Chocolate Crepes with Chocolate Sauce and Strawberries

Just pretend I posted these for Valentine’s Day ok? This is what I had intended too….shhh…I’m a little behind….. :)

Whether for Valentine’s Day or for any occasion, especially those special ones….this makes a delightful breakfast or dessert.  Top with whip cream if you have it on hand and can eat it. :)

The crepe recipe was altered from this recipe. The rich, dark chocolate syrup is my own creation.

Ingredients (crepe):

• 1 cup flour (whole wheat or GF mix)
• 2-4 tbsp  unsweetened cocoa powder (depending on how strong of a chocolate taste you desire-start with 2)
• 1 tbsp honey/sweetener
• 1 1/2 cups  milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 t. oil

Heat a pan on medium heat.   Mix wet ingredients. Then add dry ingredients. Grease pan. Pour scant 1/4 c. batter into pan and lift the pan off the burner, moving the batter around until you have a thin crepe.

Top and fill with strawberries and

Rich Dark Chocolate Syrup

• 3 T soft butter
• 1/2 c. cocoa
• 4 T. agave/honey
• 6-8 T. water (to your desired thickness.

Combine all ingredients and serve over crepes. Use leftovers for chocolate milk or ice-cream (cow, almond, soy, etc).

Peanut Butter Cookies with Peanut Butter Frosting

These aren’t a real sweet cookie, but I enjoyed them anyway! Besides, eating them with frosting, it was plenty sweet too! :) I altered the cookie recipe from this source. The frosting I made up myself, based on my alterations I made.

Ingredients (Cookie) :

• 2 cups flour (Whole wheat or GF mix)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 c. natural peanut butter (or other nut butter, or nut-free sunbutter)
• 1/3 c. softened butter (or earth balance)
• 1/2 c. honey
• 1/2 c. water
• 1.5 t. vanilla extract

Place your oven racks on the top third. Set your oven for 350. Combine the wet ingredients and then add the dry ingredients. Stir as little as possible. Create balls of dough or just spoon the dough onto a greased cookie sheet. Use a fork to squish down. Cook for 15-20 minutes.

Peanut-Butter Frosting:

1/2 c. peanut butter

1/4 c. +/- honey (I am going to try a little less next time)

3 T softened butter

Combine, and spread on cookies… If making the full amount of cookies (and desiring the full amount to have frosting) , you may want to double/triple this recipe as it doesn’t make a lot.

Healthy Chocolate Cookies with Homemade Peanut Butter Chips!

Or, How to get your chocolate peanut butter fix all in one stop! :)

Note: I made a small batch since I was adapting this from another recipe and also didn’t want too many cookies around. :) This recipe makes about 10 cookies though…Feel free to double or triple it according to your needs and wants.

Ingredients:
1/4 (~2T) banana, mashed
3 T. honey/agave

1 T. milk/water/dairy-free milk
1 T. cup melted butter/earth balance/oil

1/2 cup flour (whole wheat/GF flour blend)
1/4 c. cocoa

(Or if you want to make these as a basic cookie, use 3/4 c. flour and no cocoa)

pinch salt
1 /4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 c. homemade peanut butter chips

Preheat your oven for 325*. In a small bowl, (if you are making 1x the recipe, a cereal bowl can be used) mix together the wet ingredients and then add the dry (minus the chips). Spoon the dough onto a greased cookie sheet. Flatten the cookies if desired and then add chips. :) Cook for about 15 minutes.

PS. These are very satisfying with the chips added. If you don’t use the chips, they might be a little bland and not as sweet. I would suggest adding additional sweetener in that case.

Yummy, Homemade Use-what-you-have Pizza

My room mates went out for pizza and I decided since I was staying home, I’d make my own…healthier version with what I had on hand. (yeah-for double frugality! No money spent on going out, no money spent on more food supplies!)

I topped this with some frozen chicken pieces, bits of pineapple, frozen shredded cheddar cheese, and parmesan. Feel free to top it with whatever you have on hand (and can eat :)).

It was really yummy…soft, bread like, dough. It was very thick. I think next time I might split it into two pizzas.
 

No Rise Pizza and Crust – adapted from this recipe

 

Ingredients:

1 T yeast
1 C warm water

1 tsp. honey/agave
1 tsp. salt
2 T olive oil
2.5 C whole wheat flour or some other (GF flour) combo

Prepare the crust by mixing warm water, honey,and yeast in a small bowl. Allow yeast mix to sit for about 5 minutes.  Then add the oil and stir. After that add the flour and salt. 

Next knead the dough for a few minutes with your hands (or alternatively a kitchen aid/bread maker), then let it sit for 5 mins while you grease your pizza pan and gather the ingredients for the toppings.

Take the dough and put it on the center of the pan…stretch it out slowly until it covers the entire pan. Top it with your favorite sauce (I used straight tomato paste) and toppings.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the crust is done and the toppings (such as cheese) are done.

 

Soft and Chewy, Healthy! Chocolate Chip Cookies

WOW! This is the first time in years I’ve had a chocolate chip cookie! It’s amazing! And my first try worked! :) They were so good I ate way too many! and burned my tongue. :) I think these would be great too with the alterations listed but I was excited that they turned out so well with whole wheat flour and no refined sugar. Give them a try and let me know what you think!!! :)

They aren’t quite as sweet (just a little bit less sweet) than your normal cookie but they do the trick for me! :) Hence, the burnt tongue and disappearance of a 1/3 (ok…ok…1/3 sounds better…I ate 6! :) They were that good!) of my cookies! :)

Amazingly, Yummy, Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies

by Ari (me) based of this recipe

1 cup whole wheat flour (or GF flour blend)

1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup honey (or maple syrup)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup melted butter(or melted earth balance, melted coconut oil, etc)

1/3 cup chocolate chips (I used grain-sweetened, which are sugar-free)

Preheat the oven to 350*F. In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, stir together honey, vanilla extract and butter until well combined. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Place spoonfuls of batter on cookie sheets and bake for 13-17 (no more than 17- the maximum actually gets you a very crisp cookie with a tiny bit of a chewy center) minutes for soft chewy cookies. I would guess 15 minutes is about perfect. Cookies will set up as they cool. :) Makes 12-15 cookies.

ENJOY! :) Serve with a glass of cold milk! :)

100% Whole Wheat Bread- Tastiest EVER!

To all my celiac and gluten-free friends- I’m sorry, this recipe is not for you… but it was so good, I had to post it for those who could enjoy it!

Here are some yummy gluten-free breads. :) Corn of the Cob Bread, GF Whole Grain Bread,GF “White” Bread

Aunt Judi's 100% Whole Wheat Bread (Modified by Me,Ari)

(Note: I use my bread maker to knead it. Judi notes if you don’t use that or a kitchen aid, you won’t get as well of a rise.)

Yields: 2 loaves and rolls

6 cups freshly ground wheat (red or white)
2 1/2 T yeast
1 1/2 T salt
Whisk the dry ingredients together. Then add:
2 1/4 cups warm water

¼ c. honey
1/2 cup oil (melted organic palm oil shortening keeps this especially really moist)

Stir until blended well and very sticky. Place into mixer. Mix until you see the dough start forming a ball and coming away from the sides of the bowl. Turn onto a floured surface and knead a few times with your hands. Place in an oiled bowl and rise covered with a towel until double in bulk, about 1 hour. Punch down dough. Divide into two or three loaves depending on the size of your loaf pans. I make 2 loaves and use the rest for rolls. (or 2 large loaves). Shape into loaves and place in well greased loaf pans, covered. Let rise until forming a nice loaf shape barely over the tops of your pans, approximately 30 minutes. Bake in a preheated oven 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Soon after they are done, “paint” with butter to keep loaves soft. When they are cool, store in Ziploc bags.
Enjoy!

Cinnamon Raisin Variation:

For each loaf: Add ¾-1 c. raisins with the other ingredients. Add 1+ tsp cinnamon too. Really Good!