Vegan Chocolate Mini Muffins (no sugar!)

20 Replies

So, I’m really excited about these muffins. (!!!) Remember when I gave up sugar for a week? And then tried to switch over to only natural sweeteners?

Obviously I fell off the wagon a little.

Well, I’m finally back on track with these muffins. There’s no sugar in these—-not even a liquid natural sweeteners. No honey, agave, brown rice syrup, or maple syrup. The best part? The first bite made me want to dance around my kitchen. They are AMAZING.

Say hello to luscious, healthy chocolate muffins sweetened solely with dates.

Speaking of dates, I need to go on one. Erik is finally done with his wretchedly difficult first year of grad school and it sounds like he killed his qualifying exams (fingerscrossed!). So we meant to celebrate with a nice dinner last Saturday. Um, instead we spent a lot of the day on the floor of my air-conditioned bedroom trying to work up the will to brave the hot air of the pool, then hauled out our rusty bikes and worked up ridiculous sweats biking approximately a mile to get fro yo as a pre-dinner snack…and then passed the new taco place in Rice Village…and caved to the siren call of shrimp tacos.

This also makes excellent loaves.

Which were delicious, but this man deserves steak. And I am a vegetarian. I don’t advocate meat. But I am willing to support the consumption of steak here—that’s how hard he’s worked. I welcome any other ideas of how to spoil the guy if you have any suggestions!

Now that I’ve distracted you with talk of steak, let’s muffin talk. You know those giant double chocolate muffins at Costco? These are better. My favorite combo of whole wheat flour and oat flour makes these irresistibly plush. You can puree your date paste for a smoother texture, but I left mine rustically chunky, which meant my muffins were threaded with warm, sugary chunks of dates. Heaven.

(I’ve really been feeling the mini muffins lately, though this is equally good in loaf form.)

Moist, not too sweet, and studded with melty chocolate chips, these muffins feel like the definition of decadence. They’re so easy. Just one extra step past a typical muffin recipe–making the date paste–is so worth the end result. Once you make your first date paste, you’ll be asking yourself where it’s been all your life (Erik thought it looked disgusting, but did agree that it’s delicious!) Get yo’self some healthy muffins. Right now!

Vegan Chocolate Mini Muffins (no sugar!)

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 33 minutes

Yield: approximately 26 mini muffins or 1 standard loaf

Serving Size: 1 mini muffin

Calories per serving: 82

Fat per serving: 2.3g

Vegan double chocolate muffins are moist and tender from a combination of whole grain flours and healthy fats. Sweetened only with date paste, they're rich but not too sweet.

Ingredients

1.5 cups dates, chopped and pitted
1 cup water
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup whole wheat flour
½ cup oat flour
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ cup almond milk
2 large, very ripe bananas, mashed
2 tablespoons oil
1.5 tablespoon peanut butter (or other nut butter)
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a mini muffin tin or standard loaf pan with nonstick spray.

Place the dates and water in a small saucepan, uncovered, over high heat. As soon as the mixture comes to a boil, add the baking soda. Mixture will foam up; reduce the heat to medium or medium high if mixture starts to foam over. After a minute or two, the dates should begin to break down. Use a wooden spoon to stir/mash up the dates a little. Let simmer for another five minutes or so until the dates break down into a paste-like mixture. Add an additional splash of water if the mixture starts to look dry before the dates have completely broken down. Once dates are a stir-able mass, set aside to let cool.

In a large bowl, combine the flours, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the date paste, vanilla, milk, bananas, oil and peanut butter and stir until well combined. Do not overmix. Fold in chocolate chips.

Place about a heaping tablespoon of batter into each mini muffin well or pour batter in prepared loaf pan. Bake for 12-13 minutes for mini muffins or about 40-45 minutes for a loaf. Muffins are done when the tops feel firm to the touch.

Notes

Adapted from The Muffin Myth.

http://www.thepancakeprincess.com/2013/05/21/vegan-chocolate-mini-muffins-no-sugar/

Banana Yogurt Cookies

29 Replies

Goodbyes are the worst.

I do this thing where sometimes I yell “bye!” over my shoulder and hotfoot it away like I don’t care whether I’ll ever see person in question again. I’m rude. This happens very rarely.

In most incidents of serious goodbyes when it’s essential that things get huggy, soul-twinging and verging on teary, I can follow all the social conventions, but that mopey, sluggish feeling of soul-sucking depression afterwards? Sometimes I’d rather just be rude then have to contemplate actual FEELINGS. How passé.

My roommate of this past year moved out today to spend a few weeks at home before jetting off to get her ~~Masters~~ doctorate! (shows how well I listen..) in physical therapy at her prestigious California school. In the midst of packing up boxes Saturday evening, we both came to the realization that yes. She was actually. Moving.

I’m going to miss her for a million reasons including but not limited to: her boundless positivity, health and work out expertise, penchant for gossip and love for healthy eating. But let’s be real: the number one reason she wins the roommate of the year award is because she not only put up with my constant monopoly of the kitchen but also ate everything I made. And I mean EVERYTHING. No matter how hideous my healthy alterations turned out in a recipe, she was always willing to taste test and give me an honest opinion.

So when we realized she was in fact moving, we a) freaked out and then b) pulled out the cookie sheets. I made another batch of these (at her request), black bean brownies and a version of these cookies my roommate had made awhile back that I was completely obsessed with: they are the fluffiest, cakiest banana cookies EVER. My roommate loves anything doughy, so they are basically our ideal cookies.

But since we also both prize health, I tried to make them slightly more ideal by adding Greek yogurt, coconut oil and whole grain flours. And so we sat on our darkening balcony in the dreamy Houston heat listening to this song on repeat and talking about our ideal men while eating our ideal cookies. And that is how I think goodbye should be said from now on.

Banana Yogurt Cookies

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: ~3 dozen cookies

Serving Size: 1 cookie

Calories per serving: 88 calories

Fat per serving: 3.7g

Banana Yogurt Cookies

Soft, doughy banana cookies get chew from Greek yogurt and whole-grain flours but stay fluffy and rich with coconut oil.

Ingredients

1.5 cup all-purpose, whole wheat, or white whole wheat flour
½ cup spelt flour (can sub other flours--see notes)
½ cup oat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup Greek yogurt
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup mashed bananas (about 2-3 large)
1/2 – 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Combine the flours, baking powder, salt, baking soda in a bowl.

In a measuring cup or other bowl, combine the coconut oil, sugar, yogurt, egg, vanilla and mashed banana. Stir in the dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

Use a rounded tablespoon of dough per cookie and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until cookies begin to brown around the edges.

Notes

I used a mess of flours based on what I had lying around--any combination of virtually any flour (spelt, buckwheat, oat, AP, whole wheat, white whole wheat) should work. If you go heavy on the oat flour, make sure you counterbalance with a good amount of a sturdier wheat-based flour or spelt flour.

I thought it was worth mentioning that the recipe I modified to make these called for a full cup of sugar. I would have reduced this to 3/4 cup, but it turns out my roommate had made these with only 1/2 cup of sugar originally. I thought it was the perfect amount for a breakfast-appropriate cookie--the bananas add tons of natural sweetness on their own. I think you could probably sub 1/3-1/2 cup of a natural sweetener instead of sugar.

You may sub butter for coconut oil if you wish.

Adapted from here and here

http://www.thepancakeprincess.com/2013/05/13/banana-yogurt-cookies/

Spent Grain Chocolate Chip Cookies (vegan)

22 Replies

I am not a beer person.

I can count the number of beers that I’ve actually enjoyed on one hand—beer is tolerable, but generally not enjoyable. Which is why I was bewildered to find myself fixating on Love and Olive Oil’s Chocolate Stout beer and finally asked my master brewing friend if he’d be willing to try it.

Since Trevor is amazing and always down for beer, he took me on a field trip to the grain store where we picked out pounds of grain, yeast, hops and lactose in a musty, farm-like warehouse. And then we spent three hours brewing the darn thing. Which I’m not even sure I’m going to like. Trevor accidentally had the wrong type of yeast on hand during the process, so we’re apparently making a Belgian chocolate stout instead of a normal stout, which he’s never done before. Whatever. I just want the chocolate part.

The brewing process is basically this:

a) Boil a TON of grain in a lot of water and let it sit to extract sugars from the grain

b) Take the sugar-water and boil it with other components to make the beer: hops (for bitterness and balance), flavoring (we used cocoa) and lactose (for sweetness–it’s a sugar that isn’t fermented by the yeast).

c) Add yeast and let ferment.

It’s a process heavy on the heating and cooling and sitting and waiting. The beer is currently sitting pretty in a large vat and my fridge is currently occupied with pounds of spent grain, which is the term for the pounds of leftover boiled grain.

Spent grain isn’t the prettiest thing: it kind of looks like horse food and smells vaguely barn-like when ground into flour. However, that grainy, prickly, soggy mass has had most of the starch boiled out and is essentially a pile of protein and fiber—woohoo! It can be used for animal feed, but you can also stuff it into tons of other things—granola, flour, bread, waffles, biscotti, muffins, etc.

My first attempts to chip away at my mountain of spent grain included spent grain granola and spent grain flour, neither of which blew me away. The granola burned and flour smelled ultra-grainy. Then I attempted these cookies with several modifications and was disappointed—they were crumbly and prickly with the grain.

Just when I was wringing my hands once again and considering trashing the rest of the grain, I tried the cookies again with different modifications, and they were AMAZING. Soft and peanut buttery with a yielding crumb and studded with chewy grains—completely addicting. It’s like the thickest oatmeal cookie you’ve ever had with a crazy grainy texture. (You could probably sub oats for the spent grain and add a few more tablespoons of milk. Or Omnomicon suggests that any cooked grain might work—I’m dreaming about these with cooked quinoa!) They were apparently a big hit with my roommate’s coworkers.

My favorite version of these cookies is the following one as written. I hate to be an advocate for beer, but I really find spent grain fascinating and these cookies are definitely worth a try! Weekend mission: find spent grain.

Spent Grain Chocolate Chip Cookies (vegan)

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Yield: ~30 cookies

Serving Size: 1 cookie

Calories per serving: 104

Fat per serving: 3.1g

Soft, cakey whole-grain cookies are studded with spent grain, the protein- and fiber-packed by-product of brewing beer.

Ingredients

1/3 cup peanut butter
1 tablespoon coconut oil (can sub vegetable oil)
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/3 cup milk (I used homemade walnut milk and it was FANTASTIC)
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup spent grain flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1.5 cups spent grains (wet)
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

Combine the peanut butter, oil, sugar, milk and vanilla. Add the flour(s), baking soda and salt. Fold in the spent grain and chocolate chips.

Roll cookies into balls using about a tablespoon of dough per cookie. Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 350F for 12-14 minutes until the tops begin to brown and look dry. Cookies should feel firm-ish to the touch—slightly soft in the center, but not gooey.

These are absolutely the best the day they are made, but will keep in a sealed container at room temperature or in the fridge for a few days (up to a week in the fridge).

Notes

If you don't have spent grain flour on hand, sub more whole wheat flour or any type of flour (spelt, buckwheat, all-purpose, etc.)

I've tried subbing almond butter for the peanut butter and they just weren't as good. I've also tried subbing oat flour for the whole wheat flour and while they were again soft and cakey, I think they were more delicate, which made the grain stand out more.

Adapted from here

http://www.thepancakeprincess.com/2013/05/09/spent-grain-chocolate-chip-cookies-vegan/

Banana Bread French Toast Parfaits (with the best vegan, GF banana bread ever)

21 Replies

In lieu of pancakes, I bring you something else breakfasty!

Last night, I started to make a cake for someone. I had grand plans of spreading pliable, freshly made ice cream across thick banana bread French toast cake layers coated in magic chocolate-coconut oil shell, chocolate chips, nuts, etc.

…this isn’t my first banana bread French toast rodeo, but this time, unfortunately, I used the most tender, crumbliest vegan gluten-free banana bread recipe known to man and half of my egg-sogged, meant-to-be-French-toasted* layers instantly crumbled.

So then I was like “ugh” freak out *huff huff* wring hands “ugh!” *roll eyes*smash bread with spatula before I was like duh!

Are you picking up what I’m putting down?

French toast banana bread was instantly chunked, layered with cinnamon coconut cream, sliced bananas and chocolate chips and a way-too-involved parfait was born. Or would this be trifle? According to google, this is perhaps not a trifle because there is no custard. Just cake, cream and fruit.

Good ‘nuff for me.

For the sake of ease, I could recommend that you use a sturdier banana bread that won’t fall apart during the French toast process, like this one. But truthfully, this vegan, gluten-free banana bread recipe from Babycakes is so amazingly plush and spiced (no, that tablespoon of vanilla is not a typo) and just all around delicious that I really hope you make it despite its nightmarish reaction to French toast batter. These parfaits could be just as good with simple cubes of banana bread.

You don’t even have to make the parfaits if you just make the banana bread. But seriously, these parfaits are perfect spring party food. Something about blooming flowers and towering sunshine just screams a need for piles of cool, sweet cream over lush cake chunks studded with chocolate chips and banans, no?

*today, I request that French toast become a verb. Thanks.

Banana Bread French Toast Parfaits

Ingredients

For Babycakes' banana bread:
3/4 cup spelt flour
3/4 cup oat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon chia seeds
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/3 cup oil
2/3 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup almond milk
1 tablespoon good quality vanilla
1 1/4 cups mashed bananas (about 3 large)
Cinnamon French toast batter
For the coconut cream:
1 can full-fat coconut milk
2-4 tablespoons powdered sugar
dash of vanilla
dash of cinnamon

Instructions

For the banana bread:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a standard 13x18" cookie sheet (or loaf pan) well and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, chia seeds, salt and cinnamon. Add oil, maple syrup, almond milk and vanilla directly to the dry ingredients and mix again. Fold in bananas (the smoother the mash, the better).

Pour batter into sheet pan and spread evenly. Bake for 14-17 (40-45 if using a loaf pan) minutes, or until banana bread springs back under your finger (it will feel a tad spongy). Remove from oven and cool completely.

Once the banana bread has cooled, prepare the French toast batter. Cut off squares of banana bread, dip in French toast batter, and fry for two minutes on each side in a lightly greased, preheated skillet over medium heat, until golden.

For the coconut cream:

Place the coconut milk in the fridge overnight (do NOT use milk that has not been thoroughly chilled).

Remove the milk from the fridge and turn the can upside down. Remove the lid. Use a spoon to scrape off the solid coconut mass at the top (reserve the liquid at the bottom for another use).

Using a hand mixer, beat the coconut cream until fluffy. Add powdered sugar, cinnamon and vanilla and continue to whip until combined.

To assemble:

Cut banana bread French toast slices into cubes. Layer cubes with coconut cream, sliced bananas, chocolate chips and repeat as desired. I layered some into glass mason jars and some into a 6" springform pan. With the pan version, I layered the banana bread, bananas and chocolate chips and popped it into a preheated 350 oven for about 10-15 minutes to get everything warm and melty, then topped it with the coconut cream like frosting. Delish.

Notes

The original Babycakes recipe called for 1.5 cups of Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flour, specifically. I used half whole spelt flour and half oat flour (ground from rolled oats) and was perfectly happy with my results. I also subbed chia seeds for xantham gum and maple syrup for the agave, with delicious results.

I originally baked the banana bread in a cookie sheet in order to make flat cake layers of French toast. This method will take much less baking time, but you will end up with thin layers that crumble easily if you try to make French toast with them. As an alternative, you can bake the banana bread in a loaf pan, which will take longer, but yield thicker slices that may stand up better to being dipped and fried.

http://www.thepancakeprincess.com/2013/05/03/banana-bread-french-toast-parfaits-with-the-best-vegan-gf-banana-bread-ever/

Almond Butter Quinoa Oat Mini Muffins

32 Replies

So yesterday: I’m in my car, sweating slightly as I loop around my old college campus, at a loss for parking ideas and in a rush to get to an on-campus dinner for which I’m late. Phone is at my side, two rejected calls to Erik flash on the screen (he’s busy studying, but I need his parking pass). Radio up; mini muffins are sweating beside me in a shallow Tupperware that I forgot to crack open.

I run into a friend coming from the gym and we chat through my open window for a good three minutes—causing cars to squeeze around us—and I force muffins on her, thinking that if I don’t see Erik, I will be stuck with yet another full batch of irresistible carbs (she only takes two, politely). Ten minutes later, parking crisis has been averted (slightly less-than-full Tupperware of muffins have been swapped for the parking pass) and I am happily sucking down pasta and salad and lemon bars with some of the people I love best from college.

I’d contemplated bringing several things to the dinner, but the muffins, thrown together just before I left the house, were not present because I just wasn’t sure whether they were objectively delicious (i.e. blog-worthy and shareable) or just me-delicious. But when I get a smiley text from Erik saying “Muffins are already gone J” and a request from the muffin-foisted friend for the recipe within a few hours of each other, I figure this is one worth sharing, even though it’s kind of already been done.

These muffins are glorified piles of oats garnished with quinoa and chocolate chips. The quinoa adds barely distinguishable specks of chewy texture that I adore and the combination of oats and oat flour keep these textured but light. Moistened with almond butter, sweeteners and oil, they have a slightly higher fat profile than my typical muffins, but they are SO incredibly tender and fluffy—it’s worth it. They’re downright crowd-pleasing and I hereby regret not bringing these to share (because wahh, now my roommate and I are faced with the rest of the batch). Next time!

Almond Butter Quinoa Oat Mini Muffins

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Yield: 30 mini muffins

Serving Size: 1 muffin

Calories per serving: 68 cal

Fat per serving: 3.2g

These fluffy, textured, protein-packed muffins can be made gluten-free by using GF oats. Packed with wholesome oats, quinoa and almond butter, these make a great breakfast on the go!

Ingredients

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons maple syrup
3 tablespoons almond butter
1 egg
1.5 cups oat flour
1/2 cup oats, instant or rolled
1 teaspoon baking powder
scant ½ teaspoon salt
1/2 cup almond milk
1/3 cup quinoa, cooked and cooled
1/4 cup chocolate chips (more to taste)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) and grease a mini muffin tin or line with wrappers.

If you don’t have cooked quinoa already on hand, put 1/4-1/2 cup (depending on the amount of leftover you want) dry quinoa in a small pot with double the amount of water. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer, covered, until all water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Refrigerate any leftover quinoa.

Stir together oil, sugar, honey and peanut butter.

Beat in the egg. Combine the oat flour, oats, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl.

Add the oat mixture and almond milk in five additions, starting and ending with oat flour.

Fold in the cooked quinoa and chocolate chips.

Bake at 425 degrees for four minutes, and then reduce the temperature to 350 (180 C) for 10 minutes. (Alternatively, you can bake these at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes if you're baking something else at the same time that calls for 350.)

For regular-size muffins, bake for 5 minutes at 425 degrees, then 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Notes

Use gluten-free oats if you are strictly gluten-free.

These can be made vegan by substituting 1 tablespoon of flaxseed or chia seeds + 3 tablespoons almond milk in place of the egg; I just preferred the egg version.

I always make my own oat flour by grinding whole oats in a food processor. You can also grind down the added whole oats if you want a less pronounced texture from the oats.

http://www.thepancakeprincess.com/2013/04/29/almond-butter-quinoa-oat-mini-muffins/

Shelby’s Loaded Guacamole

35 Replies

Here’s a fun fact: Erik and I used to hate avocados.

As a kid, I would not touch them. I’d scrape them out of my California rolls and I’d scoop only the salsa layer out of 7-layer dip, shunning the sour cream and guac. Guacamole was nothing less than a bowl full of the worst things on earth.

The tipping point came during my junior summer in college when I interned in Silicon Valley. My boss love this one Mexican restaurant that we occasionally went to for lunch. He always ordered the guacamole: an incredibly generous, gargantuam bowl of green with chips sticking up in it:

Kind of like this, except 502498593x bigger.

When he first proffered the bowl, I was all, “no thanks, not a fan of avocado.” Some time later, I must have gotten bored with my burrito because I remember fixating on the chip medallions buried in the green goo. Desperate with curiosity, I finally picked one up and ate it. One giant explosion of tangy lime, salt and creamy texture later, and I became a hand-to-heart guac addict.

Now Erik and I live happily ever after in a world where sometimes we eat mostly guac for dinner. Guac, chips, sweet potato fries. We’d be pretty happy living on that for quite a few days. Maybe toss in some salsa (for him) and steamed broccoli (for me).

So do you remember that best b of mine who was responsible for my favorite cakey pancakes? Shelby makes the best food. Every time she comes back from California, we end up cooking or baking together which is great because a) I obviously don’t do enough of either and b) she makes dishes of insane greatness. She makes no-fat banana blueberry muffins, healthy pumpkin muffins and insanely tasty chocolate chip cherry cookies that I could eat by the truckload.

Homemade chips are the only way to go with this guac of insane greatness. Or store-bought.

Homemade chips are the only way to go with this guac of insane greatness. Store-bought is acceptable only if you burn attempt at said homemade chips.

Fun facts about Shelby:

She is a crazy huge fan of cilantro, black beans, garlic and onions. All things I used to eschew (minus black beans).
She eats baby carrots by the bag and eats whole cucumbers raw, voraciously.
She has 89 boyfriends because she is a hot commodity and just can’t choose. Boys love her.

Clearly we are cut out to be buds, amirite?

We made this guac for water polo reunion brunch and I wanted to hide it in my fridge and not let anyone else eat it. My usual go-to guac is simply lime and salt; Shelby’s version is lush with an abundance of goodness: nibs of juicy corn, corners of feisty peppers, strands of fresh cilantro, and strong and tangy with garlic and lime. I now make this every chance I get and you should too!

Shelby’s Loaded Guacamole

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Yield: 3

Serving Size: 1/3 recipe

Calories per serving: 158

Fat per serving: 10.3g

This one of my favorite guac recipes on earth. Corn, tomatoes, japapeno, cilantro, green onions, siracha and more come together for a serious fiesta of the tastebuds.

Ingredients

1 large, ripe avocado
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 small roma tomato, chopped
½ cup corn
¼ cup cilantro, chopped fine
4 green onions, sliced
1 small jalapeno, chopped (and de-seeded if you are faint of heart, like me)
1 large lime
salt, pepper, cumin to taste
dash of siracha or pinch of red pepper flakes

Instructions

Smash the avocado with a fork and add tomato, corn, cilantro, green onions, and jalapeno while garlic is toasting.* Squeeze in the juice from the lime. Add salt, pepper, cumin and siracha to taste (I add a dash of each).

*I like to toast the minced garlic in a non-greased frying pan for a few minutes just to take the raw edge off. When it’s fragrant and reaches a toasty golden color, turn off the heat and let cool before adding to the rest of the ingredients.

http://www.thepancakeprincess.com/2013/04/24/shelbys-loaded-guacamole/

Pancake Fridays: Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Silver Dollar Pancakes

36 Replies

I’m going to New York!

For three glorious days next week, I’m escaping to the metropolitan, cultured bustle of NYC for the first time since far too long ago. I’m going to a) scope out potential life choices b) visit lovely people and c) eat (maybe pancakes.). Hoo my gosh too excited.

!!!!

Let me know if you’re in New York and free next weekend! Let’s. Hang. Out.

On another note, I am completely addicted to muffins. Whole wheat chocolate chip muffins in particular. Earlier this week, two friends came over to cook dinner and we made some pretty delicious food. Green smoothies, soft eggs and smashed avocado on life-changing toast, kale salad, and muffins, obviously.

How can I convey to you the deliciousness? First, of all, they’re from How Sweet It Is, which should tell you something. As a long-time follower, this is one of many stunning recipes of hers that I’ve made. (Is anyone else confused about her blog name? Is it How Sweet Eats (url) or How Sweet It Is (probable blog name)…?)

They were so stunning, I turned them into pancakes. The muffins are obviously mini muffins, but they puff to immensely satisfying heights. There’s a ton of whole wheat flour* in them (I replaced half with oats) so they’re really doughy and dense and not very sweet in a this-is-how-a-muffin-should-taste kind of way. PLUS: coconut oil. YUM.

The other night I got out all the ingredients to make them again and then…stopped. Turning on the oven, scooping tablespoons of dough into my mini muffin tin and—worst ever—CLEANING those crevices in my mini muffin tin suddenly sounded immensely exhaustipating.

So I made pancakes instead!

And it worked. These are the best pancakes I’ve made in a long time (though it’s also been a long time since I made my last pancake). They somehow retain the satisfying density of the muffins while also maintaining fluffy-light whole wheat insides, studded with chocolate chips. It’s all the glorious taste of the muffins in an even faster vehicle.

Let’s recap: How Sweet Eats recipe + whole wheat + chocolate chips + pancakes + faster = YES.

The only problem with these is that it’s so tempting to eat these mini pancakes by the fistful. Or by the enormously tall stack. Would you eat muffins by the fistful? I don’t think so. So try not to do it with these. But do make them. I promise it will make for one happy you.

Pancake Fridays: Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Silver Dollar Pancakes

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Yield: 14-16 silver dollar pancakes

Serving Size: per 1 pancake

Calories per serving: 65

Fat per serving: 2.7g

Pancake Fridays: Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Silver Dollar Pancakes

How Sweet It Is' mini whole wheat chocolate chip muffins, turned into pancakes. Fluffy, dense, satisfying, tasty and mini.

Ingredients

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
½ cup oat flour (or ½ cup rolled oats, ground into flour in a food processor)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 large egg (beat 1 egg and measure out 1.5 tablespoons. Or just double the recipe.)
2 tablespoons loosely packed brown sugar
1/3 cup milk
1.5 tablespoons yogurt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1.5 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
¼ cup chocolate chips (mini is best)

Instructions

Set a griddle or frying pan over medium low heat while mixing the batter:

Whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the egg, sugar, milk, yogurt, vanilla, and coconut oil. Gently mix the wet ingredients into dry until just combined—a few flour streaks and lumps are okay. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Lightly grease your preheated pan with a few drops of oil and smear around with a spatula. Drop generous tablespoons of batter into the pan (don’t crowd the blobs). Cook for about 2 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Serve warm with EVERYTHING! Nut butter, maple syrup, agave, honey, more chocolate chips, sweet potato fries, muffins, whatever.

Notes

Instead of using all whole wheat flour, I used half oat flour, which I think helped keep these fluffy. Baking soda normally needs some kind of acid to activate it, so I’m not quite sure why it’s in the original recipe, but I added a spoon of yogurt to the pancakes to get things going and also thicken up the batter.

Jessica notes to measure the coconut oil in solid form, then melt it, but I’m never patient enough to thaw my coconut oil for long enough to be scoopable. I usually microwave my coconut oil until it’s liquid, then measure it.

http://www.thepancakeprincess.com/2013/04/12/pancake-fridays-whole-wheat-chocolate-chip-silver-dollar-pancakes/

*Let’s talk about flour for a second. For weeks, I’ve been avoiding gluten like the devil because it seemed to work really well on my detox, but I’ve been reading up on gluten sensitivity and how going gluten-free isn’t necessarily healthier (some GF flour actually strip grains of nutrients/fiber that are in wheat, barley, etc.) and can possibly increase gluten sensitivities.

So, sigh. Moderation seems to be the answer as always. Well, at least for now, since I’m really craving these pancakes!

Guest Post: Peanut Butter Quinoa Oat Muffins

29 Replies

So…I realize sardines may not top most people’s list of favorite edible items ever. But if your list is missing sardines, cake better be topping the list!

Also, muffins. Which is why I’m bringing you some.

Muffins of the total yum variety. Wholesome is so in.

I’m so excited to be guest-posting for Chocolate Chip Uru today, so for the recipe and the story behind my 16 or so attempts to make these, hop on over to Go Bake Yourself!

{Detox} Sardine Tartines

20 Replies

If you are reading this, I give you props for being more open-minded than my brother, sister and mother who flee the room when I crack open a tin of sardines.

I’ve loved sardines ever since my dad introduced me to them sometime in my childhood. Since then, we’ve been the only ones who eat them in a household of sardine-shunners. Sad, but true considering what a cheap, convenient and nutrient-packed little package of perfection they are: high in calcium, omega-3 fats, iron, protein AND sustainable to boot. Because they’re low on the food chain, they’re less likely to contain toxins like, say, tuna. Plus, they are delicious.

Yes, the teensy little bones are a little freakeh and they are pretty pungent, I’ll admit. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try them. I don’t eat them all that often, but when I do, I eat them in sandwiches, over quinoa, hot or cold, in salad or just out of the can.

This is the first time I’ve made a spread out of them and it is SO TASTY. I spread this over narrow slices of Sarah B.’s life-changing bread to make tartines, or open-faced sandwiches. I think it’s pretty cool that I can eat bread and still call this a detox meal! (This would fit into the week 2 category of the Whole Living detox since it contains nothing but fish, herbs, nuts, gluten-free grains and seeds. Snaps all around.)

I made this as part of a picnic that I took to Erik as a dinner break and it was his second favorite dish! He was completely surprised how much he liked it since he’d never tried/been skeptical about sardines before. Proof that sardines rock.

GIVE SARDINES A CHANCE!

Really. They are so good.

{Detox} Sardine Tartines

Yield: ~8 tartines, depending on the size of your bread

Serving Size: entire recipe (with about 1/2 tablespoon oil)

Calories per serving: 290

Fat per serving: 20g

Protein-packed sardines smashed with herbs, olive oil and lemon make a simple, tasty spread for a good loaf of bread.

Ingredients

1 can sardines, preferably oil-packed
¼ cup parsley, loosely packed
¼ cup cilantro, loosely packed
juice from ½ lemon
1-2 tablespoons capers, for serving (optional, but they add an excellent hit of brine and salt)
Baby kale or some other baby greens, for serving
Life-changing bread serves as excellent toast, for serving

Instructions

Add drained sardines to food processor, reserving leftover oil in the tin. Add parsley and cilantro and process for 5-10 seconds or until mixture is uniformly combined. Add lemon juice and drizzle in a bit of reserved oil to loosen the mixture. Process until combined.

Meanwhile, you can use brush some of the reserved sardine oil on slices of bread and grill over medium heat. Spread sardine mixture on bread, top with baby greens and capers and eat!

Notes

Adapted from Bon Appetit

http://www.thepancakeprincess.com/2013/04/09/detox-sardine-tartines/

{Detox} Perfect Kale Smoothie

33 Replies

I strive to promote kale over brownies.

I think it’s really cool that Kate is such a huge proponent of kale salads. I’d like to be like that. But it’s hard when slutty brownies are so sexy and I hate the taste of kale. The tiny bristles and sort of rough, rubbery texture? The bitterness that tastes like you just put overgrown weeds in your mouth? So gross. Why has kale came into vogue? Do you people actually like the taste? Discuss.

I can only assume that the nutrition facts are driving the craze. For one 33-calorie cup of kale, you get a gram of fiber, 2 grams of protein, calcium, iron, and a TON of vitamin A and vitamin C. That’s why I kept forcing myself to throw a bag into my grocery cart.

Look at this powerhouse of a smoothie! Take these facts with a grain of salt but also…go drink a smoothie now.

I used to LOVE spinach smoothies, but on my 90% raw diet* last week, I decided I needed the extra kale powerhouse nutrition and drank a kale smoothie for breakfast. Every morning. Sometimes in the evening. And I’m in love. I crave my smoothies. You should too. They are so.freaking.good. It probably helps that more often than not, I make them into something that tastes more like a milkshake than what is essentially weed juice. Yum.

I feel like I’ve come close to perfecting my ideal kale smoothie, so I thought I’d share. Here’s how I make my personally perfect kale smoothie:

Start with a base of almond milk and chia seeds. Chia seeds help thicken up the smoothie (the seeds absorb water and take on a gel-like texture, which is undetectable once they’re ground up) and add a boost of fiber, protein, and calcium. Sometimes I add a little water to thin things out.
Add two large handfuls of kale. Wince. All that bitterness will be whirred away in a few seconds!
Add frozen bananas. These are totally key. I leave bananas on my counter until they’re totally covered in brown spots, then I slice them into chunks and stick them in a plastic bag in the freezer. I add about half a banana to my typical smoothie.
Add frozen fruit. This adds great, icy body to the smoothie and flavor to hide the kale. Strawberries have been my fruit of choice lately. I bought a sack of frozen ones at Costco and they’ve lasted me over a month. Win!

A dollop of peanut butter adds creaminess, protein and the final mask of flavor over the kale. Yum!

At this point, I always stop to taste and re-adjust. If I can taste the kale, I shudder and throw in more bananas/peanut butter/strawberries. Too thick? I add water or milk. Too thin? More fruit. Sometimes I add more chia for kicks. Or if I’m feeling particularly protein-deprived.

Hello, love of my life:

I think I should say that there’s always going to be a slight taste of kale, but the peanut butter, strawberries and banana make it totally AMAZING. I would suggest starting with spinach if you’ve never made a green smoothie before. I actually freaked out a little bit when I opened my empty vegetable crisper the other day and remembered that I had used up all my kale the night before. #problems

Shout out to Cassie of Bake Your Day–I won my amazing Blendtec blender from her giveaway and couldn’t be happier with it. It’s fearsome when it comes to blending kale and the soup function makes the silkiest broccoli soup I’ve ever tasted. The recipe booklet that comes with it is amazing as well!

*This 90% raw thing is going so well that I can see it becoming a way of life. I’ve been going strictly raw for breakfast and lunch with looser guidelines for dinner (sometimes beans are involved) and a mini muffin here and there is not completely off-limits. I think the key is that I don’t feel deprived at all. I’m just excited to see how my body functions on such a clean diet. Since some of you expressed interest, you can see an example of a day’s eats after the recipe jump! (Sorry if it’s boring. How do we feel about food log posts?)

Perfect Kale Smoothie

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 1 minute

Total Time: 6 minutes

Yield: 1 smoothie

Calories per serving: 288

Fat per serving: 11.6g

Ingredients

1/2 cup almond milk
1/4 cup water
1/2-1 tablespoon chia seeds (optional, but highly recommended!)
2 cups kale (or spinach)
1/2-2/3 frozen banana
4-5 large frozen strawberries or other frozen fruit
½ tablespoon peanut butter or other nut butter

Instructions

Add all ingredients to a blender in the order listed. Blend until smooth.

http://www.thepancakeprincess.com/2013/04/01/perfect-kale-smoothie/

90% Raw Food Log

Breakfast: kale smoothie (recipe above). I like to blend these right before I leave for work and transport them in a large smoothie cup I stole from Erik. I sip on it while I check my email and it makes my mornings infinitely more fun.

Lunch: lettuce wraps with carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers and pea pesto, inspired by Edible Perspective. Raw is all about embracing the food processor! I ate about 10 of these, no joke, a.k.a almost the entire batch of pesto. I also had half an apple and some cashews on the side.

Snack: an orange. Lately, my ritual has been to eat an orange on my way home from work every day. By the end of the day, I’m usually starving and the juicy sweetness just hits the spot. It helps keep the edge off my hunger so I don’t eat everything in sight when I get home.

Dinner: zucchini noodles with almond pesto. This was actually adapted from a recipe in the Smitten Kitchen cookbook–who knew you could find raw inspiration there? Also, raw carrots by the pound. I added cauliflower and cucumber to the plate this particular night and rounded out my meal with a big dollop of hummus (which is not raw, since the beans are cooked).

Dessert was a mini cappuchino muffin that I didn’t photograph because it’s not very exciting looking. And I wasn’t proud that I broke my raw streak for a muffin instead of say, steamed broccoli. But whatever–at least I didn’t feel deprived!

Basically, eating raw for me means a lot of crunchy raw vegetables, fresh fruit and nuts. The vegetables are the largest departure from my normal diet (I usually like to cook the heck out of them) but I think this is starting a good pattern.