Guinness Cupcakes

Dark Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes
with Baileys Cream Cheese Frosting

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  I actually made these amazing cupcakes last year for St. Paddy's day, but never got around to finishing this post until the holiday had long since past, so I was waiting until this year to share with everyone.  I am sure most of you have seen recipes like this circulating in the previous days and weeks on social media, and I am sure there are lots of different ways to make Irish liquor infused treats.  This recipe of course uses mostly organic ingredients, a lot of whole wheat flour, high protein Greek yogurt, and antioxidant rich dark cocoa powder.  Of course there is a ton of sugar in the frosting, which is honestly so good you could eat it with a spoon, but this is a dessert after all.  For a holiday.  And they go great with a strong beer, or an Irish coffee!  May the luck of the day be with you all!!

Chocolate Protein Pancake

Chocolate Protein Pancake

What do you make on a morning when you have a little time to cook yourself breakfast, but not too much time, want something chocolate, but not too sweet, and high in protein?  This pancake! I had heard that you could make a pancake out of nothing but banana and eggs, but honestly that sounded not only boring to me, but a little suspect.  I couldn't really imagine what it would taste like (banana quiche?) and unless I drowned it in syrup I imagine it would be hard to swallow.  So I added in a few of my favorite ingredients to make it chocolate (cocoa powder), heart healthy (nut butter & raw walnuts), and flavorful (cinnamon). I honestly wasn't sure how the end result would be, and if it would taste good enough to eat without butter and syrup on top (which of course makes everything taste better).  I suggest you let it cool for a couple of minutes before eating, to let the chocolate and peanut butter flavors settle, and the addition of the walnuts was a spectacular choice. I didn't have much time to eat it once I was done, but that was no problem since I devoured it in less than five minutes because it was so good.  And extremely filling. It would be a perfect breakfast to serve your kids before a busy morning of school or sports, or for anyone heading to the gym or planning to be active. And it's the type of fullness that feels like you did your body a favor and you're stronger for it.  Definitely going to be on my short list for a go to perfect first meal of the day.  You can use whatever nut butter you prefer, and even add a little honey if you want the pancake sweeter. Or be like my kids, who would inevitably cover it with butter and syrup before gobbling it up.

Candy Cane Cupcake Muffins

Candy Cane Cupcake Muffins

Now that Spring is just around the corner, I thought it was time to finally take away all the candy canes that had been sitting in jars and vases in my living room.  But I didn't want to throw them away, and I didn't want my kids to have a candy fest over the weekend, so what did I do?  I made peppermint candy cane "sugar"!  Granted, it has red dye, plain white sugar, corn syrup, and plenty of other unhealthy ingredients, but not everything has to be perfect, and not tossing something usable into the garbage has to count for something.  I have decorated cookies with ground up candy canes before, (Peppermint Sugar Cookie Pinwheels), but I have never actually used the candy canes as the only sweetener. So this was definitely a fun little experiment, and something that I could also use if needed in other mint recipes when I don't have the (much healthier) fresh mint ingredient on hand (Dark Chocolate Peppermint Brownies). The smell when grinding up the candy canes was great enough, but the smell of these muffins in the oven was even better.  And since they are full of whole wheat flour (fiber, protein), and heart healthy canola oil, they are a good breakfast treat, or afternoon snack.  I just enjoyed mine with a cup of tea and a small dish of raw walnuts. Tasted amazing. And a little bit like Winter, because technically, it still is!