Phenomenal Coconut Brownies

I don't use that word lightly - these brownies are indeed phenomenal. 

If anyone still reads this, they may have noticed that I don't blog quite so often as I had hoped and planned. Alas, they don't pay me to do this so I have to work 8+ hours a day elsewhere. However, I am happy that it has been 8 months and I am still blogging away, whenever I get the chance.

These brownies came out so amazingly perfect that I couldn't not blog about them. 
I found the original recipe on Pinterest, which brought me to this lovely blog: http://simonesmith.hubpages.com/hub/Simple-Homemade-Brownie-Recipe. Her recipe is coconut-free, so if you're into that sort of thing, by all means, use her recipe instead. 
I, on the other hand, am definitely pro coconut. In almost anything really, but especially in desserts with chocolate. 

Here is my adapted recipe: 
Ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup of organic coconut oil
• 1 cup of organic sugar
• 2 large organic eggs 
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of cocoa powder 
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour 
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• Coconut flakes (optional topping)

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Oil brownie pan and dust with cocoa powder. 

2) Mix together the coconut oil (melted)*, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Then add the cocoa powder, flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder.

3) Pour batter into a brownie pan (about 8x8). Top with coconut flakes, if desired. (I did half and half just in case the BF didn't like the idea). Bake for 25 minutes. VOILA! Brownies :) 

*(Mine is always melted because we live in Florida.....)

I didn't pre-plan and take many photos, but here's one of the finished product! Hope you like them as much as we did! 

Quick and Easy Veggie Sammie and Gluten-free Brownies

Hi Everyone! Just a quick post today for a "recipe" I made for lunch over the weekend. This veggie sammie is super simple, so I wasn't going to blog about it originally, but so many people mentioned how it inspired them to eat something a little healthier this past weekend, so I thought I should post it on here!

I use the term "recipe" loosely because hello, this is sandwich, not rocket science, you can literally put whatever you want on it.

This is what I choose:

-homemade hummus
-organic tomatoes
-organic cucumbers
-organic spinach
-organic arugula 

I layered all those yummy (and consequently, vegan) goodies onto whole wheat bread. I may have eaten some goldfish crackers with it... nobody's perfect.

Here's the proof:

I also made some gluten-free brownies this weekend for some co-workers (and myself...). The recipe uses black beans instead of flour and can be found here. They are SO good and no, they taste nothing like black beans. Give them a try if you don't believe me (they are also very easy to make), and before you tell you boyfriend/husband/neighbor/bff/whoever what's in them, let them taste for themselves.



Here's how mine came out:

Chocolatey Goodness

Please leave a comment and thank you for stopping by! :)

Carrot Cake Cookies!

We're going to visit "the in-laws" (aka my boyfriend's mom and step-dad) this weekend for Easter, and I wanted to bake them something Easter-y, so of course I made carrot cake cookies! :)

I guess carrots and Easter don't technically go together, but it was one of those "honey rhymes with bunny and bunny rhymes with....rabbit?" moments; (The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh).
You get where I'm going with this....I hope.

ANYWAY! I saw this recipe on a blog called Yummy, Healthy, Easy for Carrot Oatmeal Cookies, and tweaked it a little to make own version! I'm sure the original is just as tasty, I just substituted some of the ingredients for what I had available, and switched out half the fat for applesauce to make them a little healthier.

Here is my recipe:

Ingredients: 

2 ½ cups white whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. ground nutmeg
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup quick oats (not instant)
¾ cup brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter (softened)
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups grated organic carrots (4-5 carrots)
¾ cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Use a food processor (or grater) to grate the carrots. (I used a food processor). 
Combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, oats, nutmeg and cinnamon). 
In a separate bowl, beat the sugars and wet ingredients (butter, applesauce, eggs and vanilla).
Mix in the carrots and walnuts. 
Scoop spoonfuls onto a lightly greased pan (I sprayed mine with the Misto). 
Bake for 13-14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack. 
ENJOY!

I LOVED these just the way they were (as did the BF) but my mom and brother said they could use some frosting.......(oy...) so feel free to dip yours in a quick frosting or eat them with ice cream!

Please leave a comment if you try this recipe! They're practically healthy so I think you should! :)

Mmm :)

Glazed Baked Doughnuts

I was originally going to make Irish Soda Bread this weekend to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, but then I just really (really) wanted a (lot of) doughnut(s).

And if I dye the doughnut icing green, that makes them Irish, right? (Note: the food coloring did not work out so great on these....they do not look green at all, so go ahead and ignore that part...thanks..)

I found this recipe on another blog called MomAdvice , but tweaked it a little.

Here are my Ingredients:

2 cups white whole wheat flour
3/4 cup organic (unbleached) sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup coconut milk (this kind from Trader Joe's)
2 organic cage-free eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/2 tsp. almond extract (or you can use vanilla)


Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray doughnut pan. Combine dry ingredients. Mix in wet ingredients with a wooden spoon or mixer. Spoon into doughnut pan. Bake for 10 minutes. This recipe makes a dozen doughnuts, 2 pans of 6 each.
Let cool slightly, then flip onto a cooling rack with foil or wax paper underneath. Mix icing ingredients together. Dip doughnuts (or drizzle) with icing. The foil will catch any icing that spills over the sides.

Pretend these are an Irish tradition and you didn't just want several doughnuts.... and enjoy!

My (soon to be famous!) Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Today, I successfully convinced my boyfriend that it would be much wiser to allow me to bake him cookies instead of going to the gym together.
Best argument win ever.

Anyway, cookies = blog post! YAY!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)

2 eggs 

1 cup+1 TBS. brown sugar

1 TBS. vanilla extract

1 3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

6-12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips (I used ~6 aka half a bag)

1/2 pecan pieces (optional) 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375℉. In a mixing bowl, use a mixer to beat the softened butter and brown sugar. Add in the eggs and beat until fluffy. Add in the vanilla extract. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Mix the flour mixture into the butter mixture a little bit at a time.  Add in the chocolate chips and nuts (we happened to have pecans some so I used them). Drop by small rounded spoons onto sprayed (we use a Misto filled with olive oil) cookie sheets.  Bake for about 9-10 minutes. EAT. 

The Fanciest Tasting Hot Cocoa I've Ever Made

True, you can just buy powdered cocoa/hot chocolate mix, stir with water, and microwave for 60 seconds, and I used to do this all the time, until one day, I tried making my own...

If you are a foodie and/or have taste buds, you will never go back to mix again after trying this recipe.
It's seriously so good. And seriously so easy.

I can't even... so delish. 

This recipe serves 2, and took me about 10 minutes total.

Ingredients:
*2 "mug-fuls" of your favorite milk  - measuring with the mugs you'll be drinking out of, ensures you'll make just the right amount :)
*1/4 cup sugar 

*4-5 heaping teaspoons of cocoa powder (more or less to taste)
*1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips(optional) 
*1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
* a pinch of sea salt
*a PINCH of cayenne pepper - seriously, do NOT put too much, or else...

Directions:
Pour the milk into a small pot on the stove. Heat but don't boil. Stir in the remaining ingredients with a wire whisk. Pour into mugs once it is fully mixed and comes to the desired temperature (about 5 minutes). Enjoy!


:)

Homemade Cinnamon Raisin Granola Bars

I have been wanting to try to make my own granola bars for a while now, but haven't been able to find a recipe I liked. This one is a mix of a few I found on the interwebs.

Forgot to take a "before" picture, but here they are in the oven! 

Ingredients: 
2 tablespoons (softened) unsalted butter
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. honey
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour (or all-purpose)
2-1/4 cups rolled oats
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup raisins (or other dried fruit of your choosing)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 13x9 (or similar size) pan with olive oil or cooking spray.
Combine the butter, applesauce, brown sugar, honey, vanilla and flour by hand or with a hand mixer (I have a lovely purple hand mixer I use every chance I get).
Add the baking soda, rolled oats and cinnamon. Mix again.
Stir in the raisin with a wooden spoon.
Pour mixture into the pan and spread evenly with the  wooden spoon.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until edges are brown and top is golden. (see photos).

How freaking delicious do these look!? This is right out of the oven, pre-cutting. 

I'm glad I finally got around to making these! They came out so good and we're ridiculously easy to make. The whole thing probably took about 10 minutes, including clean up (but not baking time). I let them cool for about 30 minutes before I cut them into bars, and wrapped them up for easy breakfast grabbing.

Give them a try and let me know what you think!

Mallory :)

Chocolate Coconut Crinkle Cookies

Hello again!
I know I said I'd be posting mostly "healthy" recipes and DIY things, but turns out most of my recipes are dessert related...
I like to think these cookies are fairly healthy as far as cookies go, since they are made with coconut oil instead of butter, and cocoa powder which I keep telling myself is in the health-food category. They also happen to be vegan! I didn't intend for them to be, there just happens to be no dairy in them. Don't get me wrong, I like dairy as much as the next 'Merican (most notably cheese), but it really is not good for you, like at all, so it's nice to unintentionally eat vegan once in a while.
So here's the recipe!

Ingredients: 

1 3/4 cups sugar (I used organic)

1 cup cocoa powder

1 cup applesauce

1/2 cup coconut oil (I used organic)

2 tsp vanilla

2 1/4 cup flour (whole wheat or all-purpose)

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

powdered sugar for rolling

Directions:

Mix sugar, cocoa, applesauce, oil and vanilla in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and blend with a hand mixer. Put the mixture in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight. (This allows the coconut oil to harden enough to make dough balls).

Preheat oven to 350℉. Pour powdered sugar in a bowl. Take dough out of fridge. Roll dough into small meatball-sized balls. Roll balls in sugar. Place on cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool on cooling rack. 

On the cookie sheet ready to be put in the oven!

I brought some of these to work around Christmas time and everyone loved them! The coconut flavor is subtle to me, but if you absolutely hate coconut, then use another kind of oil. Also, you probably won't like this blog because I'm kind of obsessed with coconut things. My boyfriend is still undecided about the whole coconuts taking over the grocery story thing, but he really loved these cookies. Like I said, the coconut flavor is subtle. 

I hope you try them! :) 

Fresh out of the oven! They smell amazing!

Pecan Pie

Did you know most pecan pie recipes call for corn syrup? Ugh. I didn't realize that was still a thing....
Luckily for me, there's the internet (all hail the internet), so I googled "pecan pie recipes with NO corn syrup" and I found one similar to this:

Pecan Pie

Ingredients:

1 unbaked 9″ pie shell

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon flour

2 eggs

2 tablespoon milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter (melted)

1 cup pecans (halves)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350℉. 

In a large mixing bowl, mix sugars and flour. Add remaining ingredients, beating very well with a hand mixer. Pour mixture into prepared 9″ pie shell. Sprinkle nuts evenly on top. Bake 40-45 minutes. Cool for at least four hours.

***UPDATE*** 

Made this again for thanksgiving this year so here are some photos!! Enjoy!!

PS - I made this for Thanksgiving AND Christmas Eve because it was such a hit at Thanksgiving! :-)

I hope you try it!