Dessert
These zucchini muffins are moist and super delicious. It makes 24, so you can eat half and freeze the other half for later! Since I’m on my freezer cooking month, I froze half of these muffins in a gallon size freezer bag.
Ingredients:
1/4 Canola Oil
1/4 Milk (any milk: cow’s, almond, rice…)
2 Cups Sugar
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
3/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
3 1/2 Cups Grated Zucchini
In a large bowl, combine the oil, milk, sugar and vanilla. Add in the salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and flours. The mixture will be really dry at this point. Mix in the zucchini until the batter is moistened.
Divide between 2 greased or paper-lined muffin pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Yield: 24 Muffins
-Recipe from Savory Seasonings-
I totally love these flourless cookies! I didn’t even know you could make flourless cookies until recently…and thanks to my gluten free friend! You wouldn’t even know these are flourless just by eating them. Make sure to use gluten free oats if you are needing these to be gluten free.
Ingredients:
3/4 Cup Sugar
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Butter
1 1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
2 Eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 Cup Peanut Butter
3 Cups Rolled Oats
3/4 Cup Chocolate Chips (mini or regular size)
1/2 Cup Walnuts, chopped
Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly grease two cookie sheets.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the sugar, brown sugar and butter. Mix in the baking soda, eggs and vanilla until fully incorporated. Mix in the peanut butter. Using the stir speed, stir in the oats, chocolate chips and walnuts.
Use a cookie scoop (or rounded Tablespoon) to place on the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake until lightly golden and delicious, about 10-12 minutes. Leave on the cookie sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Yield: about 48 cookies depending on size
-This is recipe is found many places, adapted from the recipe on the Trader Joe’s Oats bag…although I found the recipe from The Southern Institute-
Tags: Chocolate, Chocolate Chips, Cookies, Dessert, Flourless, Gluten Free, Oatmeal, Oats, Peanut Butter, Walnut, Walnuts
I’m always looking for banana recipes and this one is surely a keeper. They turned out to be more cake-like than I expected, but were super delicious.
Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Butter, softened
1 Cup Sugar
1 Egg
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 Cup Mashed Ripe Bananas (about 3 medium)
1 1/2 Cup All-Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 Cup Cocoa Powder
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9″ x 13″ baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
In a large bowl, mix together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla, mixing to combine. Mix in the bananas.
In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir the flour mixture into the banana mixture.
Divide the batter evenly between two bowls. Add the cocoa powder to one bowl and stir to combine. Pour the cocoa batter into the prepared baking dish and spread out evenly.
Spoon the other bowl of batter over the cocoa batter in the baking dish. Swirl with a knife.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
-Recipe comes from BeckyHiggins.com-
Tags: Banana, Banana Bars, Banana Bread, Bananas, Bars, Bread, Breakfast, Cake, Chocolate, Cocoa Powder, Dessert
Even if the combination of chocolate and avocado sounds weird, you need to try these muffins. They are delicious! It’s also a great way to get all the great nutrients of avocado into your kids. Great for Chloe because she won’t even try avocados. This recipe comes from TrainerMomma.com.
Ingredients:
1 Ripe Avocado
1 Cup Sugar
3 Eggs
3/4 Cups Unsweetened Applesauce
3/4 Cup Milk
2 2/3 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 Cup Chocolate Chips
Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray two mini muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray or line with paper muffin liners.
Whisk together the avocado and sugar until smooth. Add the eggs, applesauce, milk, flour, cocoa powder and salt. Whisk to combine. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Divide the batter among the two prepared muffin tins.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. About 15 minutes.
Yield: 48 Mini Muffins
Tags: Avocado, Breakfast, Chocolate, Chocolate Chips, Dessert, Muffins, Snack, Snacks, Whole Wheat Flour
I love finding new ways to use bananas! The toasted walnuts are so tasty in these cookies. This recipe comes from MarthaStewart.com.
Ingredients:
1 Cup All-Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Whole-Wheat Flour
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
3/4 Cup Unsalted Butter, softened
1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
1/2 Cup Packed Light-Brown Sugar
1 Egg
1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1/2 Cup Mashed Ripe Banana (about 1 large)
1 Cup Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats
8 oz Semisweet Chocolate Chips
1/2 Cup Coarsely Chopped Walnuts, toasted
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Mix together the all-purpose and whole wheat flours, salt and baking soda in a bowl.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the butter and sugars. Mix on medium speed until combined. Add the egg, vanilla and banana. Continue mixing until combined. Slowly add the flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Mix in the oats, chocolate chips and walnuts on slow.
Using a cookie scoop, drop onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 12-13 minutes, turning halfway through. Cool on wire racks.
Tags: Banana, Chocolate, Chocolate Chips, Cookies, Dessert, Walnut
Easiest and best tasting frosting ever! I doubled this recipe when I made it last time and froze half of it for later. The butterfly cake pictured above is from Chloe’s 2nd birthday.
Ingredients:
1 ½ Squares Bakers Chocolate
3 Tablespoons Water
3 Tablespoons Butter
12 Large Marshmallows
1 1/3 Cups Powdered Sugar
In a large bowl, microwave the chocolate, butter, water and marshmallows until melted. Microwaving in short intervals, stirring frequently. Cool in freezer for a few minutes.
Sift in the powdered sugar and stir to combine.
*Note: I forgot to sift the powdered sugar. Notice the lumps. It did end up being lump free after lots of stirring.
Yield: Frosting for 1 cake
Tags: Chocolate, Dessert, Frosting, Gluten Free
Yum! Here is a great way to enjoy all the goodness of camping without even stepping outside. I made these cookies to share with our camping buddies and everyone loved them. This recipe comes from an issue of Everyday Food.
Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats
1 Cup All-Purpose Flour
1 Cup Whole-Wheat Flour
3/4 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 Cup (2 Sticks) Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
3/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar
1 Large Egg
8 oz Dark Chocolate (2 large chocolate bars), cut into squares
15 Large Marshmallows, halved horizontally
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Pour the oats into a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Add the all-purpose and whole-wheat flours, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Pulse a few times to combine everything.
Beat together the butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer (use a stand mixer if you have one – the dough will be thick). Beat in the egg and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the flour mixture and mix until combined.
Drop by Tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets and top each with a piece of chocolate, pressing down lightly. Bake until lightly golden brown, 11-13 minutes. Rotate the baking sheets halfway through baking. 
Once they are baked, turn on the broiler. Top each cookie with a marshmallow half. Broil one sheet of cookies at a time until the marshmallows are lightly browned. They brown fast, so don’t walk away from the oven.
Cool on wire racks.
Yield: about 30 cookies
Tags: Chocolate, Cookies, Dessert, Marshmallows, S'mores
Chocolate fudge, peanut butter and Rice Krispies are joined together to make this mouthwatering dessert. Original recipe found in Rachael Ray Magazine.
Ingredients:
6 oz Semisweet Chocolate Chips
2 Sticks (8 oz) Plus 1 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter
16 oz Jar Creamy Peanut Butter (mine was 15 oz)
3 Cups Rice Krispies (if making gluten free – look for the gluten free Rice Krispies)
1/4 teaspoon Salt
3 Cups Powdered Sugar
Line a 8X8 inch baking dish with foil and lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Melt together 3oz chocolate chips and 1 Tablespoon butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup peanut butter. Gently fold in 2 cups of Rice Krispies.
Spread in the prepared baking dish and place in the refrigerator. Wash your saucepan for use in the next step.
Melt together the remaining 2 sticks of butter and the salt over medium heat. Remove from heat and stir in the remaining peanut butter and the powdered sugar. Spread half of this over the first layer in the baking dish. Evenly top with the remaining 1 cup of Rice Krispies.
Microwave the remaining 3 oz of chocolate chips in a small bowl (only 10 seconds at a time, stirring in between until melted). Pour into the remaining peanut butter mixture and stir to combine. Spread over top of the cereal as the final layer.
Refrigerate until set. Cut into 16 squares.
Yield: 16 Fudge Squares.
Tags: Chocolate, Chocolate Chips, Chocolate Fudge, Dessert, Gluten Free, Peanut Butter, Rice Krispies
And here is the recipe for Robbie’s birthday cake. This cake turned out great and was super moist. The glaze is quite tasty too. This recipe came from Food Network.
Ingredients:
1 Stick Unsalted Butter, plus more for the pan
2 Cups All-Purpose Flour, plus more for dusting
2 1/2 Cups Root Beer
1 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1/4 Cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips
1 Cup Granulated Sugar
1/2 Cup Packed Dark Brown Sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Ground Allspice
1 teaspoon Salt, plus a pinch
3 Large Eggs, beaten
2 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter and flour a Bundt pan, shaking out any excess flour.
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt together 2 cups root beer, cocoa powder, chocolate chips and butter. Whisk in the granulated sugar and brown sugar until dissolved. Let cool.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, allspice and 1 teaspoon salt.
Whisk the eggs into the cooled root beer mixture. Add to the large bowl containing the flour mixture. Fold together to combine.
Pour the cake batter into the prepared Bundt pan and place in oven. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Rotate the pan half way 
through baking.
When the cake comes out of the oven, poke all over with a skewer. Pour 1/4 cup root beer over the cake and let rest for 20 minutes.
Invert the cake onto a serving dish. Let cool.
When the cake is cooled, make the glaze. Combine 1/4 cup root beer, a pinch of salt, powdered sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth.
Drizzle the root beer glaze over the cake.
Serves 8-10
Tags: Birthday, Cake, Chocolate, Chocolate Chips, Dessert, Root Beer
This is my first look into the Paleo Diet. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
2 1/2 Cups Blanched Almonds, divided (or 1 cup almond butter and 1/2 cup almonds)
1 Egg
1/4 Cup Honey
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 Cup Chopped Pecans
1/2 Cup Dried Cranberries
Preheat oven to 375°F and spray a mini muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray.
Place 2 cups of the blanched almonds in a food processor and grind until almond butter forms. This will take several minutes. Pour the almond butter in a medium bowl and add the egg, honey and salt. Stir together until fully combined.
Stir in the pecans, dried cranberries and remaining 1/2 cup of almonds.
Scoop, using a cookie scoop, into the muffin pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until lightly browned.
Tags: Almond Butter, Almonds, Cookies, Cranberries, Dessert, Dried Cranberries, Gluten Free, Paleo, Pecans