Healthy PB Chocolate Muffins

Lately these have been my go-to breakfast: I bake a bunch at once, freeze most of them, and every morning I pull out two and microwave them for thirty seconds. That, plus whatever fruit I have in the house, makes a really satisfying and filling breakfast that keeps me full until lunchtime - which is saying something where my metabolism is concerned! I actually put this recipe through a nutrition calculator and was excited to see that each muffin has 8 grams of protein. (That's more than an egg!) I'll include the full nutrition info at the bottom.

2 eggs
1/4 c canola oil
1/2 c honey
1/2 c kefir (or buttermilk, 1/2 milk and 1/2 yogurt, or milk soured with a little lemon juice)
1/2 c PB
1.5 c whole wheat flour
3/4 c oats
1 T baking powder
3/4 t salt
1/3 c cocoa

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a full-sized muffin tin. Add eggs, oil, honey, kefir, and peanut butter to a medium-sized bowl and mix thoroughly. Carefully scoop flour and oats onto the top of the wet ingredients without stirring them in. Add baking powder, salt, and cocoa, and use a fork or a whisk to sift them into the flour mixture before stirring the dry ingredients through the wet. Fill muffin cups and bake for 18 minutes. 

Healthy No-Bake Cookie Bites

Okay, okay... these definitely won't win any awards for looks.
But they are SO, SO YUMMY!

Prep time: Easy

Source: Adapted from GimmeSomeOven.com

I pinned this recipe on Pinterest a long time ago and decided that it would be a perfect little post-baby snack to add to my freezer collection. I made some modifications based on what I had on hand, and what I thought would taste good. You might even call these my version of "lactation cookies," since oats, flax seed, and coconut oil are all supposed to help a new mom's milk come in... but in all honesty, I just think they taste good! ;) These work really well both as a snack (since they're a decent source of both protein and fiber) and a pretty guilt-free treat. They remind me a lot of no-bake cookies, although less gooey and with a more complex flavor. The variations on this recipe are endless, so don't hesitate to make substitutions of your own! If my baby ends up (HEAVEN FORBID) being sensitive to chocolate, I think I'll end up making these again and skipping the cocoa powder. As much as I adore them the way they are, I suspect they'd be pretty good as peanut-butter-bites too!

1 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup crisp rice cereal

1/2 cup ground flaxseed or whole-wheat flour (I used 1/4 cup each)

1 T cocoa powder

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

2 T coconut oil

1/4 cup honey

Combine oats, cereal, flaxseed/flour, and cocoa in a medium mixing bowl. In a smaller bowl, melt coconut oil in the microwave and then stir in peanut butter and honey. Add this to the dry mixture and mix with a spoon until everything is integrated and just moist enough to hold together fairly well (this takes some patience). Refrigerate for about half an hour to firm up the mix, and then use your hands to press into small balls. Store, covered, in the fridge.

(To freeze mine, I laid all of my cookie bites out on a cookie sheet and flash-froze them, then transferred them to a plastic freezer bag. When I'm ready to eat them, I'll probably either pull a few at a time out and let them thaw for half an hour or an hour, or else I'll take the whole bag out and store them in the fridge instead.) Post update: Actually, it turns out these are fantastic straight out of the freezer. And, um, I'm just sayin'... they may not make it to be postpartum snacks, after all! Maybe we can consider this batch "end-of-pregnancy sanity savers"???

Berry Chocolate Coffee Cake

Prep time: Medium

Source: Mostly from my own head; the cake base is adapted from a few other recipes

Yesterday morning I decided that we needed a Valentine's-appropriate dessert to follow our dinner of heart-shaped pupusas. Because I've really been in the mood for a rich, delicious coffee cake this week, that's what came into my mind! What could be more perfect for Valentine's than a coffee cake laced with just-barely-sweetened berries and studded with dark chocolate? After tasting our creation last night, Mahon and I decided: Pretty much nothing! This is definitely a recipe we'll be keeping and making again.

For Berry Ribbon:

1 cup frozen mixed berries

1/2 T honey

For Cake:

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 cups flour

1 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

3/4 t salt

1 cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

For Streusel Topping:

1/4 cup butter (cold and sliced, or room temperature)

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

2 t cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour an 8" or 9" pan (I used a round springform pan). In small saucepan on stove, heat berries and honey together and simmer for a few minutes, or until they have made a syrup. If desired, roughly blend berry syrup using an immersion blender or regular blender (our mix had large whole strawberries, so this kept the chunks to a manageable size!). Set syrup aside.

To prepare the streusel topping, combine all ingredients in small bowl and cut together with a fork or pastry blender until crumbly. Set aside.

In small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer with beater attachment, cream butter and sugar together until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add the flour mixture alternately with the yogurt/sour cream and blend batter until smooth. Fold in chocolate chips.

Fold half of the cake batter into your prepared pan. Pour berry syrup evenly over batter. Add remaining batter on top of syrup; using a rubber spatula, swirl the batter and syrup together to create a berry ribbon. Top with streusel topping and bake 45-55 minutes, or until edges are beginning to brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool at least a few minutes before eating—the cake is much easier to cut when it's completely cooled, but if you're like us, you won't be able to wait that long!

Raw Peanut Butter Fudge (Gluten- and Sugar-Free!)

Prep time: Very easy

Source: From this pin, adapted from this recipe

A few years ago, I started wondering how one made chocolate. I figured that if I could figure out how to make my own chocolate without much sugar, I'd be saving money AND eating healthy, right? I read online that you can "make" chocolate by mixing cocoa powder with sweetener and an oil. (I put "make" in parantheses because really, making chocolate is an intense process that involves straight cocoa beans and all sorts of complicated steps like "conching.") I tried it and let's just say, it was a fairly nasty failure.

This year, however, I've seen lots of recipes for raw fudge popping up around the internet. They are all pretty similar—cocoa powder, plus coconut oil, plus a sweetener, plus another ingredient to add flavor and richness. I tried one last summer with raspberries in it that was delicious, but the combination of cocoa powder and raspberries gave me some of the worst canker sores I've ever had! Since then, I hadn't attempted another raw fudge/"homemade chocolate" recipe. A few weeks ago, however, I pinned this "Primal Fudge" recipe that used peanut butter, and yesterday, while in the mood for a sweet-but-not-terribly-unhealthy treat, I made it. Let's just say... it's really, really hard to stop myself from eating the whole pan! The fudge is rich, creamy, and incredibly decadent. If you like your chocolate a little sweeter, consider increasing the honey and decreasing the cocoa a bit. And now that you know the basic recipe for raw fudge, the sky is the limit! Try swapping the peanut butter out for other things, like fruit.

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/4 cup honey

1 tsp vanilla

In a medium-sized bowl (I used a large soup bowl), melt the coconut oil. Using a whisk for smoothness, mix in the peanut butter, honey, and vanilla until all the lumps are gone. Add cocoa powder and whisk thoroughly until mixture is thick and smooth. Pour the mixture either into muffin cups (as the original recipe suggests), or into a small lined pan (I used a large loaf pan lined with plastic wrap). Chill in fridge for about an hour before cutting. Store in fridge, as the fudge is very soft and will get pretty melty at room temperature. Enjoy—and try not to eat the whole pan!

Honey Hot Chocolate

As with the past few years, I gave up sugar for Lent again this year. {Although going to the hospital sort of killed it for 2 weeks.} I tried something this time that I hadn't tried before—hot chocolate made with honey. I guess I'd always assumed it would have too much of a "honey" flavor... but boy, was I wrong! This stuff. Is. Amazing. In all honesty, I like it better than regular hot chocolate. One day while at the hospital I sat sipping a Starbucks hot chocolate from the lobby and all I could think was, "Hmm, this is good... but not as good as that honey hot chocolate I've been making!"

Because everyone has their own individual tastes, this is a very loose recipe. Feel free to change up the ratios of honey and cocoa to make a sweeter or more bitter hot cocoa. The exact recipe I'm providing tends to make a rich, very dark cocoa; you might want to add in a little more honey to taste if you like yours sweeter. You can also do water instead of milk, but I'll just warn you... it's nowhere near as good!

For one serving 

(you can double this recipe as many times as you like to get a bigger batch):

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon cocoa powder*

1 tablespoon honey*

1/4 tsp vanilla
Other additives as desired

*A note on proportions: The cocoa and honey are really "to taste." I like mine very dark and rich, so I usually use more like 1.5 teaspoons honey and a heaping tablespoon of cocoa. Mahon likes his sweet, so I do a scant tablespoon of cocoa and a tablespoon of honey.

Stovetop: Combine milk, honey, and cocoa in a small saucepan and warm over medium heat. (It's best to mix them with a whisk to make sure the cocoa doesn't clump.) If using raw honey, you'll want to add that to the milk first and let it melt before adding the cocoa. Once the desired temperature is reached, remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Don't boil the milk.

Microwave: In a microwave-safe mug (for one serving) or glass bowl or glass measure (for larger amounts), heat milk and honey together until desired temperature is reached (usually 1-2 minutes). I find it helpful to loosely cover my mug; it sort of "steams" the milk and prevents it from developing a skin. Remove from microwave (if you're using raw honey, make sure the honey is melted and integrated into the milk) and stir in cocoa and vanilla. Because the cocoa tends to clump, I find it is easiest to use a small whisk to combine everything.

You can also add anything else you would like—cinnamon is good (just make sure you add it at the same time as the cocoa so that it doesn't clump in the milk), as is a teaspoon of extra virgin coconut oil (and it's really healthy too!). The sky is the limit!

Oh, and if you're feeling particularly indulgent, add a little drizzle of heavy cream into your cup to cool it down! You will not regret it!

Zebra Brownies

{Picture coming soon}

Rating: 5 stars

Prep time: Medium (Still easy, but a little more involved than a box of brownie mix)

Cream cheese "zebra" brownies have always been my very favorite kind of brownie. I have been wanting to make some for weeks, and having company for dinner tonight gave me the excuse I needed! I adapted this recipe from a few different recipes, and it turned out perfectly. I may never be able to go back to brownies out of a box again!

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 stick butter plus 2 tablespoons

1 cup cocoa

1 cup sugar

1/2 t. salt

1 1/2 t. vanilla

4 eggs

2 c. white flour

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. In medium bowl, beat cream cheese with electric beater until soft. Add vanilla, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1 egg and cream together until smooth. Set aside. In medium saucepan on stove, melt butter. Mix in cocoa and stir until combined. Remove from heat and add sugar, salt, vanilla, eggs, flour, and chocolate chips. Stir until combined. Pour into a greased 9x13" pan. Drop spoonfuls of cream cheese mixture over the top of brownie batter and use a knife to swirl the two together. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center is no longer gooey. Enjoy... and try not to eat too many!

Homemade Granola Bars

(Our granola bars all wrapped up and ready in what has become the official granola bar basket!)

Rating: 5 stars

Prep time: Easy

Source: My friend Stacy

I've been wanting to do homemade granola bars for months, but just couldn't find a recipe I liked the look of. The one that came most highly recommended used an ENTIRE CAN OF SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK to hold it all together. Now, I like sweetened condensed milk as much as the next person (almost as much as Winnie the Pooh), but let me tell you something about the sticky stuff. It has 22 grams of sugar...per tablespoon. So, for obvious reasons, I opted against that recipe. When I found this granola bar recipe on my friend's blog, I was so excited. I made it for the first time last week, and we're already on our second batch! These make great take-along snacks for class/work/gym/errand-running/whatever. They're also delicious for breakfast. And unlike the sweetened condensed milk recipe, these granola bars only have roughly 10 grams of sugar per bar (if you cut them into 15 squares like I do).

1/4 cup sugar (I prefer brown)

1/4 cup maple syrup (I'd also like to try molasses, since I don't have real maple syrup and my fake stuff isn't very healthy!)

1/4 cup honey

2 T peanut butter

1 egg

1 T milk

1 t vanilla

1 cup wheat flour

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t cinnamon

1/4 t allspice (I use nutmeg because I have no allspice; it gives my bars a nice autumnal flavor!)

2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 1/2 cups rice krispie cereal

1/3 cup chocolate chips (I like to chop mine up a bit so that the chocolate is more evenly distributed.... you could also use mini chocolate chips) - The chocolate is technically optional, but what's a granola bar without a little chocolate?

Anything else you want—dried fruit, nuts, seeds, etc. I typically use a mix of sunflower, pumpkin, and flax seeds.

Preheat oven to 350. In large bowl, combine first seven ingredients and mix well. In smaller bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and allspice/nutmeg. If you're lazy like me and don't want to use two bowls, here's my cheat: I pour the flour on top of the wet mix in one corner, and then add the soda and spices on top of the flour. I gently mix all the dry things in without incorporating the wet mix, so that the soda and spices are mostly blended through the flour. Then I integrate it all together. Pour dry mix into wet mix and stir to combine. Add oats, cereal, chocolate, and extras. Mix well. Press into greased 9x13 pan and, using a sharp knife, cut into 15 squares. Cook for 18-20 minutes (in my oven it's exactly 18). If your oven is cheap like mine and cooks unevenly, you might want to turn the pan halfway through cooking so that the bars are evenly cooked and not overdone on one side. Granola bars will look light brown and toasted when they're ready. They'll still be very soft while they're hot, so don't take that as a sign that they need more cooking! Let cool completely in pan. Once bars are cool, re-cut along the lines you put in at the beginning and wrap individual bars in plastic wrap. Enjoy! Try not to eat them too quickly....

World's Best Hot Chocolate

Rating: 5 stars
Prep time: Medium (as far as hot chocolate goes)

Trust me, after a few batches of this, you won't be able to go back to Swiss Miss!

2/3 cup sugar*

1/3 cup Hershey's unsweetened cocoa

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup water

5 1/2 cup milk

1 (12 ounce) can of evaporated milk or 1 1/2 cups cream

1 Tablespoon vanilla

In a saucepan, combine sugar, cocoa, and salt; add water. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture boils. Boil and stir 2 minutes. Stir in milk and evaporated milk (or cream) and heat. Do not boil. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Makes 8 cups.

*The original recipe calls for a full cup of sugar, but I have never actually made it with that much. It is VERY overly sweet to me. I use 2/3 cups, which (oddly enough) doesn't make the cocoa taste darker, just brings out the chocolate flavor a little more and makes it healthier.