugar free.  I’m pretty sure these are also vegan as well since there is no dairy and instead of egg, I used flaxseed meal mixed with water.  For the chocolate, I used Green & Blacks organic 70% cacao chocolate bar that I chopped up. 

The recipe I found online that I adapted these from is at Recipe Renovator.  I ended up changing from the suggested vegan margarine to coconut oil and I only used 1/3 cup instead of 1/2 cup.  I also used coconut sugar instead of the maple sugar suggested in the recipe.  The recipe uses some sorghum flour and almond meal as well as some gluten free oats.  I’ve been expanding my gluten free flour supply and had just bought some sorghum flour and gluten free oats.  I already have almond flour, coconut flour, brown rice flour and a couple others that I’m excited to try out in different recipes.  I’ve also made a few things recently that are grain free that are pretty darn good.  I’ll share those soon.

Gluten Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (Refined Sugar Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free, Vegan), by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1 cup sifted sweet sorghum flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

1/2 cup almond flour (almond meal)

1/3 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup coconut sugar

1/4 cup agave syrup

1  1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon flaxseed meal plus 2 tablespoons water

1 cup gluten free rolled oats

3 ounces dark chocolate, chopped (I used Green & Blacks organic 70%)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  In a medium sized bowl, combine the sorghum flour, baking soda, baking powder, xanthan gum, salt and almond meal.  Whisk together to sift.  Put the flaxmeal and water in a small bowl and let sit for a few minutes.  Cream together with a mixer the coconut oil, coconut sugar, agave and vanilla until well combined.  Add the flax mixture and combine.  Beat in the dry ingredients just until combined.  Stir in the oats and chocolate with a wooden spoon..  Scoop dough on to baking sheets about 2 inches apart and flatten each slightly.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Let cookies sit on baking sheets for a couple minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.  Store in an airtight container.

You can’t go wrong with a good, healthy chocolate chip cookie!  I’m happy.

Homemade Nut Butters—Honey Peanut Butter, Almond Butter and Sunflower Seed Butter

Homemade Honey Peanut Butter, July 2013

I’ve been making homemade nut butters and promised a few people I’d post about them.  There is something about making nut butters homemade that is fun and in my opinion taste better.  I love knowing exactly what is in them and controlling how much salt goes in as well.  It is also more economical than buying them.  I’m sure I’ll still buy my favorite ones from time to time, but I’ve really enjoyed the ones I’ve done so far.

Besides for health reasons, I started  making these after ordering five pounds each of raw sunflower seeds, raw almonds and raw pecans.  I love eating raw nuts and seeds.  I actually prefer sunflower seeds raw rather than roasted and salted.  For the nut butter, I did roast and salt them.

I just made the Honey Peanut Butter yesterday.  I might be my favorite one so far!  I had some raw peanuts and roasted them on a baking sheet.  When they came out of the oven, I sprinkled just a little salt on them.  After they had completely cooled, I put them in the food processor and pulse them until they were chopped finely.  Then I turned the food processor on and let them go until they became a paste.  I would stop and scrape the sides of the bowl from time to time.  It only took about five minutes until they became a great peanut butter.  I sprinkled in a little bit more salt.  Then for kicks, I decided to add some raw honey.  I added a tablespoon.  The peanut butter thickened up quite a bit after I added the honey.  I wasn’t sure if it would smooth back out if I just kept the food processor running, so I decided to add some organic coconut oil to it.  That smoothed it right out and the peanut butter tastes fantastic!  I love just the ever-so-slight hint of coconut flavor and the perfect amount of honey.  This might be my favorite nut butter I’ve made so far, but every time I make one, I think that.  They each taste so different, it’s really hard to say.

Homemade Honey Peanut Butter, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

2 cups raw peanuts

1/8 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

1 tablespoons raw honey

1 tablespoon organic coconut oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spread peanuts on baking sheet in an even layer.  Roast for about 10 minutes.  After removing them from the oven, sprinkle a little salt over them.  Let cool completely.  Put the peanuts in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until they are chopped finely.  Turn the food processor on and let them go until they begin to form a paste.  Scrape the sides of the bowl and process until it becomes a smooth peanut butter ( about 5 minutes total).  Sprinkle with a little more salt.  Add some raw honey (you don’t have to use raw honey).  After it combines, add coconut oil until it is all smooth.  Let the peanut butter cool, then store in a jar.  If it lasts more than a week, store it in the refrigerator.

 

Today I had some of the peanut butter spread on some Grain Free Sandwich Bread I made.  I found the recipe at Unrefined Kitchen.  It is my first try of a grain free bread.  It’s okay.  It’s my first bite of anything bread-like in about a month.  In the recipe, it gives the option of butter or coconut oil.  I used coconut oil.  It also suggested two tablespoons of honey, but more if you want a really sweet bread.  So I only used one tablespoon of raw honey.  I’ll eat the loaf slowly, I’m sure.  It will be fun to try different recipes until I find one that I really like.  It was certainly good with the honey peanut butter on it!

I enjoyed it with some apple slices yesterday not long after I made it.  It’s good enough that I could just dig my finger in the jar as well.  The peanut butter is a light color.  I think it is because the raw peanuts I used did not have skins.  I am assuming a lot of peanut butters are made with the skins on and/or they are roasted to a darker color.  This is perfect to me. ;)

I made sunflower seed butter about three weeks ago.  Loved it.  I need to make some more.  There isn’t really a recipe for that.  I roasted raw sunflower seeds (about 3 cups) on a baking sheet at 350 degrees F. for about 10 minutes.  I lightly salted them when they came out of the oven.  I let them cool completely.  I put them in the food processor and let it go, scraping the sides every couple of minutes until it formed a nice smooth butter.  This took probably closer to a total of 10 minutes until it was the consistency I wanted.  You can decide how smooth or crunchy you’d like any of these butters.

Here’s a couple pictures of the sunflower butter in process.

After a few pulses in the food processor.

After 2 minutes in the food processor.

 

After 4 minutes in the food processor.

After 6 minutes in the food processor.

 

After 8 minutes in the food processor.

My favorite thing to do with the sunflower butter, besides dipping carrot sticks in it, is make one of my breakfast smoothies.  I always put a tablespoon of peanut butter in it, but tried it with sunflower seed butter and it was really good.  I’ve always tried my smoothies with almond butter.  They are all good, but this particular one is really good with the sunflower seed butter.  This smoothie has a secret ingredient that one wouldn’t think of for smoothies, but I love it!

I kept forgetting exactly what I was putting in the smoothie, so I finally remember to take a picture of the ingredients once recently.  Funny thing is, I forgot to add the Greek yogurt in the photo. ;)

The secret ingredient is sweet potato!  So really this smoothie just has banana, sweet potato, nonfat Greek yogurt, sunflower seed butter and my vitamin powder and some almond milk.

Breakfast Banana Sunflower Smoothie, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1/2 a banana, frozen

1/4 of a sweet potato, cooked and cooled, skin removed before adding to smoothie

1 tablespoon sunflower seed butter (or other nut butter)

1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt

1/2-3/4 cup almond milk (or any other milk)

1/2-3/4 cup crushed ice

vitamin powder (mine has a light orange flavor), optional

Combine all ingredients in a blender.  Pulse and puree until smooth, about 1 minute.

Although I often have green smoothies or put other fruit in them as well, this banana one is my favorite.  You can’t really taste the sweet potato, but it sure makes the smoothie creamy and adds a lot of nutrition!

Finally, I have made almond butter at least three times.  Super easy and great for so many things.  I just made another batch two days ago.

  Here’s one of my lunches recently with almond butter.

Homemade Almond Butter, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

4 cups raw almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Put the almonds in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Roast for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool completely.  Put the almonds in the bowl of a food processor.  Process (it’s pretty loud at first as they start to chop up!) the almonds until they become a smooth butter.  This takes a good 10 minutes.  Let cool (the food processor warms up a bit) before store in a glass jar.  This amount of almonds made 16 ounces of almond butter.

Almond Butter

Can’t wait to try all kinds of different things with all these nut/seed butters I’ve been making homemade!  I know that there are a lot of grain-free/gluten free recipes that use almond butter and have been enjoying looking at all the possibilities. 

Levain Bakery Copycat Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies—Secret Recipe Club

This photo of this cookie up close is seriously heavenly to me.  Sigh!  What a fun blog to get for my Secret Recipe Club assignment this month.  What blog is that, you might ask?  If you know anything about Levain Bakery’s cookies in NYC, you’ll know just whose blog I’m talking about.  It’s none other than the queen of Levain Bakery Copycat cookies, Lisa, from Parsley, Sage & Sweet.  I’ve been following (not literally following around like stalking, hehe) Lisa (okay, her blog) for years, probably since not long after I started mine in February of 2008.  I just think she has the most amazing photos, delicious looking food, and tells the best stories!  (Write a book, Girl!)

Six ounces of chocolate chip cookie goodness! (I made one in the Levain Bakery traditional six ounce size.)

You MUST check out her blog if you never have.  You’ll droll, be amazed at what she does with recipes, and you’ll laugh.  What better way is there to spend your time on the internet?

I spent all this last month since getting my assignment looking back through Lisa's blog and wanting to make something really special.  On top of that, I was sick, we went out of town, and I just knew I wouldn’t be able to do any of her recipes all that much justice.  Have I mentioned that you must go look at what I'm talking about?

Lisa has been cooking and baking along with the Daring Cooks and Daring Bakers groups for years.  She makes some amazing looking French macarons.  She bakes bread and makes savory dishes and delightful sweets.  What I love is that she never just makes a recipe as written, she makes them all her own and she owns it.  You need to check out her Recipe Index, then stop by each recipe post and go crazy and drool and be jealous that you didn’t get to taste her food.  ;)  After that, pick something and go make it.

I have been dreaming of this Butterscotch Peach Cobbler since she posted it a few months back.  I was delighted to see/remember that she and I have made some of the same recipes before—including Best Ever Brownies from Baking With Julia, which I made for TWD and she made the same Chocolate Zucchini Cake I’d also made around about the same time in 2009.  Oh, there’s more—her blog offers much, much more. 

Some already know, and those who do not, need to know that I recently announced some health issues new in my life.  I have MS (multiple sclerosis).  This is a nasty, dreaded disease that my family knows all-too-well.  My older sister died in 1999 at the age 33 from MS.  It was horrible to her life and body.  After some issues over the last few years, I have been diagnosed with MS as well.  (My maternal grandmother also died from the then much-less-known-about MS in 1947 at the age of 24 when my mother was only 2 years old.)  And they say MS isn’t hereditary.  Anyway, my case of it is totally different from what my sister went through and I’m now 43.  AND I plan to fight it with everything I’ve got.  Why must I tell you this?  It’s because I have decided to make some dietary changes in my life.  I am going gluten free, refined sugar free and processed foods free.  We’ll see how long I keep with the gluten free, though even if I do ever change that, I plan to stick with whole grain.  My doctor advised me to not go all crazy with any particular diet, to just eat a good, healthy balanced diet. 

Never fear or fret and certainly don’t stop reading my blog—I still plan to blog delicious things I make for my family and friends.  I also plan to share some of the new recipes I discover with those healthier alternatives as well.  The best of both worlds.  So, as much as I was aching to make Lisa’s Butterscotch Peach Cobbler and many other things she’s posted, I went with something simple and truthfully probably my favorite thing she’s ever posted--the Levain Bakery Copycat Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies.  You might be thinking—“another chocolate chip cookie, big whoopteedo”.  What you must know is this New York City bakery cookie is probably my favorite cookie and if you’ve never had one, you just don’t really understand.  It is delicious.  It stands on its own, in its own league of chocolate chip cookies.  Oh, there are many other recipes for the chocolate chip cookie that I love, my go-to favorite chocolate chip cookie, adapted from Jacques Torres/NY Times that everyone I make them for raves about to name one.

But this big, fat gooey Levain Bakery cookie is different.  I’ve loved Lisa ever since she cloned this cookie the best I’ve ever tried—and back when my infatuation with this cookie began (2008), I tried many copycat recipes and have stuck with hers since then.  I actually haven’t made the cookie for a while.  Why?  I don’t know, but now I really wish I would have because this became the biggest test of my will power when I made them just last week for this post—and I didn’t taste even the slightest bit of dough or cookie because of the new changes I’m making in my diet.  I knew if I even tasted part of one, I’d want to eat the whole thing.

What is nice to know is that if I do ever decide to splurge and have a cookie, it won’t kill me.  I know I’ll be just fine.  Just for now, I am sticking with and going strong on the gluten free/sugar free road.  So yes, I say a big SIGH over this cookie.  The real Levain cookies are six ounces!  These that I’ve made, just as Lisa's recipe suggests are only a mere four ounces. ;)  I’m not going to post the recipe—go get it on the links I’ve left here from Lisa's blog (oh, look, there’s another link!).  She suggested using the best quality chocolate chips and that she’d heard Levain uses Guittard chocolate—so that is what I used—Guittard semi sweet chocolate chips.  She also added a note that someone heard Levain freezes their ready-t0-bake cookie dough mounds for a short time.  So I did that, too.  I baked them for 18 minutes as Lisa does.  Once I took them out of the freezer, I let them sit for a while, maybe 30 minutes before I baked them.  You don’t have to let them freeze completely, just enough to really give them a good chill.  It just worked out for my baking that I had them in the freezer until the next day, you can just freeze the mounds of dough for 30-60 minutes, then put them on a baking sheet and bake them.  And last, but not least, if you’ve made these and they have sat in an airtight container, or are no longer still just a little warm from the oven, you really should reheat them ever-so-slightly to get the true Levain texture and taste.

This copycat looks mighty similar to the real thing (photo below)!  The taste and texture is right on, too.

You will not be sorry to give these best-ever Levain Bakery Copycat Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies a try.  Lisa also has on this same post her copycat version of Levain’s Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies, too.  If you are a chocolate and peanut butter lover, you’ll love these!

Check this out—here I am, sitting on the bench outside of Levain Bakery in November 2008 with a cookie in my hands.  Funny that after sending a copy of this photo to Levain years ago, they like it so much they have posted it on Pinterest and in articles that rave about their cookies.  My hands are famous. ;)

Actual Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie, Nov. 2008

Someday I’ll get back to New York City again and I’ll definitely splurge on one of the real Levain cookies.  I’m sure that someday I’ll even splurge on these great copycat cookies as well.  For now, I was actually pretty content to just make them again, drool a little over them and share them with more family and friends.   I’ll for sure be back to drooling over Lisa's blog, Parsley, Sage & Sweet again, too.  And you must, as well.  Go now.

Layers of Lemony Love Dessert and Crustless Cheesecake with Raspberry Pie Filling from Lucky Leaf

Lucky Leaf is at it again.  They sent me more of their pie fillings to try.  Lucky leaf, lucky me! Check it out on Twitter, too at #LuckyLeafLuckyMe.   I have enjoyed using their pie fillings.  Because of health reasons, I am no longer eating any processed food, also gluten free and no refined sugars.  My question is, CAN I DO THIS?  Yes, I can.  But that doesn’t mean I can’t make things my family and friends will enjoy and that’s just what I did with the yummy things Lucky Leaf sent me.

I feel a little bad, they sent me some fun jars to make individual desserts in jars.  But we were heading out of town the next morning that I used the fillings and it was easier to make regular sized treats for the company we had over.  I will for sure use the jars once we get home.  There is still some peach pie filling to use!

I often have a giveaway for my readers from Lucky Leaf and wasn’t able to do that this time since we are out of town, but I’m sure I’ll hear from them again! ;)

My family and our company (which we also family) that had these two desserts I made using the pie filling said they were great.   If you’re looking for super simple desserts, head over to the Lucky Leaf website and check out all their recipes.  I got the recipe for the Layers of Lemony Love Dessert on their site.  It was probably a favorite of the family we had over and since we were going out of town,  I sent them home with the leftovers.  They were happy.

Layers of Lemony Love Dessert, from Lucky Leaf

1  1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened (1  1/2 sticks)

1   8 oz. package cream cheese (I used the 1/3 less fat kind), softened

1 cup powdered sugar

1  21 oz. can Lucky Leaf Premium Lemon Pie Filling

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1  8 oz. container frozen whipped dessert topping (like Cool Whip), thawed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease bottom of 9x13 inch baking pan.  Mix flour and butter (I used a food processor until it was all combined, like coarse meal.)  Spread evenly in pan and press it down slightly.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden.  Let crust cool.

Beat cream cheese in mixer until smooth, add powdered sugar, Lucky Leaf lemon pie filling, vanilla and half the whipped topping.  Pour and spread over the cooled crust.  Spread the remaining whipped topping over pie filling mixture.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. 

For those who didn’t want the lemon dessert, I made a cheesecake to go with the raspberry pie filling.  After deciding to make the cheesecake, I realized I didn’t have anything to make a crust, so I made a crustless cheesecake.  Some family members were happy to have a lighter, healthier option.  One of the things I love about Lucky Leaf Premium Pie Fillings is that they have no high fructose corn syrup.

I got the recipe for the crustless cheesecake from Rachael’s blog, Simply Fresh Cooking.  The only thing I did different from her recipe is that I didn’t use organic ingredients and I didn’t put the sour cream topping on the cheesecake.  There was vanilla in the sour cream topping, but I added it to the cheesecake instead. Check it out.  Everyone said it was a great cheesecake!  I served it with the Lucky Leaf Red Raspberry Premium Pie Filling and some fresh raspberries.

The raspberry pie filling is full of raspberries!  When I have been in a pinch to quickly find a last minute dessert, these pie fillings are great.  Thank you again to Lucky Leaf for the fun package!

Check out all the other goodness from Lucky Leaf on Twitter and Pinterest.  #LuckyLeafLuckyMe

Apricot Date Coconut Logs—Paleo, Vegan, No Sugar Added—And Some News

These were so easy to make and are a super healthy, but perfect sweet treat.  Have you ever gotten them from a bulk bin at the store?  I have tried them a few times and they were good.  Decided there was no reason not to make them at home.  Four simple ingredients is all it takes.  There is no added sugar, they are vegan and Paleo.  Don’t be thinking with all those issues they must not be good.  They are delicious!

Apricot Date Coconut Logs, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1 cup pitted dates

1/3 cup dried apricots

1/4 cup almond flour (almond meal)

1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

In a food processor, pulse together the dates and apricots until they are all small bits.  Add the almond flour and pulse until all combined.  Roll the mixture into 12 tablespoon-size logs (you could roll them into balls, too).  Roll them each in the coconut and store in an airtight container.

Told you they were easy.  I’ve also had ones from those bulk bins that are just apricot and rolled in coconut.  Two ingredients.  So good.

I’ve told all my Facebook friends and followers.  Not sure if all my blog readers know yet, but I was diagnosed with MS (multiple sclerosis).  Long story.  What it means for me is that I will be taking some different turns in the foods I eat.  Right now I plan to go gluten free and no refined sugars.  Never fear—I’ll still be baking up yummy treats of all kinds for my family and friends.  But from time to time I’ll have things that I think are great, healthier treats to share here, too. 

I’ve known about the MS for the last year and a half, but the last few months it kind of bit me in the rear.  I was ignoring it before, but am now on the road to kicking it in the rear big time and kicking it out the door.  It won’t rule my life.  I’m in charge. 

I tried going completely Paleo for a week.  No grains, no dairy, no sugar, and no legumes, which includes peanut butter!  That wasn’t so easy.  I asked my doctor about those kinds of diets.  She advised me to just eat a healthy, balanced diet and not go crazy with too many things.  So I stopped being completely Paleo crazed and decided there are benefits to trying gluten free, I plan to use mostly healthy, whole grains and it certainly can’t hurt to give up refined sugar.  I’ll have plenty of things up my sleeve with healthy coconut oil, agave, raw honey, coconut sugar and some other great gluten free flours.  Stay tuned.  I’m excited to see what is out there and what else I can come up with. 

For fun, while I was not eating peanut butter (and I actually still haven’t--going on more than two weeks now) I have been making my own nut butters.  Stay tuned for the sunflower seed butter I made and the delicious home roasted and homemade almond butter.  Next up, I’ll be trying pecan butter, which hopefully is fantastic as pecans are my favorite nut.  A little sneak peek, here’s what I had for lunch yesterday.

That’s the almond butter.  I could just spoon it right into my mouth.  But I love it on celery and carrots.  I made my most favorite breakfast smoothie with some sunflower seed butter, too.  I’ll be sharing that soon as well, it has a secret ingredient that is so good!  You’ll have to wait and come back for that.

We’ll be going on a vacation next week, so I’ll probably not be able to blog until once July comes around!  Happy Summer! 

Easy Criss Cross Peanut Butter Cookies

If you’re looking for the perfect, good old fashioned criss cross peanut butter cookies, this is it.  I first made these cookies back in 2008 not long after I started blogging.  That old original post is here.  I decided to post them again with updated photos and to bring attention back to them.  I believe everyone needs recipes for all their favorite cookies, like my favorite chocolate chip cookies.  These would fit the category of favorite peanut butter cookies.

I don’t take any credit for these cookies as I got the original recipe from Anna at Cookie Madness.  Long ago she raved they were her favorite peanut butter cookies, which is why I made them back then.  After I started blogging, Anna’s blog was probably the first one I discovered and loved.  Still to this day, I check her blog daily to see what she is up to in the kitchen.  Not only that, I’ve been lucky enough to meet her and spend the weekend in San Francisco at BlogHer Food 2009 with her and I chat with her frequently via email and Facebook.  She is great and is a great resource and authority to turn to for any of your baking questions or for whatever you might be looking for.  That link for her blog takes you right to the recipe for these cookies. 

I’ve really only made some small changes, here’s how I made them.

Easy Criss Cross Peanut Butter Cookies, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!, adapted from Anna at Cookie Madness

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup peanut butter, smooth or crunchy

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1  1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup semi sweet or milk chocolate chips, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a mixer, combine the butter and sugars and cream together until smooth, about 2 minutes.  Add the peanut butter and combine until mixed.  Then add the egg and vanilla and beat until well mixed.  In a small bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking soda and whisk together.  Mix the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture just until combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips (or peanut butter chips, too), if using.

Scoop dough onto baking sheets about two tablespoonsful each, spaced about two inches apart.  Bake for 12 minutes.  Let cool on baking sheets for a couple minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.  Makes about 2 dozen or more if you make them smaller, then only bake about 10 minutes.

Fresh from the oven they are a little puffy, but flatten to a perfect thickness as they cool.  With some of the cookies I stuffed the insides with chocolate chips and didn’t put the criss cross on them.

 I sent this entire batch of cookies over to Kevin’s niece who watched the boys for us last week.  Try these perfect peanut butter cookies!

 

Chocolate Strawberry Dessert Bars

After making these Raspberry Streusel Dessert Bars back in April and then making them at least 3-4 times since, I kept thinking about chocolate (surprise!).  After making some homemade strawberry jam a few weeks ago, it came to me that these bars would be so good made with chocolate and strawberry jam—like a chocolate covered strawberry in dessert bar form.  So I set out to see what I could come up with.  And I love it when something turns out great on the first try!

I just made these yesterday after taking a Facebook friends poll over which kind of chocolate people prefer on chocolate covered strawberries.  Dark, semi-sweet or milk?  Then I started having some say their favorite is white chocolate on strawberries—okay, I’ll have to try another bar, but for now, for these bars, I went with semi-sweet.  They are sure easy to make and certainly taste like chocolate and strawberries.  I call it a win!

Chocolate Strawberry Dessert Bars, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

2 cups (240 grams) all purpose flour

1/2 cup (40 grams) natural cocoa powder

2/3 cup (133 grams) granulated sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup strawberry jam (homemade is best!)

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Ganache:

3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 tablespoons strawberry jam

3 tablespoons heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 9 inch baking pan with non-stick foil.  Spray lightly with cooking spray.  In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, cocoa, sugar, and salt.  Pulse to combine.  Add the vanilla and pieces of butter.  Pulse until it is all combined and resembles coarse, wet sand.  Put about 2/3 of the mixture into the baking pan and spread evenly, pressing down slightly.  Spread the strawberry jam over the bottom crust.  Then sprinkle the chocolate chips over the jam.  Finish with sprinkling the remaining crumb mixture over the top and press down slightly.  Bake for 40 minutes.  Remove from oven and let sit until cool.

Remove the bars from the pan using the overhanging edges of the foil.  Cut into 16 bars.

Make the ganache.  Put the chocolate in a medium sized heatproof bowl.  Put the jam and cream in a glass measuring cup or bowl and microwave on high for 30 seconds, just as it begins to bubble up (watch that it doesn’t bubble over, could do in 15 second intervals if you’re worried).  Pour the cream mixture over the chocolate chips and let sit for a minute.  Stir the now melted chocolate and strawberry cream together until smooth.  Let the ganache sit for 20-30 minutes so it thickens slightly.  Put the ganache into a zip top plastic bag, then snip the corner off and drizzle over the bars.  Let sit until somewhat hardened on the bars.

These would be good and pretty with a fresh slice of strawberry on the tops of each, but I didn’t have any fresh strawberries at the time. 

Coconut Lime Cranberry Pecan Bars—Secret Recipe Club

These Coconut Lime Cranberry Pecan Bars that I made for the Secret Recipe Club were a perfect pick to make.  I made them for the monthly book group I’m in and also gave some to one of the boys’ bus drivers to thank her for the year of rides home from school.  They really are good!  The blog I got them from was my assignment for June, Anna’s blog, bcmom's kitchen.  Anna’s blog was a new one for me and I really enjoyed looking through her recipes.  Yum!

Anna got this recipe from her local newspaper’s food section that was posted in a cookie contest.  I made a few little changes to the recipe.  The filling has some cranberry juice in it and while I was at the store to get some, I saw some cranberry lime juice and thought that sounded really good.  So I decided to use that and lime zest instead of orange zest that was also in the recipe.  That cranberry lime juice was really good, it was from Ocean Spray.   Other than that and some slight changes to the icing recipe, I followed Anna’s recipe.

Just for the heck of it, I only iced about half the bars.  They are good both ways.  I put some lime zest in the icing, so there is a little extra kick in that.

Coconut Lime Cranberry Pecan Bars, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!, adapted from Anna at bcmom's kitchen

Crust:

1  1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

1/4 cup finely chopped dried cranberries

Filling:

2 large eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons cranberry lime juice (or cranberry juice)

1 teaspoon lime zest (about half a large lime or all of a small lime)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

1 cup chopped dried cranberries

1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tablespoon cranberry lime juice

1/2 tablespoon lime juice

1 tablespoons heavy cream

1/2 tablespoon milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a 9x13 inch baking pan with non stick foil (or don’t, you don’t have to).  For the crust, put the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse to combine.   Add the cold butter and pulse until well combined.  Also combine the pecans and cranberries.  Press the mixture onto the bottom of the pan.  Bake for 12 minutes.

While the crust is baking, make the filling by whisking together the eggs, sugar, cranberry-lime juice, lime zest and vanilla.  Stir in the pecans, cranberries and coconut.  Pour evenly over hot crust (spreading it carefully).  Return to oven and bake for 25 minutes.  Let cool on wire rack.

Make icing by combining all ingredients in a medium sized bowl and whisking together until smooth.  Remove bars from pan by lifting the foil edges.  Set on a cutting board and slide the foil out from under the bars (that’s what is so great about non-stick foil and you don’t have to cut bars in the pan).  Cut bars into desired sizes.  Drizzle icing over as many bars as you’d like.  (You can drizzle the icing before cutting the bars if you’d like, but I like having icing dripping down the sides of each one.)  Let icing dry for 20-30 minutes to harden if you want to stack the bars for storage or serving.

Being a chocolate gal, these are still great as is, but I also can’t quite thinking that they’d be good with some mini chocolate chips in the filling or possible drizzled with melted white chocolate.  Ooh, yum.  Great blog, Anna.  Thanks!