Day 4.
It was stormy and icky outside today. We're all still sick and were stuck inside---I had a bunch of work I was trying to get done and the kids seemed fine playing with cardboard and tape. So much for the thousands of dollars worth of Christmas toys.

Day 4.
It was stormy and icky outside today. We're all still sick and were stuck inside---I had a bunch of work I was trying to get done and the kids seemed fine playing with cardboard and tape. So much for the thousands of dollars worth of Christmas toys.

Sometimes I see a recipe, add it to my goggle notebook... and it sits there for months before I make it. Other times I see a recipe, add it, and then make it that same night. This was the case with TWO recipes this week. Monday night was a mad dash home from the gym to make whole wheat oatmeal bread (more on that later) and then Tuesday night was a dash to make these whole wheat biscotti that my mom sent me a link to.

Here's the funny thing. I'm not a huge biscotti fan, and I've never made them before... yet for some reason I was compelled to go and make these ASAP! Maybe it was because my mom sent me the link... maybe it was something in the air...

maybe I'm just a big weirdo...

yup probably the last one :)

I sent this picture to my sister and mom after making them declaring them YUM!


My sister promptly wrote back:

Ahh sisterly love! Thanks Jen :D Biscotti are supposed to be dry right?? I mean you bake them twice... and they are meant for dipping in coffee right???

I called John later that night and told him I made some without raisins for him (remember the muffin incident... yeah didn't want that happening again LOL). He then asked if they were dipped in chocolate...
nope no chocolate...
then why are you asking if I want to try them?
because I made half the batch without raisins for YOU so you sir will be trying them
oh, in that case, yes I'd love to try some

Here's the recipe! You can easily add in whatever you like (I'm going to toss some coconut in next time) and hey if you want to dip these in chocolate once they are done baking... go for it! John will certainly be your friend if you do :)


Whole Wheat Biscotti
recipe from Martha Stewart

* vegetable oil, for baking sheet (I used pam spray)
* 3/4 cup whole wheat flour, spooned and leveled
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, plus more for work surface
* 1/3 cup sugar
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup walnut halves ( I used sunflower seeds)
* 1/4 cup golden raisins (I used normal raisins)
* 2 large eggs
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush a baking sheet with oil; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; stir in walnuts and raisins. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and vanilla. Add to flour mixture; stir just until combined.
3. On a lightly floured surface, with floured hands, pat dough into a loaf about 1 inch thick, 2 1/2 inches wide (and about 7 inches long); transfer to baking sheet. Bake until risen and firm, 20 to 25 minutes; cool completely on sheet. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees.
4. Place loaf on a cutting board, and using a serrated knife, cut diagonally into 1/4 inch-thick slices; place slices in a single layer on sheet. Bake, turning once, until dried and slightly golden, 25 to 30 minutes; cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 month.



What recipe have you made recently that you saw and made all in the same day? Or is it just me who does that :D

So I read about this NTTC (no time to cook) challenge over at Gel's Kitchen. It sounded like fun so I figured I'd give it a whirl!


Of course I needed to use some of the hazelnut spread I posted about yesterday! So with that as my inspiration I came up with this quick single serving dessert!


Chocolate hazelnut cake with strawberries in a hurry [Serves 1]

Checklist : small Pyrex bowl / 3 Tbs low sugar chocolate cake mix / 2 Tbs water / hazelnut spread / strawberries

Task : Mix cake mix and water in your small Pyrex bowl until smooth without lumps, microwave for about 30-45 seconds (may be more/less in different microwaves) top with a dab of hazelnut spread and a strawberry.

CHOW!



And don't forget about the giveaway... TOMORROW!!!! So come back and see!

Nutella, oh how I love you... I'm assuming you all know what Nutella is right?? Seriously if you don't know... I am so so sad for you, and you MUST go make some now, because it is the best thing. Recently I started seeing commercials on TV for Nutella toting it as a healthy breakfast... wait what?? Are we talking about the same product? It's hazelnuts... and chocolate... in a spreadable form... you're telling me if I put this on toast it's a well balanced breakfast... OK whoever the marketing team was on this one... nice job LOL...


You know it's a good breakfast staple when the first ingredient is sugar! How about we make it my way and have it taste delicious AND be better for you?? Hey and this way is vegan to boot!

As you might have guessed, this recipe starts with roasting some hazelnuts (350 degrees for about 10 minutes). Once they are roasted and slightly cooled it's time to remove their skin... I discovered hazelnuts don't all like to get naked... some hold onto their little frail pieces of clothing for dear life!! For those little guys, I said fine you can keep your dignity... into the blender with all of you!

This really is a quick and easy recipe that doesn't involve many ingredients. The batch I made fit perfectly into a small 1/2 pint mason jar. Feel free to double the recipe, since it WILL go fast.

Nutella ::steph chows:: style
1/2 cup roasted hazelnuts
2 Tbs cocoa powder
3 Tbs maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract

Roast hazelnuts whole in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. Let cool a bit and remove skins by rubbing them between a dish towel or your hands. Grind nuts in a food processor until they form into a thick butter. Add remaining ingredients and process until smooth.

Spoon into a jar with a tight fitting lid and refrigerate.


There are so many ways to enjoy nutella... I'll tell you about a few of my favorite ways later on :)

OK now onto the really fun stuff! I just wanted to tip you off to a fabulous giveaway that will be happening here later this week! Here's a little teaser :)

go ahead... click on it, you know you want to...

Where did this week go?? I have so many more things I made that I need to post about... like the mother's day quiche, fruit salad, and cinnamon roll muffins I made... and then there are the strawberry muffin adaptation... and the zucchini muffins I just made the other night!

Is it just me or am I on a COMPLETE muffin kick... alright... I guess I'll tell you about those strawberry muffins first, since I have the picture off of my camera already... and the rest are still stuck on my camera... and I'm lazy and don't feel like bending over to find the cord and plug it all in :) Aren't I a sweetie? :)


These were made out of necessity... yes muffin necessity. John asked if I'd make some of those blueberry yogurt muffins... (side note: john rarely asks me to make something, I'm constantly bugging and asking him what I should make and he always says "whatever you want" so him asking is AWESOME and highly recommended and preferred!! you hear that john... keep the requests coming! yezzir!) Unfortunately I had no lemon yogurt and a trip to the grocery had already been made... what's a girl to do... that's easy, substitute the 2 containers of lemon yogurt for strawberry and toss some chopped up strawberries in with the blueberries.

Result = YUM! Totally making them again :)

Man sometimes I wonder how my kitchen mojo gets messed up... maybe I should hit up a yoga class??? This was a total fail... I had this beautiful thing of brie. Remember I talked about it back here. And you all gave me fantastic ideas to use it! Well I only ruined half of the wheel... I still have the other half... well most of it, I chowed some and it's wicked tasty!

Anyway I wanted to be crazy creative so I started thinking about silken tofu cheesecakes... and thought to myself, "self, why not a silken tofu brie cheesecake!" a quick search and I couldn't find anything... ok cool, something new! I'm IN lets do this!!

I then started thinking about other flavors that I love paired... graham cracker crust sans butter... use honey instead to make it stick (seriously good idea!! the crust was AWESOME!!!) so at least something good came out of this. Next pie you make... use graham cracker crumbs and honey!! SO GOOD!!

Another thing I learned... tahini and fig jam are freaking tasty paired together! Seriously go have a fancy PB&J with them. AMAZING. So I guess two good things actually came out of this fail...

But this cheesecake...


Oh yeah it was a fail for sure. LOL. I had issues with beating the brie so there weren't chunks left in the batter...
Anyone have any suggestions for the future??

Once the batter was mixed it actually had a really nice flavor to it, the tahini and fig jam tasted wonderful with the brie/tofu mixture... (i was hopeful at this point!) but once it was baked... I don't know WHAT happened in that oven but all the fig/ tahini flavor flew out the window and I was left with some sweet cheese with random surprise brie chunks... not pretty... not pretty at all. Oh and I used a small heart shaped spring form pan... that's why the shape of the cake looks totally busted. :D

Hope everyone is having a nice week... now go and make yourself a tahini and fig jam sandwich :)

As other food bloggers know, us food bloggers think about chow 24/7 (well at least I do...). If I'm not cooking or writing up blogs in my free time, I'm reading others' blogs, looking for new ideas, or just drooling all over my keyboard. I came across a kitchen sink muffin recipe on Bake and Destroy the other day and knew it sounded tasty :) Since you all seem to be fueling my obsession of baking muffins with positive comments I figured I'd reward you all with another new fun muffin! And don't worry it's healthy - VEGAN even if you like it that way :) No butter, no oil!

The basics behind a kitchen sink muffin is all about imrovisation! So use whatever you have on hand and have fun with it! I had some cherrios laying around, so in they went! I bet they would be fun with other random cereal you have around too... ooo cocopuffs could be a fun idea... The recipe uses flax seed meal to replace an egg... so if you don't want them vegan... or don't have flax seeds on hand, use 1 egg in place of the flaxseeds and water. As for the soy milk, skim milk works just as good... but again then they aren't vegan. So do it up and have fun!! Let me know if you make these and what you did to change it up with what you had on hand!


stephchow's version of Kitchen Sink Muffins
original found on Bake and Destroy (this girl rocks check her out, love it!)
makes 12 muffins

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup splenda granulated (or use 1/2 cup white sugar) if you like things sweet you may want a little more sugar/splenda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup apple sauce (I use all natural unsweetened)
2 1/2 Tbs flax seed meal plus 3 Tbs water (or 1 egg)
1/3 cup light/fat free soy milk (or skim milk)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup mashed bananas
1/2 cup cheerios
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup sweetened coconut

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a 12 cup muffin pan. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt into the bowl.

In a small bowl, beat together the flax seed meal and water- it will get thick and gooey. Mix this with the milk, vanilla applesauce and mashed bananas. Then add it to the flour mixture. Mix, scraping down the sides of the bowl - do not over mix. If it's looking a little dry, add a splash more of milk. (I needed to do this)

Fold the cherrios and coconut into the batter. Spoon batter into muffin pan. Sprinkle tops with additional cherrios or coconut if desired. Bake 20-25 minuted or until tops are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly and remove from pan.

As for the nutrition facts... if you make them with splenda granulated and the flax seeds, here they are for 1 muffin:
Depending of brand/type of milk along with what kind of stuff you toss in will change up the stats. You can figure out your own version here. Just a note, sometimes it thinks it knows what you are talking about... but it's wrong. So once it tells you the stats you can click on each of your ingredients and see if it's linking to the right information. When I first inputed these I just said Splenda and it thought I meant the splenda for baking... which has a TON more calories then the straight up splenda I used... Also if one of your ingredients has a red flag next to it... that means it doesn't know what it is, so those calories aren't calculated into the equation... so make sure you don't have any red flags to make it accurate :)

I know I know I'm on a total muffin kick lately! I just love them though, so portable, and a great snack! This is a recipe for a more traditional blueberry muffin that I made up using lemon fat free or low fat yogurt as the base. Totally love how moist these muffins are! I added a crumble topping from the Recipe Round Robin I participated in, and I now dub these my new favorite traditional blueberry muffin! Hands down baby! It's got it all, moist tender center packed with blueberries, and a delicious crumble for some added sweetness on top!

Don't they just look delicious??


Blueberry Muffins
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup splenda granulated (or 1/4 cup white sugar)
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
dash salt
1/2 cup apple sauce (I use unsweetened)
2, 6 oz containers fat free or low fat lemon yogurt (so 12 oz total) I used stonyfield farms low fat lemon this time SO GOOD
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
zest of 1 lemon
1.5 - 2 cups blueberries, rinsed and patted dry

topping
1 tbsp slivered almonds
2 tbsp firmly packed brown sugar
1 tablespoons whole wheat flour
3/4 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/4 cup uncooked regular oats

Pulse almonds 2 or 3 times in a blender or food processor until chopped. Add brown sugar and 1 tablespoon flour; process 5 seconds. Add butter; pulse 5 or 6 times or until mixture is crumbly. Stir in oats; set aside.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and spray 12 muffin cups with pam.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In another bowl blend apple sauce, yogurt, egg and vanilla thoroughly. Stir the wet mixture into the flour mixture just until combined. The batter will be very thick.

Add the blueberries and stir gently. Divide the batter between the 12 cups (they will be very full cups) sprinkle with topping, and bake for 6 minutes at 425, reduce heat to 350 and continue cooking for 12-14 minutes, or until tester inserted into center comes out mostly clean. Cool completely on wire rack.

Nutritional Facts: via Caloriecount
Calories 119
Calories from Fat 19
Total Fat 2.1g
Saturated Fat 0.9g
Cholesterol 21mg
Sodium 57mg
Total Carbohydrates 21.2g
Dietary Fiber 1.2g
Sugars 6.2g
Protein 4.0g

...that tastes good :) No seriously it does! This isn't the sticky sweet kind, so if that's your poison of choice... you may not like this version. Oh and it's not made in a cast iron pan... so if you're from the south... please don't hurt me :) I'm just a silly northerner making low fat corn bread... so don't be hating on me :D


OK so now you are thinking... eww this is going to be nasty dry cornbread... NOPE! It's moist due to two reasons that help this thing be almost fat free... let's talk about ways to make things fat free... sub out the butter with healthier better for you things like: pureed fruit, pureed veggies, fat free yogurt... ok let's talk about that last one there. Stonyfield Farms contacted me and sent me some great coupons so I could try out and experiment with their wide range of products. They also sent a super cute spatula! Perfect for getting every last drop of yogurt out of the containers. LOVE IT!

I started out with their Greek yogurt (YUM). I've always just eaten my Greek yogurt with a little added honey and never cooked with it, so this was something new. I'm in the works of a tasty lemon poppy seed muffin using it as a base... it's not perfect yet though... so I'll have to share it with you a little down the road :)

Next I used some low fat lemon yogurt to make some AMAZING lemon blueberry muffins... but I think I've muffin overloaded you... so maybe I'll write about them later this week??

So back to that almost fat free corn bread! I used the fat free french vanilla yogurt to sub out the butter in this recipe. I also used pumpkin puree (don't worry you don't taste it... just adds the moisture and awesome texture). I also used whole wheat flour to make this thing even healthier! So why isn't this bad boy fat free? Well I used an egg... so that yolk is the tiny bit of fat in this guy. Even without the fat this thing has a really nice crumb and texture to it. I may have eaten 1/4 of the pan when I made this the other night.


Almost Fat free corn bread
adapted from from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites
wet
2 Tbs brown sugar (packed)
1 egg plus 1 egg white
3/4 cup stonyfield french vanilla fat free yogurt
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (you don't taste it... just adds awesome moist texture)

dry
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup corn meal
1 Tbs baking powder

Heat oven to 350 and lightly spray an 8" stoneware baking pan with cooking spray or olive oil
Beat together wet ingredients and set aside.
Whisk together dry.
Add dry to wet and stir until just barley incorporated (don't over mix/beat).
Pour into pan and bake for 20-25 minutes.

CHOW!

I know this week has already been full of muffins and cinnamon rolls... but I have to tell you about some more muffins!!! Because they kick some serious butt. No really! These things are going to hop out of the pan and beat up all the annoying people in your life. :)

I had a growing pile of brown bananas (sorry Clara I know you aren't a banana fan)... and I asked John how he'd like his banana's baked... chocolate banana cake? roasted banana muffins perhaps?? His response, "what about some kind of banana oat muffin, with lots of oats?" Now my roasted banana muffins have some oats in them, but not a ton... so off I went mixing and a mashing until I had these:


How seriously tasty does that look?? Damn tasty if you ask me! And baby they are GOOD! So tender! I'm totally making more this weekend, they are a great portable snack, and as always super healthy :) The milled flax seeds really seemed to help with the puffing/binding factor (I recently learned you can use milled flax mixed with water to replace eggs! You can learn about it here)... not that these don't have an egg in them... but still! Here's the recipe!


Banana Oat Muffins
recipe by stephchows
makes 12 muffins

dry
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oat bran
1 cup rolled oats (not quick cooking)
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 Tbs milled flax seeds
1 tsp cinnamon

wet
3 very ripe bananas (about 1.5 cups)
1/4 cup splenda granulated (or 1/4 cup white sugar)
1 egg lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla

to add at the end
1/2 cup skim milk

Whisk together dry ingredients in a medium bowl
Beat together wet ingredients in a large bowl.
Slowly add dry to wet, alternating in the 1/2 cup of skim milk.
Scoop into 12 muffin tins, bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

CHOW!!!!

Easter is on its way in two weekends. Easter makes me think of bunnies, which make me think of carrots... and carrot cake... it's one of those cakes that seems like it's going to be healthy... I mean it has vegetables in it right?? Oh and a STICK of butter? Really a whole stick? Is that really necessary??

No no it's not.

It's Cookie Carnival time again, and yes I'm a day late... the roundup happened yesterday... booo. Seriously when did April show up?? Oh right... yesterday. Well this is my contribution, better late than never! Because seriously if you like carrot cake... you need to make these. Totally guilt free, and they taste like heaven... no exaggeration! My roomie (who is a fan of her baked goods) ate one and said this was the best yet of all my alteration creations! NO WAY?? BEST EVER?? Yes it's true! These are super moist, delicious, spiked with raisins... and the cream cheese filling... marvalous my dear!

I mean look at this bad boy?


Yup not a drop of butter or oil... and d@mn tasty! So if you can have a cookie that TASTES just as good as the bad... minus the stick of butter (800 calories, 92 grams of fat) replace it with a little carrot baby food and a little unsweetened apple sauce (I KID YOU NOT!) wouldn't you rather have the healthy one? BAM you have a tasty tasty guilt free treat.

I must admit while I was spooning the carrot baby food out of its little container, I had my doubts... I was thinking, man this smells nasty... well the birds get a treat if these suck... Guess what little birdies! You aint getting any of these! Cause I'm going to eat them all! :)

I made mine with fresh homegrown carrots from the public market here. I think it totally added to the flavor of these. Now for the recipe, print it out and go make some! You wont be sorry :)


Inside out carrot cake
adapted by stephchows, original from Gourmet | April 2004

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (3.5 oz) container of Gerber baby food, pureed carrots
1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 Tbs splenda baking blend plus 2 Tbs splenda granulated (or you can use 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar)
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup coarsely grated carrots (2 medium)
1/2 cup raisins (2 1/2 ounces)
8 ounces 1/3 less fat cream cheese
1/4 cup honey (good local stuff tastes the best!)

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 375°F. Butter 2 baking sheets. (I used silicon baking mats)

Whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.

Beat together carrot puree, apple sauce, sugars, egg, and vanilla in a bowl until combined. Mix in carrots, and raisins, then add flour mixture and mix until just combined.

Drop 1 1/2 tablespoons batter per cookie 2 inches apart on baking sheets and bake,
switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are lightly browned and
springy to the touch, 12 to 16 minutes total.

Cool cookies on sheets on racks 1 minute, then transfer cookies to racks to cool completely.

While cookies are baking, blend cream cheese and honey in a food processor until smooth.

Sandwich flat sides of cookies together with a generous tablespoon of cream cheese filling in between.


Chow!


Oh and check this out....
my nutritional stats for one sandwich cookie vrs making them by the original recipe...

I made these banana cookies this weekend and it was love at first bite. I'm already planning on making them again one night this week and shaping them into bars! SO FREAKIN GOOD! As per my usual, there is no oil or butter. These things are all about healthy, so moist, decadent, can't stop eating, I really wish I had some with me right now... ok you get the point! I can't believe how sweet these actually tasted considering the only sweet added is the bananas and the coconut, no added sugar here. Bring on the all natural baby!!

Did I mention there are flax seeds in these too? I'm currently having a love affair with flax seeds, I know it doesn't sound glamorous, but they are just so nutty and happy :) Neva can you eat flax seeds or are those an allergy too? Although I just realized these have both almonds and coconut in them :( I really am a bad friend constantly tormenting you with nuts galore! Sorry my dear :(

Go buy bananas now and stick them in a brown bag so they are super brown and happy by the weekend so you can make these!


Banana Oat Cookies or Bars
These are adapted from 101 cookbooks Nikki's cookies.

3 large, ripe bananas (the browner the better!), well mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
2 cups rolled oats
1/3 cup almond meal (almond slices + food processor for a few pulses)
1/3 cup flax seeds
1/3 cup coconut, finely shredded & sweetened
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/3 cup dried cherries or other dried fruit of your choice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, racks in the top third.

In a large bowl combine the bananas, vanilla extract, and apple sauce. Set aside. In another bowl whisk together the oats, almond meal, flax seeds, shredded coconut, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks and dried fruit. Drop Tablespoon-fulls, onto a Silpat lined baking sheet. Bake for 12 - 14 minutes.

Makes about 2.5 dozen bite-sized cookies. I'll let you know how many bars once I make these again.

you know you want to chow me ... go buy some bananas!

UPDATE: So I made these in bar form last night! I put them into a 9" stoneware pan and cooked them for about 30 minutes. I cut them into 12 bars and brought them to the office. The results: "delicious" "these are sooo goood" "mmmmm" I like those kind of reactions! Sounds good to me!

A few weeks ago I made some fudgy roasted banana cake with walnuts... And it was seriously tasty, gone in one day kind of tasty. I made the recipe again except this time I made them into muffins. :) I feel like when I make stuff like this in a pan... I tend to chow more of it. If it's in pre-portioned pieces (muffins) I feel bad going back for seconds and thirds. With a cake it's easy to just say... oh just a little inch wide piece... and another inch wide piece... (come on now I know you've done it!) Then next thing you know half the cake is gone and for some reason your belly seems to be a little larger... ;) So this is the version for the portion control lovers out there.


Fudgy roasted banana cake with walnuts and chocolate chips
created by stephchows

4 roasted bananas (see below for how to)
1/4 cup splenda blend for baking (or 1/2 cup white sugar)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup Hershey's Cocoa
2 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
dash salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chocolate chips (i used semi-sweet chips)
1/2 cup walnuts (optional for those of you with nut alergies... yes Neva that's you :) )

ROAST whole bananas (yellow with a few black spots, they don't have to be totally overripe) by placing on a cookie sheet, roast in 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes (until they are black), cool until you are able to handle them without burning yourself.

WHISK flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl.

PEEL bananas and place into a large bowl along with any liquid that pours out with them, stir in sugar, beat in egg.

ADD dry ingredients a little at a time to wet.

POUR into greased muffin pan (makes 12) and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

It was John's birthday on Saturday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!! So this past weekend was full of baking :) Since I already gave him his presents (Disturbed concert the previous weekend *insert head banging here*, and part of a wide screen TV (the other part was for Christmas lol)) I wanted to give him SOMETHING on his birthday...so I told him I'd bake him as much and whatever he wanted. We started thinking up what to bake friday night. Here's our list

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Poose Cookies (which I updated by taking 1/2 cup flour out and subbing in 1/2 cup chocolate protein powder... they were DELICIOUS!)
Pumpkin Muffins
Roasted Banana Muffins (but something a little different then the usual)
Skinny Boston Cream Pie (postponed till next weekend)

Can you tell I love to bake?? We also made a ton of good chow, went out to Sinbads for dinner on his birthday (which we totally realized was also the 3 year anniversary of the first time we went out for lunch together haha. Just friends at that point, a big group of us from the gym went to celebrate his birthday, who would have ever guessed we'd be where we are now! EEEEE! :D ). And of course we had to take a trip to Leaf and Bean for a mint mocha latte light for John and a chocolate raspberry coffee for me, yum!

We really are such party animals, I'm an old lady at the ripe age of 27 lol. So here's the new interpretation of my Roasted Banana Muffins! I deleted a few things, added some cocoa, some walnuts, and baked it in a ceramic pie plate.


Fudgy roasted banana cake with walnuts and chocolate chips
created by stephchows

4 roasted bananas (see below for how to)
1/4 cup splenda blend for baking (or 1/2 cup white sugar)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup Hershey's Cocoa
2 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
dash salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chocolate chips (i used semi-sweet chips)
1/2 cup walnuts (optional for those of you with nut alergies... yes Neva that's you :) )

ROAST whole bananas (yellow with a few black spots, they don't have to be totally overripe) by placing on a cookie sheet, roast in 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes (until they are black), cool until you are able to handle them without burning yourself.

WHISK flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl.

PEEL bananas and place into a large bowl along with any liquid that pours out with them, stir in sugar, beat in egg.

ADD dry ingredients a little at a time to wet.

POUR into greased ceramic pie plate and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.


CHOW!!!! And hide this cake... it's possible it was totally demolished over the course of one day. Good thing we work out a lot :D haha!

I like to think I'm tall.

I'm 5'4" actually probably 5' 3 3/4" but lets just round up shall we? My hair is up today anyway!

Now to some, like 99% of the women in my family, that's totally tall. To the rest of the world... that's pretty short. Just the other day my coworker was standing next to me (me in my oh so comfy flats, her in crazy tall stilettos) oh and did I mention she's like 5' 10" to boot? anyway I get sidetracked... she looks over (I mean down) at me and is like MAN you're short today HAHAHAHAHA. There are good points to being short though!! Whenever I go for a hike with my friend Matt (who is like 6'3" or something crazy like that) I always have a safe travel down the trail... while he is constantly running into low hanging branches, HA take that tall Matthew! :D

What does this have to do with chow you ask? Why because we are making strawberry SHORTcakes??? get it???

*crickets chirping*

Ok fine fine, I thougth it was funny...

Well then, here's the recipe. My roomie made these the other night and they were super tasty! Thanks Steph!! (yes for those of you who didn't know my house mate's name is also steph...)


Classic Strawberry Shortcakes
recipe slightly adapted from Betty Crocker

2 1/3 cups Original Bisquick mix
.5 cup milk
1.5 tablespoons splenda blend (or use 3 Tbs sugar)
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
Sweetened sliced strawberries
Vanilla ice cream

1. Heat oven to 425°F.
2. Stir Bisquick mix, milk, sugar and butter until soft dough forms. Drop by 6 spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Split warm shortcakes; fill and top with strawberries and whipped topping. (Sweeten strawberries before making shortcakes so sugar has time to dissolve; for each quart of sliced strawberries, stir in 1/2 cup sugar.)
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Heat oven to 450°F. Decrease sugar to 1 tablespoon.

Another Ellie, The Food You Crave! Page 282. Don't they just look delicious? If you are looking for a super sticky sweet dessert though... this isn't for you. It's described as the chocolate cupcake from your childhood all grown up. The frosting is really not sweet at all, it has a nice intense espresso flavor, almost a bit bitter, so if you like coffee, you'll like these... if you want total sweet... I'd skip the frosting for sure. The cupcake was ok... but nothing amazing, unfortunately, ... but they sure do look pretty :)

In all truth, I think this is my new favorite dessert... I have a hard time picking favorites... but this one... it has won the title! Sweet, creamy, not too heavy, a little chocolate, almond paste and amaretto... *drooool* oh yeah baby.

The original recipe came from The Gourmet Chocolate Club. It's a very very HEAVY hitter, obviously I lightened it up a bunch, still not healthy by any means haha but I think the full on version would have been too rich for me. This version makes me happy to think about... seriously just thinking about it makes me happy... is there something wrong with me?? :D Plus no one had a clue it was a lightened up version... again not to say it's by any means healthy... just healthier then the original.


Amaretto-amaretti chocolate cheesecake
Lightened up by me, original from The Gourmet Chocolate Club

The Crust
1/2 of the batch of Amaretti (or 7oz store bought)
1 oz of unsweetened chocolate (1 square.)
3 Tbsps. butter


The Filling
6 oz of semisweet chocolate
1/2 of the batch of Amaretti (or 7oz store bought)
4 oz of almond paste
1/3 cup of Amaretto liqueur
1 1/2 lb of 1/3 less fat cream cheese at room temperature (next time I'll try subbing 1/2 lb of fat free cream cheese in there)
2 Tbs Splenda (or 1/4 cup of granulated sugar)
3 eggs (large) (next time I'm going to use egg white only and whip them up a bit first)
1/2 cup of heavy/thick cream (maybe try 1/2 and 1/2 next time)

Crust: Butter only the sides of a 9-inch spring-form pan (2.5 to 3 inches deep). Then grind the Amaretti very fine, in a food processor or blender. Then melt chocolate & butter in the top of a double boiler, stir occasionally (I used a pyrex bowl in the microwave). Then add the melted mixture to the Amaretti crumbs & mix thoroughly. (Do not wash the double boiler; you'll be using it again in a min.) Turn the mixture into the prepared pan. With your fingers, distribute it evenly on the bottom and press down into a very firm/compact layer. Refrigerate while you prepare the filling.

Filling: Adjust the rack 1/3 up from the bottom of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. F.

Partially melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler (microwave for me), then uncover and stir it, until completely melted. Remove the top of the double boiler & set aside to cool. Break the Amaretti coarsely into bowl and set aside. Cut almond paste into small pieces, and beat on low speed with an electric mixer, gradually adding the Amaretto liqueur. Beat until it is thoroughly mixed, and set aside.
Beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer until it is very smooth. Then add the sugar and once again beat until smooth.
Add the almond paste_Amaretto mixture & beat until thoroughly mixed. Add the melted chocolate and beat well again.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating at low speed until they are incorporated after each addition. Add the heavy cream and beat until smooth.
Then add the coarsely broken Amaretti & stir gently only to mix. Turn it into the prepared pan, now pouring the mixture over the bottom crust. Then proceed to rotate pan gently to level the batter. [Do not worry if the mixture comes close to the top; it will not go over.] Bake for 45 min. It will seem soft and not done, but don't bake any more; it will become firm when chilled. The top of the cake is supposed to look bumpy because of the large chunks of Amaretti. Cool completely at room temp., then carefully remove the sides of the pan and refrigerate the cake [still on the bottom of the pan] for 4 to 6 hours, or overnight.

I made this at John's with an old school hand mixer that was not happy when I tried to use it on the almond paste haha... So be prepared for some elbow greece if you don't have a stand mixer, it would take much less time with a kitchenaid.

I seriously already want to make this again, I need an excuse to make it again??? Hmmm it's Thursday... maybe I should make cheesecake!

Yes I know I've posted about these before... but they are just SO good!! And I keep playing with the recipe so... I had to post again! Plus now you can make a vegan version! AND instead of using flour to cover your working surface I used powdered sugar and eliminated the sugar from the dough! I know fun idea right? It gives them a sweeter taste and makes it so you don't have to add more flour to the dough.


Vegan Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Servings: 8

These cinnamon rolls are an adaptation/abstraction based on a recipe from the cook book Quick Recipes which was put together by the people at Cook's Illustrated.

Filling / topping
1/4 c packed splenda blend brown sugar (or 1/2 c packed dark brown sugar)
2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 c pumpkin puree

Dough
2-1/2 c whole wheat flour
1-1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 c lactaid (fat free) (you can use regular fat free milk if you don't care if these are vegan, it works) (so just realized lactaid isn't vegan... I'll have to try again with soymilk! sorry about that!)
2 T melted smart balance ( 2 Tbs butter also works )
powdered sugar for work surface

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

Spray a 9-inch round non stick cake pan (or in my case a square one)

Make filling
Combine sugar, spices and salt. Add pumpkin puree and stir until combined, set aside

Make dough
Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. whisk lactaid and 2 Tbs melted smart balance in a measuring cup or small bowl. Add liquid to dry ingredients and stir until liquid is absorbed (dough will look very shaggy). Transfer dough to lightly floured (with powdered sugar!) work surface and knead until just smooth and no longer shaggy.

Pat dough with hands into 12 x 9- inch rectangle. Sprinkle evenly with filling, leaving 1/2 inch boarder of plain dough around edges. Press filling firmly into dough.

Using bench scraper (i used a plastic spackle spatula that we bought at home depot and never used... I claimed it for the kitchen... John wasn't too pleased hahahaha), loosen dough from work surface. Starting at a long side, roll dough, pressing lightly, to form a tight log. Pinch seam to seal.

Roll log seam side down and cut evenly into eight pieces. With hand, slightly flatten each piece of dough to seal open edges and keep filling in place.


Place one roll in center of pan, then place remaining seven rolls around perimeter of pan. They should touch, but not be crammed. Using the remainder of the filling, spread to cover the top of the rolls.

Bake until edges are golden brown, 23 to 25 minutes. Loosen with a spatula. without separating, slide buns out of pan onto greased cooling rack. Cool about 5 minutes before chowing, otherwise you'll burn yourself... i would know :)

chow!