Raspberry and Cocoa Beer Biscuits

Raspberry and Cocoa Beer Biscuits

I couldn't stop with just one variation on my Beer Biscuits, so the weekend after I first made my Blueberry Beer Biscuits, I changed the recipe a little more and made these. They are so moist, and delicate, with a rich chocolate flavor, that I almost felt guilty eating them for breakfast, but not for long.  You could easily substitute the butter in any of these recipes for coconut oil for a different flavor and nutrient content, and as I stated with the blueberry ones, any type of beer and mix in would work as well.  My favorite part is that from start to finish, it only takes about 30 minutes and my family can enjoy a healthy, slightly indulgent, home baked breakfast.  And if you have left overs, they freeze great and are perfect to pack into a kids lunch for a treat all their friends, and teachers, will want to try!

Maple Raspberry Corn Cake

Maple Raspberry Corn Cake

Every once in awhile, I look in my fridge and see a variety of ingredients that have been around for awhile, and while not yet expired, I feel the urge to use them up and make room for something new.  This is what happened the morning I invented this delicious creation.  I had a container of cornmeal that I know I hadn't used in months and half a bag of frozen raspberries that were in danger of becoming a block of ice, so I put the two together, added a little sweetness and came up with this breakfast cake.  I had initially intended to make a raspberry version of my Maple Blueberry Corn Cakes but was honestly just too lazy to stand over a pan and fry them individually.  So I changed the recipe slightly, and made two round cakes instead (one for today and one I put in the freezer). They smelled delicious while baking and my son, who can be very picky about baked goods, loved them.  More savory than sweet, with a very hearty texture they are a perfectly healthy way to start off your day and make it feel like you should be celebrating something.  The recipe is super simple to throw together quickly, especially if you prep the dry ingredients the night before and while the cakes baked I had time to cut up some fruit, fry some turkey sausages and make a pot of coffee. High in fiber, low in sugar, and full of flavor. Enjoy!

Raspberry Cream Muffins

Raspberry Cream Muffins

Who doesn't love a red velvet cupcake?  I know my daughter does and always asks for a red velvet muffin at the grocery store.  But I don't let me kids eat food coloring or tons of white flour on a regular basis so I usually have to say no.  I realize that these muffins are not exactly as red, but they are about as close as you can get without adding coloring and they were good enough for my daughter to excitedly eat a couple as soon as they cooled off from the oven.  And they taste better than anything you could buy in a store.  Basically a combination of my recipes for raspberry fudge cookies and triple blueberry muffins, this recipe uses only fruit for sweetness, whole wheat flour and real organic raspberries.  So it's a treat you can feel good about serving to the sweet people in your life.

Raspberry Fudge Cookies

Raspberry Fudge Cookies

Best Cookies Ever.  Just saying.  This recipe is adapted from one a friend of mine posted on Facebook awhile back called "Raspberry Cream Cookies." * Since my son is not as big a fan of dark chocolate as I am and that recipe called for white chocolate chips, I thought I would give it a try.  I changed it up with whole grain flour, of course, and they were delicious.  So good in fact that I made another batch to bring in for my son's 9th birthday party at school the following week. But even though I myself actually liked them, I knew that if I added dark chocolate chips instead or made them with cocoa powder baked in they would be even better.

It has been a couple of months since then and I have finally gotten around to trying out my dark chocolate version of the original recipe.  I had a feeling they would be good, but I had NO IDEA how good.  They are certainly not the most healthy dessert I have featured on here, but to their credit, they are made entirely out of whole wheat flour, have high fiber and antioxidant rich raspberries in them, and I replaced some of the butter with coconut oil. They also have dark cocoa and ground flax seed, so while not being a "health food", they are definitely a lot better for you than you would ever think after tasting them.  They are rich, fudgy, chewy, decadent and addictive (be careful!).  I will definitely be making these again soon!  Enjoy!!!

* http://www.anecdotesandapples.com/raspberry-cream-cookies-and-36-weeks

Raspberry Fudge Sauce

Raspberry Fudge Sauce
over vanilla Greek frozen yogurt
with fresh raspberries

Chocolate and raspberry is a fabulous combination.  So when I saw the pints of Greek frozen yogurt and organic vanilla ice cream in the back of my freezer left over from the end of the summer, I had an idea.  What if I try to make my own hot fudge, slightly healthier than the usual and have protein rich sundaes for dessert? I knew that a basic hot fudge recipe calls for dark chocolate, sugar, butter and cream, so I used that as my base but changed it around.  The almond butter adds in healthy fats and protein, the maple syrup is a nutrient rich sweetener and the raspberries add tons of vitamins, antioxidants and fiber. The sauce is a bit thick, and could certainly be thinned out with a bit of cream or half and half, but I personally enjoyed the texture of not only the chewy chocolate as it hardened, but the raspberry bits as well.  Indulge in this after dinner treat and feel good about dessert!!