Ghirardelli Chocolate Valentine’s Impressions Brownies

Special thanks to Ghirardelli for sending me an amazing box of their Chocolate Valentine’s Impressions (and Easter with cute bunnies and baskets—love them).  Not only is all the chocolate great, and how fun are the Valentine messages printed on each one, but I LOVE the box they came in.  The top lifts open and it’s such a great box.  (I know, it’s the little things for me sometimes.)

Some of the Impressions on the milk chocolate squares are dark chocolate and some are white chocolate.

Run to your nearest store and get some of these for your special Valentine!  I saw them at Target and was going to make sure to tell you that, but I also just saw them at our local grocery store, so I’m sure you can find them all over the place, wherever Ghirardelli chocolate is sold.

Which would you like more—the white chocolate or dark chocolate?  I prefer to eat dark chocolate, but I love the way the white looks.    I wanted to make something yummy (read—chocolaty) with these, so I made brownies that were full of white chocolate, then I put the Impressions on the top.  Yes, I know it warped the chocolates a bit, but they were still delicious and fun.  You could just make the brownies then once they are cooled and cut you could lay a chocolate on the top, but I wanted them to stick, so they needed to melt a little.

These were gobbled up here at my house.  You don’t HAVE to add the extra white chocolate to the brownies, but if you’re going to make chocolate brownies, you might as well go all out with the chocolate.

Ghirardelli Chocolate Valentine’s Impressions Brownies, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup natural cocoa powder

2 large eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

6 tablespoons (45 grams) all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 ounces white chocolate bar, chopped

9 squares of Ghirardelli Chocolate Valentine’s Impressions, unwrapped

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Line a 9 inch square baking pan with nonstick foil.  Spray lightly with cooking spray.  Set aside.

In a small saucepan, let the stick of butter start melting over medium-low heat.  Add the cocoa powder and whisk together until all combined and the butter is melted.  Remove from heat and let sit for about 5 minutes (to cool slightly).  Add the eggs and whisk to combine.  Add the sugar and vanilla and whisk until well combined.  Stir in the flour and salt just until the flour is all combined.  Pour half the batter in the pan and spread evenly.  Lay the chopped white chocolate in an even layer over the batter then drizzle evenly the rest of the batter over the white chocolate.  Bake brownies for 22-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean.  Let cool for a few minutes while you unwrap the chocolates.  Set the Impressions chocolate evenly over the brownies.  You can decide how soon after the come out of the oven to do it with how much you want the chocolates to melt.  Let the brownies cool completely. (You can set them in the fridge, too, which hardens up the chocolate faster.)  Remove from the pan by lifting the foil edges.  Remove the foil and cut the brownies in to squares on a cutting board. 

If you’d like a thicker brownie, you can bake them in an 8 inch square pan.  This is my go-to brownie recipe that I add all kinds of mix-ins to when I make brownies.  Man, I want one.   Thank you so much, Ghirardelli.  Now I’m already excited for Easter, too.

Vegan Oat Cranberry Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies (Gluten Free)—#ElleAPalooza, In Remembrance of Elle

You would NEVER guess that these packed-full-of-goodness cookies are vegan.  They are also gluten free and made with organic evaporated cane juice sugar.  All that said, I would consider them health food!

It’s with heavy heart that I write this post and share these delicious cookies with you.  The food blogging community recently lost someone we all loved, if even from our own computers, many having never met her in person, me included.  Elle from Elle's New England Kitchen, only 45 years young, a wife, mother of four and quite the firecracker, passed away suddenly on January 29th from a pulmonary embolism.  I have sure been thinking so much about her family and knowing they are the ones truly suffering.  I really did not know Elle very well (as she was called, though her name is Lee Ann), but we were Facebook friends and I enjoyed her blog for a number of years.  Not only that, but she always found and posted the best videos and photos of animals, cute and funny ones.  She was definitely an animal lover.

 

This might be one of my favorite videos of all time, Elle posted it two weeks or so before she died and she and I laughed and talked about it that day.  I, along with my boys, have probably watched this video 100 times.

  

Thanks, Elle!  I just love this and so many other things you brought to life. 

Including these cookies.  Along with many other bloggers, we decided to have this weekend’s posts be all about/for Elle.  Many of us chose something from her blog to make and share in her honor and in remembrance of her.  What do you think was the first thing I looked at from her blog?  Cookies, of course.  I was delighted to find these cookies.  Elle and her family often ate vegan, just because.  She made hers with dried cherries and walnuts.  I could have sworn I had some naturally sweetened dried cherries, but I couldn’t find them, so I ended up using some fruit juice sweetened cranberries.  THEN, as I was toasting the last of my walnuts, I burned them, so I used pecans.  No matter—you could use any dried fruit and nuts in these and they’d still be great.  Besides being packed with fruit and nuts, these have oats and chocolate chips.  Heavenly.  I want to go make some more right now!  I could just eat all the cookie dough—it’s vegan, no eggs—and so good. 

These are still a bit of a splurge for me as I rarely eat/use even organic cane sugar, but this time I did and these cookies were a great treat!

Vegan Oat Cranberry Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!, adapted from Elle's Kitchen

1/2 cup coconut oil

1 cup organic evaporated cane juice sugar

1/2 teaspoon molasses

1 teaspoon sunflower butter or cashew or almond butter, or tahini

1/4 cup almond milk

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup gluten free flour blend (I used Premium Gold ancient grains gluten free flour)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1  1/4 cups gluten free oats

3/4 cup fruit juice sweetened dried cranberries

3/4 cup pecans, toasted and chopped

1 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips

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

In a small bowl, combine the sunflower butter and almond milk and whisk together (this is the vegan egg replacement). Let sit.  In a small bowl, combine the sugar and molasses using a fork to mix it together well.  In a medium sized bowl, combine the coconut oil and sugar mixture.  Stir until well combined.  Stir in the sunflower butter/almond mixture, as well as the vanilla and almond extract.  Add the gluten free flour blend, baking soda, baking powder, salt and oats.  Stir until all combined.  Stir in the cranberries, pecans and chocolate chips. 

Scoop dough balls (about golf ball sized) onto baking sheets and bake for about 12 minutes.  Let sit on baking sheet for a few minutes then move to a wire rack to cool.  Makes about 20 cookies. 

Many other bloggers are also posting delicious things from Elle’s blog.  You can check them out on Facebook at #ElleAPalooza.  What can you take from Elle’s passing, besides some great things she shared on her blog—always take the time to let those you love know how you feel, you just never know when it might be your last opportunity.  Thank you for that, Elle, and so much more.

Cherry Cheesecake Crisp—Lucky Leaf Pie Filling and Giveaway

First of all, don’t you just love these colorful, square ramekins?  I think they are so cool and cute and fun.  Guess what?  One lucky reader can enter the giveaway I’m having from Lucky Leaf (Premium Pie Filling).

You can win your own Rachael Ray Bubble & Brown Square Singles Stoneware Set and some pie filling, courtesy of Lucky Leaf.  I received a set of the stoneware and some pie filling, too.  Thanks, Lucky Leaf!  While I’m not currently eating sugar (or gluten), so I didn’t get to try this cherry cheesecake dessert I came up with, my boys and husband ate it up.  Kevin loves cheesecake and they all love cherry pie filling. 

This cherry cheesecake crisp was so easy.  I wanted to make something that didn’t take a lot of time and when Kevin suggested cheesecake I knew that wasn’t as easy as he was thinking.  So I kind of just winged it and came up with this simple no bake version.  I didn’t really want to bother with a crust on the bottom, so I made a quick graham cracker granola to sprinkle on the top.  Kevin said it was really good (and he’s not really a granola or graham cracker fan).  He also liked that the cheesecake wasn’t too sweet.  He really doesn’t like super sweet things.  He said the cherry pie filling added just the right amount of sweet to this.  For making something up on the fly, hearing him say it was actually really good made me quite happy.

The granola takes the longest for this and it’s super simple to whip up, the longest thing is waiting for it to bake in the oven and then cool.  You can make it ahead of time and store it in an airtight container.  There is plenty of it left that I’ll be making these individual cheesecakes again soon.  Raspberry pie filling sounds good, or strawberry…..ooh, peach.  The list could go on and on. 

I love that Lucky Leaf Premium Pie Filling doesn’t have high fructose corn syrup.  And the cherry filling is FULL of cherries.  There was enough to make these four individual desserts and would have made a fifth, but one of my sons just prefers to eat the cherry filling without the cheesecake, so I left him some!

Cherry Cheesecake Crisp, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

6 ounces of 1/3 less fat cream cheese, room temperature

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

4 ounces whipped topping (or you can use real whipped cream that is whipped first)

1—21 ounce can of Lucky Leaf cherry pie filling (or flavor of your choice)

For the granola:

1 cup old fashioned oats

4 graham crackers (2 ounces)

1/4 cup brown sugar

4 tablespoons canola oil

1 tablespoon honey  (you can cut a little of the brown sugar and add more honey if you’d like)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.  Line a 1/4 sheet baking sheet with parchment paper.   In a food processor pulse the graham crackers until mostly finely ground (a few pieces are okay).  Or crush the graham crackers in a plastic zip top bag.  In a bowl, combine the oats, graham crackers, brown sugar and salt.  Mix together.  Add the oil, honey and vanilla and stir until all combined.  Pour the granola mixture onto the baking sheet.  Bake for 18-20 minutes.  Remove from oven and don’t touch until cool.  Break into pieces for the tops of the cherry cheesecake (there will be some small, crumbly pieces and that’s okay).

While the granola is baking/cooling, combine in an electric mixer bowl the cream cheese, lemon juice and vanilla.  Beat until smooth.  Add the sugar a little at a time while it is beating.  Scrape the sides of the bowl.  Add the whipped topping and beat until all combined.  Scrape the sides of the bowl and clean off the paddle attachment.  Fold it all together with a spatula to make sure it is well combined.  Spoon some of the cheesecake filling evenly into each ramekin.  Spread it evenly.  Add cherry pie filling to the top of the cheesecake.  Sprinkle with Graham Cracker Granola.  Serve and/or keep refrigerated until serving.  Store extra granola in an airtight container.

Want some other recipe inspiration?  Check out all the recipes at Lucky Leaf.

If you’d like a chance to win that colorful stoneware set and some Lucky Leaf Premium Pie Filling, all you have to do to enter the giveaway is leave a comment here on this post telling me what your favorite dessert is using pie filling.  Again, check out the recipes at Lucky Leaf if you need some help there.  For a second entry, follow Lucky Leaf on Pinterest  (#LoveableLuckyLeaf ) and leave me a comment here that you are now following them.

This contest is open to US residents only and will close by Wednesday, February 12 at 5 p.m. MST.  The winner will be notified by email, so make sure I have a way to contact you.

***Congratulations to Comment #4 Pam!  Your comment was chosen by the random generator and your giveaway package is on the way!  --Katrina, 2-13-14

Pam said...

I love to make cobblers with Pie Fillings so fast and simple and tastes like you have been slaving

February 06, 2014 3:54 PM

Chocolate Hazelnut Bombs—World Nutella Day

I couldn’t forget that today is World Nutella Day.  Unfortunately, I’m not eating Nutella right now (no sugar for me).  I know, SO SAD.  If it will help my health, it’s all worth it, right?  I still just HAD to make something with that chocolate-hazelnut combination, so I whipped up some quick, healthy Chocolate Hazelnut Bombs.  They are the bomb, hence the name.

These are a perfect treat for me (and anyone else!).  They happen to be refined sugar free, gluten free, grain free (which means Paleo), but they certainly have that taste to remind me of Nutella deliciousness. 

Chocolate Hazelnut Bombs (Grain Free, Refined Sugar Free, Paleo), by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

2 cups hazelnuts

4 tablespoons raw cacao powder (or cocoa powder)

3/4 cup pitted dates (chopped to check for any seeds!)

2-3 tablespoons raw honey (to taste)

2 tablespoons almond milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Put hazelnuts on baking sheet spread in one layer.  Bake for 8 minutes.  Let cool slightly.  Remove as much of the skins as possible by putting the nuts on a towel, wrapping it up and squeezing the nuts inside the towel.  Most of the skins will come off.  You don’t need to worry about the stubborn skins. 

When the nuts are separated from the skins, put them in a food processor.  Pulse until the nuts are coarsely ground.  Add the dates and continue pulsing until it starts to combine.  Add the cacao/cocoa powder and one tablespoons of honey and pulse until all combined and the nuts break down even more.  Add another tablespoon of honey and a tablespoon of almond milk.  Pulse again and check for consistency.  The mixture will start to ball up around the blade.  Taste and decide if you’d like a bit more honey and/or almond milk to combine it all together.  Roll in to about one inch balls.  Makes 16-20.  Keep refrigerated if you’re not eating them.

Check out all my World Nutella Day posts from years past. 

2013--Chocolate Hazelnut Nutella Cookies (Some of these were sandwiches with Nutella, like in the photo.)

2012--Pretzel Nutella Chunk Cookies and Nutella Frosted Nutella Brownies

2011--Nutella Banana Oatmeal and Nutella Truffle Chocolate Chip Hazelnut Cookies

2010—I missed it!

2009--Chocolate Graham Cracker Nutella S'mores

Sheesh, after looking at all these Nutella treats, I need to go have one or ten of my Chocolate Hazelnut Bombs.

Check out World Nutella Day on Facebook and Twitter #nutelladay and other social media sites. 

Best Homemade Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes and Chocolate Fudge Frosting and Split Pea Soup with Mushrooms—The Secret Recipe Club

Could you just look at and drool over this cupcake all day?  I could.  I practically did the day I made them.  Proud to say I didn’t even taste a cupcake.  Proud and sad.  I am not currently eating gluten and sugar, as many know, but I love making things with those ingredients for others.  And I will admit, I tasted the frosting.  It needed to be done.  Quality control, you know. 

This recipe for these awesome, perfect Best Homemade Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes and Chocolate Fudge Frosting is from my Secret Recipe Club blog assignment this month.  I had the pleasure of having Angela’s blog, Spinach Tiger this month.  I got to make something from her blog last year, too, as I filled in for someone at the last minute who wasn’t able to do so.  Last October I was in a hurry to pick something to make and made her delicious Banana Bread.  This month, since her blog was my “real” assignment, I spent a lot of time looking through all her posts and trying to decide what to make.  I actually chose her Split Pea Soup with Mushrooms.  It was on my list to make for a few weeks.  Then I noticed one of her more current posts for Shaved Raw Brussel Sprout with Raw Beet Pesto.  I had everything to make that salad except the Brussel spouts.  So I went out and got the sprouts.  And I haven’t had the chance to make the beet pesto and salad yet—but don’t worry—I WILL.  Everything about it sounds so good to me. 

I have been a little low on energy lately and all the sudden was freaking out last week that I still hadn’t made the soup or salad from Angela’s blog.  What did I do about that?  Instead of just making one of those things, I looked through her blog again for more ideas.  I’m so silly that way—or am I?  While checking out her desserts, since that is really what I love the most, I ran into these cupcakes and can’t believe I missed them before.  I eat quite healthy, tons of fruits and vegetables, very little meat and only gluten free, refined sugar free desserts, but I really do prefer to make, bake and post desserts.  Maybe it’s because I feel like I get better pictures of things like cupcakes and cookies and photographing a bowl of soup just doesn’t do much for me.

I decided to get to work and make what Angela has claimed as the “Best Homemade Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes and Chocolate Fudge Frosting”.  I am so happy I did—see, not so silly.  Now I have a perfect chocolate cake recipe that was simple and I had all the ingredients on hand and most often do have them.

Since she mentioned that the recipe made a lot of cake, I decided to cut it in half.  The half recipe still made 20 cupcakes.  I made the full recipe of frosting since she also mentioned you can never have too much frosting.   The day I made them, I only frosted nine cupcakes.  I froze the rest of the cakes and have refrigerated the frosting to use next week.

“One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn't belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?”

(Remember this song from Sesame Street?)

If you guessed the cupcake in the middle, you’d be right.  Why would anyone want to eat a cupcake with such a small amount of frosting?  Only if you’re my husband who doesn’t really care much for cake and really doesn’t like frosting.  So that was his cupcake and I frosted eight more the correct way for the boys (they each got two).  The cupcakes and frosting were a big hit with the boys and the little bit of frosting I tasted was delicious.

Besides cutting the recipe in half, I didn’t change a thing about Angela’s recipe.  So if you’re looking for a great chocolate cake recipe, run, don’t walk to go get it on her blog--Best Homemade Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes and Chocolate Fudge Frosting.

These baked perfectly in 18 minutes and came right out of the pan (sometimes if a little of the top of the cupcake went over the sides, it sticks with other cakes I’ve made).  That did not happen here. 

The only thing I would mention about the recipe, which is silly of me to have not done completely is to always use room temperature ingredients—including things like buttermilk.  My butter and eggs were room temperature, but I used cold buttermilk, which I was worried about when I saw the butter kind of chunk back up a bit.  Never fear—this recipe is also so easy that you just mix all the ingredients and beat them like crazy (in a mixer) for 3 minutes.  Though I was still worried about the little bits of butter I saw in the batter, I baked them anyway and there was no trace of unincorporated butter in the cupcakes.  (Yay!)  I would still suggest to make sure to use all room temperature ingredients.  I made sure all the ingredients for the frosting was room temperature and that is some delicious frosting!

Angela suggested for the frosting to begin with 3/4 cup of cream and to just use enough until you like the consistency of the frosting.  I ended up using 1/2 cup before I was satisfied.  The half recipe made 20 cupcakes and I made the full recipe of frosting.  After frosting eight cupcakes, it will be enough to frost the remaining dozen when I get them out of the freezer in a few days. 

So the cupcakes were/are awesome!  A couple days ago, my ten year old stayed home from school sick (just a little cold).  I mentioned to him that I’d been really wanting to make split pea soup.  When I told him it has mushrooms in it he was no longer interested.  I made the soup anyway, but instead of adding the mushrooms, I just left them to spoon into my own bowl.  He got what he wanted, soup, split pea soup, with no mushrooms and I FINALLY got to make Angela’s Split Pea Soup with Mushrooms.

I halved this recipe and wish I wouldn’t have so I’d have more to eat.  I’m usually the only one here who will eat split pea soup.  Taylor (the one who was sick) likes all kinds of soup and was excited to try this (minus the mushrooms).  He really liked the soup, even without mushroom and croutons (they were gluten free) and asked me when I was going to make it again.  The half recipe was just enough for the two of us for lunch and for me to have for dinner the next day.

Angela mentioned that her mother said you should never eat split pea soup without croutons.  I don’t think I’d ever eaten it WITH croutons.  I was excited to have the end piece of some gluten free bread I’d made left.  I cubed it up and toasted it in a sauté pan with a little olive oil.  After they’d nicely browned on each side, I sprinkled a little garlic salt on them.  Awesome.  My soup (in the photo) had the sauteed mushrooms in it and was topped with croutons and some shavings of parmesan cheese.  It was a great vegetarian soup.

Split Pea Soup with Baby Bella Mushrooms and Croutons, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!, adapted from Angela at Spinach Tiger

1 cup dried split peas

4  1/2 cups water

1 small shallot, finely chopped

1 medium sized carrot, finely diced

1 rib celery, finely chopped

1 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

juice and zest of about 1/4 of a lemon

8 ounces baby bella mushroom, chopped

dash of crushed red pepper

half a bay leaf

salt and pepper to taste

parmesan cheese, for top of soup

In a soup pot, add the olive oil and over medium heat, sauté the carrots, shallot and celery until soft.  Add the split peas, water, basil, bay leaf, lemon juice and zest.  Simmer for 35 minutes.  Add some salt and pepper and taste and adjust seasoning.  Remove the bay leaf.  You might want/need to add a little water here.  I added about 1/2 cup.

While the soup is simmering, sauté the mushrooms in a little olive oil.  Let them get nicely browned.  Add a little salt once they are done.  You can add them all to the soup when it is just about done, or add them to individual bowls if you are feeding some who don’t like mushrooms. 

Make croutons by toasting some cubed bread (I used some homemade gluten free bread) them with a little olive oil in a sauté pan.  Move them around and flip them on to each side until they are browned.  Sprinkle them with some garlic salt. 

Serve bowls of soup with croutons and shredded or shaved parmesan soup. 

Delicious food over at Spinach Tiger.  Check out Angela’s blog.  I will make that Shaved Brussels Sprouts with Red Beet Pesto SOON!

Gluten Free Banana Muffins

I hadn’t had a banana muffin for over six months.  I was sad.  I used to make pretty healthy whole grain ones all the time.  The boys love them and I loved them.  So I decided I needed to make some gluten free, refined sugar free ones.  I think these turned out great!  As soon as I have some more overripe bananas, I will be making them again, sorry boys, these are mine.

This recipe made 14 muffins.  You could probably fill 12 each a little fuller and not have the extra two, but 14 worked for me.  I used coconut oil instead of butter and coconut sugar with a little molasses instead of brown sugar.  I might have baked them a couple minutes too long, but I loved the crusty outside and they were still perfectly moist inside.  I used my newly favorite Premium Gold Gluten Free Ancient Grains Flour.  I wrote about it here in this post for Individual Microwave Chewy Brownies.  Ooh, brownies……wait, I must finish telling you about the muffins first.  (Sorry, it doesn’t take me much to get off track.)

Gluten Free Banana Muffins (Refined Sugar Free), by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

3/4 cup coconut palm sugar

1 teaspoon molasses

1/4 cup coconut oil

3 medium, overripe bananas, mashed (I like to puree them in a food processor)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1/4 cup buttermilk

2 cups gluten free flour (I used Premium Gold Ancient Grains Flour Blend)

1 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

1/3 cup Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Brush  muffin cups with coconut oil.  (I just use my fingers, you could use a pastry brush though.)  In a medium sized bowl, combine the coconut sugar and molasses and mix together with a fork.  Add the coconut oil and stir until combined.  Stir in the bananas, eggs, vanilla and buttermilk until well combined.  Add the flour, baking soda and salt and stir until well mixed.  Stir in the chocolate chips.  (This can all be done with a wooden spoon.)  Using a cookie scoop, fill each muffin cup with batter until 2/3-3/4 full.  Bake for 18-20 minutes.  Makes 12-14 muffins.

The number of muffins I ate the day I made them shall remain untold on the grounds it might make a glutton out of me.  There’s nothing quite like warm muffins fresh from the oven……….except maybe brownies.  hehe

Almond Joy Fudge Bars, Two Ways—Gluten Free or Grain Free, Refined Sugar Free

Almond Joy Fudge Bars with gluten free oats

I’ve been meaning to get these posted because they are SO good.  I’ve made them twice in one week.  The first time I made them with gluten free oats.  As I ate them and loved them, I decided they don’t really even need the oats in them, so they can also easily be made without any oats/grain.

These are really easy to make, the hardest part is waiting while they chill in the fridge for an hour.

Almond Joy Fudge Bars with gluten free oats, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1/2 cup (128 grams) almond butter (I use homemade)

1/3 cup (120 grams) raw honey

1/4 cup (56 grams) organic coconut oil

3/4 cup (4 1/2 ounces) refined sugar free chocolate chips (Equal Exchange or Enjoy Life, etc)

1 cup minus 3 tablespoons gluten free oats

3 tablespoons unsweetened coconut flakes (toasted, optional)

1/3 cup almonds, toasted and chopped

Line an 8 inch square baking pan with nonstick foil (or coat with coconut oil).

In a saucepan, heat together over medium heat until all combined the almond butter, honey and coconut oil.  Turn heat off and add the chocolate chips.  Stir until melted.  Stir in the oats, coconut and almonds.  Pour and spread evenly into pan.  Chill in refrigerator for an hour.  Remove bars from pan using foil edges and cut into squares.  Store in refrigerator.

adapted from Mommy's Kitchen

While eating and loving these, I couldn’t help but think they would be really good without the oats (grain) and how kicked up they would be with more coconut and almonds, so I made them again replacing some of the oats with more coconut and almonds.  Delicious!  Can’t decide which I like better.  You decide.  When I made them without the oats, I toasted the coconut.  I’ll probably toast it every time now.

Almond Joy Fudge Bars, grain free, refined sugar free

Almond Joy Fudge Bars, grain free and refined sugar free, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1/2 cup (128 grams) almond butter (I used homemade)

1/3 cup (120 grams) raw honey

1/4 cup (56 grams) coconut oil

3/4 cup (4 1/2 ounces) refined sugar free chocolate chips (Equal Exchange or Enjoy Life, etc)

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes, toasted lightly (350 degree oven for 5-8 minutes)

1/2 cup almonds, toasted and chopped (350 degree oven for 10 minutes)

Line an 8 inch square baking pan with nonstick foil (or coat with coconut oil).

In a saucepan, heat together over medium heat until all combined the almond butter, honey and coconut oil.  Turn heat off and add the chocolate chips.  Stir until melted.  Stir in the coconut and almonds.  Pour and spread evenly into pan.  Chill in refrigerator for an hour.  Remove bars from pan using foil edges and cut into squares.  Store in refrigerator.

adapted from Mommy's Kitchen

You’ve got to try these!

“Real Deal” Chocolate Chip Cookies—Grain Free, Refined Sugar Free

I recently made Danielle’s Real Deal Chocolate Chip Cookies.  She’s the author and brains behind the blog and cookbook, Against All Grain.  These ARE a great grain free, refined sugar free chocolate chip cookie. 

They are made with almond flour and a little coconut flour.  To sweeten them up, they have coconut palm sugar and a little honey.  I will definitely make these again and probably again…..

The only difference to her recipe, which called for either palm shortening or grassfed butter was that I didn’t use grassfed butter, but I did use butter and a good brand at that.  A little funny here, but I didn’t realize butter can be fed anything.

If you’re like me and cutting out or back on grains and refined sugar, these are a great cookie to try, so go now to Danielle’s blog and make them ASAP.  I was lucky and blessed to buy her book, Against All Grain, with a wonderful gift card my parents sent for Christmas.  Thanks, Mom and Dad! 

Why did I put “Real Deal” in quotes, you wonder?  Since I didn’t use grassfed butter, I don’t want you to think I copied her recipe completely, but that is the only change I made. 

Individual Microwave Chewy Brownie, Gluten Free, Refined Sugar Free

Sometimes, you just have to have a treat, a real, honest-to-goodness treat.  I’m talking about chocolate.  I’m talking about a brownie.  Yes, I’ve made and tried many different brownies and cookies, some are grain free, some gluten free, all refined sugar free.  I haven’t found my very favorite yet.  This time, I just wanted my own little treat and I wanted it fast. 

I looked online and found too many, so I ended up just putting together my own concoction and YUM!  I’m so happy.  A food blogger’s job is so hard.  We have to make and eat food all for our readers’ benefit.  I know, such tough stuff.  You’re welcome.  Happy to be of assistance.  Even happier to have this fun, super quick chocolaty treat pretty much anytime I want.  I can make it, bake it (microwave) and be eating it in all of about five minutes.  You can, too!

I was going to hurry and blog this the night I made it, but realized it’s my duty to make sure it really was good more than once, so I took one for the team (YOU!) and made it again, you know, just to make sure.  I love how chewy it is. (Don’t over cook it!)  I love that I used an ancient whole grain gluten free flour (Premium Gold brand) that I found for a great price for five pounds at Costco.  And I LOVE that as a gluten free flour blend, it doesn’t have potato starch.  Most do.  I am not eating potatoes anymore and decided to include any form of the potato in that decision.  Lo and behold, almost every gluten free flour blend seems to have potato starch.  Not this one!   (Yes, I’ve made my own blend a few times, but this was too good to pass up.)  The ingredients in this flour are rice flour, ground flaxseed, quinoa flour, buckwheat flour, amaranth flour, tapioca flour, arrowroot flour and xanthan gum.  I love whole grains and this is GMO free.  I can’t wait to make other things with it.  So far, I’ve only used it for these brownies. 

Individual Microwave Chewy Brownie, Gluten Free, Refined Sugar Free, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

2 tablespoons Premium Gold Gluten Free All Purpose Flour (or any flour of your choice)

2 tablespoons coconut palm sugar

1 teaspoon egg white powder

1 tablespoons Dutch-process cocoa

pinch of salt

1  1/2 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk

1  1/2 tablespoons coconut oil

1/4-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

*optional mix-ins—1 tablespoon Enjoy Life or Sunspire Chocolate Chips

*1 tablespoon pecans or walnuts, toasted and chopped

In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, egg white powder, cocoa and salt.  Whisk together.  In another small bowl, mix the almond milk and coconut oil, microwave for 15 seconds if the coconut oil isn’t melted.  Stir in the vanilla.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until all combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips and/or pecans.  Save some of the chocolate chips for the top of the brownie if you’d like.  Lightly grease a 6 oz. ramekin with coconut oil.  Pour the batter into the ramekin and spread evenly.  Microwave on about 75% power for 45 seconds.  If you saved some chocolate chips, sprinkle them over the top.  Once they are melty, you can spread them over the top of the brownie or just leave them whole.  Eat the brownie warm!  Mmm.

Not necessarily the prettiest dessert and I’m going to have to not just make them late at night so I can get a better picture, but it sure tastes good, especially when you’ve been deprived of real brownies for so long and you just need something chocolaty.  Perfecto.

Gluten Free Buttermilk Bread

Since going gluten free and refined sugar free last June, I have hardly had any bread (made a couple gluten free loaves before months ago) and I have been really craving bread!  Sometimes I just want a sandwich—peanut butter and honey or jam to be specific.  I couldn’t even wait to take a bite before getting a picture.

Just kidding.  I did get a few pictures, but I bit right into this slice as soon as I could.

This bread is perfect for toast.  Though even Kevin, who doesn’t eat gluten free, had a slice untoasted with some jam and said it was pretty good.  I just can’t tell you how happy I am to eat toast!

I received the Apricot Jam from a friend for Christmas.  She purposely made some with agave instead of sugar so I could eat it.  So nice.  And the jam is so good.  Tastes like fresh, slightly tart apricots.  Thanks, Jackie!

I got a bread machine cookbook from our friend, Bob, for Christmas and it has a couple gluten free bread recipes in it.  I took one of the recipes and totally changed it up, then didn’t bake it in my bread machine, so here’s my take on a gluten free bread.

I’ve noticed in the few times I’ve made gluten free bread, it doesn’t come out the prettiest and rise as nice and high as regular bread, but it tastes great.

Gluten Free Buttermilk Bread, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1 cup low fat buttermilk

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, slightly melted

3 tablespoons raw honey

4 large egg whites, beaten until frothy

4 teaspoons active dry yeast

1/2 cup whole grain sorghum flour

1  1/2 cups brown rice flour

3/4 cup arrowroot powder

1/4 cup tapioca flour

1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

Put the buttermilk and water in a microwave safe dish and heat until warm, about 25-40 seconds on half power.  Add the vinegar, slightly melted butter and honey with the buttermilk and water and whisk to combine.  Whisk the egg whites until frothy in a separate bowl.  Add to the wet ingredients and whisk together.  Pour into a stand mixer (of course, you can do it all by hand) and add the yeast.  In another bowl, combine the sorghum flour, brown rice flour, arrowroot, tapioca flour and xanthan gum and whisk together.  With the dough hook attached to the mixer and set at low speed, add half a cup of the dry ingredients at a time.  Add more as it mixes until all combined.  Cover the bowl and let sit in a warm place for 30-45 minutes.  Stir mixture with a wooden spoon, then put it into a greased 9x5 inch bread pan (I used coconut oil).  Let rise for about 30 minutes, just until it starts to come up over the pan.  During the last rise, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown on the top.  Let cool in pan for 5-10 minutes.  Remove from pan (it took a little prying with a knife, but it really wasn’t stuck anywhere.)  Cool on a wire rack.

Happy me!  Now if I could just get over this nasty cold that is knocking me for a loop.  Welcome to winter, happy new year!