Walnut Brownie Cookies

Walnut Brownie Cookies

I have definitely found my favorite dessert.  If you are like me and love dark chocolate, and like it to be extra dense, rich and fudgy, then these treats are for you.  And if you look at the ingredient list, you can easily see another reason why they are my favorite: they are a big bite of health disguised as a cookie.  The main ingredient is raw walnuts, sweetened with raw honey, coconut oil and cocoa powder.  Walnuts are honestly one of the healthiest foods on the planet and an everyday staple in my kitchen.  They are full of "rare and powerful antioxidants" and are proven to promote heart health and reduce cancer risk.* You do need a food processor to make these from scratch, but I am sure you could use a store bought walnut butter if you had to. I promise that if you try these cookies just once, you will be hooked and want to share the recipe with everyone you meet.

* http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/05/19/7-walnuts-benefits.aspx

Strawberry Decadence Bars

Strawberry Decadence Bars

Feel the need for something sweet today?  This recipe uses 100% healthy, natural, powerhouse foods and doesn't even require any baking.  And unlike a lot of "raw", "vegan", "paleo" posts I see circulating around social media, this doesn't have any weird ingredients that you have never heard of before.  Just simple, healthy fruits, nuts, cocoa, maple syrup and coconut.  It only took me about 20 minutes to assemble and they lasted in the freezer for over a week, and after a few minutes thawing on the counter, tasted just as good each time I served them.  Both of my kids loved them and I love the bright pink, all natural, color of the middle layer.  A slightly thicker chocolate layer, might be nice next time so if you want a little more chocolate I would recommend doubling up on the final three ingredients. And you could always use a different fruit or nut depending on what you have in your kitchen or what your family prefers.  And then serve this treat knowing that you are providing a healthy snack disguised as a dessert!

Chocolate No Bake Date Nut Bars

Chocolate No Bake Date Nut Bars

I wish I always had a pan of these in my fridge, but they are so good that they were gone the day after I made them.  So I guess I had better make them more often!  Using mostly raw, healthful ingredients, these chocolate bars are one of my favorite creations ever.  My kids think they are candy, yet I know they are full of nutritious raw nuts and dried fruit and are perfect before or after a good workout, a kids' soccer game or as a late night treat when you just need something sweet but don't want to over indulge.  I actually calculated out the nutrition information for these and was pleasantly surprised at how good the numbers are.  They are high in protein and fiber, low in calories, and although high in fat and sugar, it is the good kind of fat and all the sugar is naturally occurring from the dried dates.  You do need a high powered food processor to make this recipe, but other than that it is as simple as can be and ready to eat in less than an hour.  And they taste way better than any packaged product you could find in a store.

Chocolate Almond Birthday Cake

Chocolate Almond Cake

One week ago today was my 34th birthday.  Not a big milestone and the day itself was a bit uneventful, but I did manage to make myself a cake.  I know you aren't supposed to bake a cake for yourself on your birthday, but since my mom lives four hours away, and I would prefer to bake one myself than find out what my husband could attempt or buy, I took matters into my own hands.  Of course I had to do something different and unexpected since I love experimenting and what better time than with a cake that is just for me anyway? I got the idea for this cake a few weeks before when I first experimented with almond and coconut flours and made mini almond cupcakes for Easter.  And since I love chocolate so much, I had to make a chocolate version of this decadent gluten free dessert.

The recipe, which I have since amended slightly, turned out better than expected, but not as good as I had hoped... which I suppose doesn't say a lot for my confidence.  It has more to do with not knowing a lot about gluten free baking than anything else, and also the desire to make as healthy and dark a chocolate cake as possible without it being dry or bitter.  I enjoyed the cake, and even ate it for breakfast a few times, and my husband and some friends of ours did as well, but my kids weren't so sure.  The texture of the original was more like a brownie and not very sweet, which I attributed to using too much melted unsweetened chocolate and not enough honey.  So I cut down on the chocolate and increased the honey on the recipe posted below.  Regardless, the delicious cake, topped off with fresh organic whipped cream and strawberries, was the perfect way to celebrate the beginning of another year.  Happy Birthday to me!!

Chocolate Walnut Butter

Chocolate Walnut Butter

I recently bought myself a food processor.  Nothing fancy, just a $40 one from Target, and I am having so much fun.  If you have been following my blog you can probably tell that I love everything chocolate, and the darker, richer, and denser, the better in my opinion.  So of course the first thing I blend up in my new toy is exactly that.  I had been hoping to make my own healthier version of Nutella but I have to order the hazelnuts online and haven't gotten around to doing that yet.  But I always have walnuts, and the rest of the basic ingredients in this recipe, so this was my first food processor creation.  And it is amazing.  Not overly sweet, and very intensely flavored, but after taste testing it over and over to make sure it was "ok", I finally realized that I was literally going to eat the whole bowl if I wasn't careful because it was not only "ok", but perfect. And the great thing about this recipe is that it can be changed up in numerous ways depending on what flavors you prefer and what you have stocked in your pantry.

*not only is this delicious to eat with a spoon, it is great on waffles, muffins or mixed into hot oatmeal...