Tag Archives: chocolate

Chewy Breakfast Cookies

gluten free oatmeal breakfast cookiesOne day I’ll have time for long, luxurious breakfasts where I can lounge in my matching PJs on my wrap-around porch and actually eat breakfast with a fork. But today is not that day. And tomorrow doesn’t look good either. That’s why I’ve been trying my hand at more portable breakfasts. As much as I love my crustless quiche, sometimes I barely have time to make coffee in the morning. And let’s be real, coffee takes precedence above pretty much everything. But the lure of cookies and coffee?! That’ll get me out of bed.

breakfast cookiesThese are admittedly healthier than your everyday cookies. You gotta start your day right. These cookies are sweet, but not overly so and packed with plenty of natural energy to power through even the Monday-iest of Mondays.

Ingredients
1/4 cup of salted butter
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of honey
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup of sunbutter (peanut or almond butter would work too)
3 cups of rolled oats
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
1/2 cup of chopped cashews
1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
Sea salt for sprinkling

easy gluten free breakfast barsPreheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine sugar, butter and honey in a bowl and beat until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, beat again. Add sunbutter and mix. Finally, stir in the oats, walnuts and cashews. To keep these cookies solid, I baked them in muffin tins. I greased the tin, then filled the tins half full and lightly pressed down the dough. These cookies can also be made into bars! To make into bars, press into a greased cake pan. Cookies bake for approximately 18-20 minutes. Bars bake for approximately 25 minutes. Oats will brown when cookies and bars are finished.  Let muffins cool on a rack, let the bars cool in the cake pan. Melt chocolate chips and drizzle (or spread!) over cookies (or bars!). Sprinkle with sea salt.

Let’s tackle tough mornings together!

love,
melanie

Nuts About You: Valentine’s Day Recipe and Free Printable

Nuts about you

I secretly love Valentine’s Day. I know it’s not cool to like the lovey-dovey holiday, but George and I had our first date on Valentine’s Day and I can’t help but be nostalgic about it. This year instead of the heart-shaped cookies, candy and cakes, I wanted to do something a bit different.  Who comes to the rescue once again? Our beloved friend, nuts!

Ingredients:

  • 1 tbsp coconut oil
  • 1/2 cup of walnuts
  • 1/2 cup of pecans
  • 1/2 cup of cashews
  • 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips
  • Sea salt for sprinkling

Melt the coconut oil in a skillet over low heat. Throw in the nuts and toast until slightly brown. Remove from heat and spread nuts on a cookie sheet lined in wax paper. Melt chocolate in a double boiler or impromptu double boiler (a larger pot over a slightly smaller pot 1/4 full of water.) Stir chocolate constantly and when smooth drizzle over nuts. Sprinkle with sea salt. Chill nuts in fridge until chocolate sets.

Chocolate covered nuts

To make the bags, I took a Ziplock bag and cut off the resealable edge. Then, I added the nuts. To make the printable, I drew a little peanut cartoon (then George told me it sucked and re-drew it) and scanned it in Photoshop. But you don’t have to do that because I created a downloadable one for you right here! Just click on it for the full image!

Nuts about you printable

Finally, I cut out the image, punched a hole and tied it to the bag. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. Make them for anyone and everyone you are nuts about!

love,
melanie

 

 

 

Dark Chocolate, Salted, Caramel Rice Krispies

rice_krispiesCan you all tell this month has been kicking my butt? Easy projects have been key lately. Lucky for you (and me) this recipe is super easy!

I wanted to make Rice Krispies for a work luncheon, but I had to do something a little different. So, I thought, why not substitute caramel for the marshmallows?! Then I got real crazy and added sea salt and chocolate– my favorite combo.

Ingredients:
3 cups of Rice Krispies
1 package (14 oz.) of caramels
2 tablespoons of butter
5 squares of dark chocolate (or enough to drizzle on top)
2 pinches of sea salt

Directions:
Melt butter in a double boiler* over low heat. Add caramels and stir until candy has completely melted together. Add Rice Krispies to the caramel one cup at a time. Stir quickly! Take off the heat and spread into a greased pan.

Break chocolate into little pieces and melt in either a double boiler or a microwave. Drizzle onto the Rice Krispies. Sprinkle sea salt on top.

*If you don’t have a double boiler (I don’t) you can always place a slightly larger pot on top of a smaller pot of water to create the effect.

rice krispies with carmel and dark chocolateGeorge said it reminded him of a grown-up version of a Star Crunch. I take that a huge compliment.

love,
melanie

Gluten-free, No Bake, Chocolate Cake Bites

cake bite

My oven has been broken for over a month. I live in a gorgeous building, but when something breaks, there is no hurry to fix it.

Which means my cake cravings are out of control. You know what I mean. You always want something more when it is practically impossible to acquire. So, I searched around the Internet, did what a good librarian does, and found THE BEST, gluten-free, no bake chocolate cake. EVER. I mean it.

You can find the original recipe at 101 Cookbooks. I’ve adapted it just a tad to make cake bites since the cake is so rich.

Supplies

  • cupcake pan
  • cupcake liners
  • plastic wrap
  • whisk
  • double boiler or the bowl- over-pan method described below
  • medium pan

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces of 70% dark chocolate, well chopped
  • 8 ounces of heavy cream
  • 1/2 teaspoon allspice
  • 2 teaspoons finely ground espresso
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine grain salt
  • cinnamon, to serve
  • whipped creme, to serve

Step 1. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners. You may want to try spraying the liners with a little nonstick spray. I didn’t try it, but I wish I did since the bites were a bit ugly.

 

improvised double boiler

improvised double boiler

Step 2: Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over gentle heat. If you don’t have double boiler, don’t worry. I don’t have one either. Just put a larger bowl on top of a smaller saucepan and fill with about an inch of water and heat the water to simmering.

Step 3: As the chocolate is melting, in a separate pan, heat the cream over gentle heat. Stir in the allspice and the espresso.

Step 4: When the cream is hot to the touch, remove from heat and stir in the salt.

Step 5: After the chocolate has melted, pour it into the cream slowly and whisk slowly. At this point, you are probably going to think, this isn’t working! But I promise, if you are patient and keep whisking, it will come together.

Step 6: Pour mixture into the cupcake pan.

Step 7:  Cover with plastic wrap.

Step 8: Refrigerate until solid. I let mine refrigerate overnight.

Step 9:  Let the cake bites come up to room temperature.

cake bites

Step 10: Peel off the wrapper and finish them off with a little whipped creme and a dusting of cinnamon.

Hope your day is scrumptious!

love,
melanie