Almond Butter Cup Protein Cookies

Today I made a really tough decision. Life changing. I decided that it was time to take a break from peanut butter and give almond butter a chance to show me what's up. Ok, so maybe it's not so serious. Or maybe you just don't realize how much PB I actually consume on a daily basis. I currently have a nearly empty crunchy bae sitting in the fridge with 2 brand spankin' new jars up in the cupboard. No grocery run is complete without a trip down the Isle of Creamy Dreamy. To my shock and dismay, I recently read somewhere that a fellow PB loving baker actually developed an adult stage PB allergy from consuming waaay too much (I will still argue that too much PB is not a thing)! Reading that scared the crunchy-creamy dickens out of me, so I picked up some alternates. Sooo... to help me get through this rough patch, I decided to let almond buttah do me a solid and whip up the kind of cookies you make when you're heartbroken: the sweet, salty, sinful-but not so sinful that you feel guilty- kind of cookies. These are flourless, gluten free and refined sugar free with a pea protein pow! Crunchy, chewy, sweet and salty satisfaction. There is light at the end of the tunnel... or maybe that's the fridge light. Whatevs.

Almond Butter Cup Protein Cookies

1 cup almond butter

2/3 cup coconut sugar

2 scoops unsweetened pea protein (can sub other unflavored or vanilla protein powder if desired)

1 egg

Chocolate Glaze

2 to 3 tblsp dark choco chips

1 to 2 tsp coconut oil

Almond Butter Glaze

1 heaping spoon almond butter

1 to 2 tsp coconut oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees anf line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the almond butter and coconut sugar with an electric mixer. Add in the egg and whisk until combined. Whisk in the protein powder. A crumbly but moist dough should form. Roll about 1 inch balls of dough in your hand and place on your prepared cookie sheet. (I was able to get 24 cookies this way. You can definitely roll bigger balls of dough if you want larger cookies)

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until slightly golden but still soft. Remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack. While your cookies cool, prepare the chocolate coating and almond butter drizzle. Melt each in separate bowls with coconut oil. 30 second increments until smooth. Dip each cpokie halfway into the chocolate and place on a tray lined with parchment. Pop in the fridge or freezer to set. Remove from cooling and drizzle with melted almond butter. Place back in the fridge or freezer until set and enjoy!

I like to keep these in the freezer. Keeps them nice and chewy.

Soft and Chewy, Gluten Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

So, these cookies are also vegan and refined sugar free but I thought the title was already a little lengthy. Anywho, these are my current favorite cookies to bake. They. Are. So. Good. I often (like, always) find myself in dire need of a sweet and salty fix. The ultimate sweet and salty combo being, of course, peanut butter and chocolate. I am also somewhat (completely) interested (obsessed) with using oat flour in my goodie recipes. I have also completely stopped using refined white sugar and switched to coconut, which adds Ah-maz-ing flavor, in my expert opinion. The one thing I have never, EVER tried in a cookie recipe is adding milk. Spoiler alert! It's awesome! That one little addition keeps the oat flour from making the cookies too dry and crumbly. Well, yes, a dry and crumbly cookie is still a cookie, but nothing beats a soft, chewy chipper in my book.

Soft and Chewy, Vegan, Gluten, Refined Sugar Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (phew!)
Adapted from Coco Bakes Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup chunky natural unsalted peanut butter
1 cup coconut sugar
2/3 cup oat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp Himalayan Pink Sea Salt
1/4 cup chocolate hemp milk
1/4 cup chopped dark chocolate (or more if you like a higher chocolate to dough ratio)

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or a silpat mat. Using an electric mixer, whisk the peanut butter, sugar and Himalayan sea salt until creamy. In a separate bowl, mix together the oat flour and baking soda. Add into the peanut butter, sugar, salt mixture. Whisk in the hemp milk, and then the chocolate chunks. Use a tablespoon to scoop out dough and form balls. Flatten them a bit on the cookie sheet and bake for 9-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer them to a fresh piece of parchment paper to cool (I would usually use a cooling rack, but these cookies are very soft when hot. Cooling them on a flat surface works best... if they last that long).

Enjoy!!

Flourless, Refined Sugar Free Brownie Donuts

OHmyglob. OHMYGL..... Ok you get it. These donuts are what dreams are made of! I'm not exaggerating. Moist, dense, satisfiying...check. Sinful chocolate flavor...check. Flourless?? Refined sugar free??? What??????? Yes. And they're glazed too. Uh huh, uh huh. Also, if you count hemp seeds as sprinkles, then these are sprinkled, baby! What's the catch? There isn't one, unless you don't like donuts, chocolate, almond butter or happiness.

Ingredients:

1 cup natural unsalted creamy or crunchy almond butter
1 ripe banana, mashed
2 tblsp. organic cacao
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tblsp. pure grade A or B maple
2 tblsp. unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Glaze:
1/4 cup dark chocolate (chips or chopped)
1 tblsp. coconut oil

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a donut pan by greasing with coconut oil or non-stick spray. Use an electric mixer to mash the banana. Add in the almond butter and whisk until smooth. Add in maple, almond milk and vanilla and mix until combined. In a small, separate bowl mix together cacao and baking powder. Whisk into the wet ingredients just until combined. Spoon the batter into your prepared pan and bake for 12-16 minutes or until the donuts spring back when touched. Remove from the donut pan and transfer to a cooling rack until completely cooled. While the donuts cool, melt dark chocolate chips or chopped chocolate (I use Trader Joe's 72% dark) and coconut oil in the micro for 30 seconds at a time until melted smooth when stirred. Dip your donuts face first into the chocolate glaze and place on parchment paper. Allow the chocolate to set before serving.

I sprinkled a few with hemp seed for a little extra nutritional boost! Try topping them with coconut flakes, nuts, whatever you want!

xoxo

The BEST Gluten Free Vegan Fudge Brownies

What do you want a brownie to be? Dense, moist, fudgey, with a strong POW! of chocolate flavor. What don't you want a brownie to be? Full of refined sugars, flour and fat. Sounds like a too-good-to-be-true brownie situation, right? WRONG. You just have to be determined enough to make those brownie dreams a reality. Luckily for you, I've done most of the work so you can just bake and enjoy ;]

Gluten Free Vegan Fudge Brownies

Ingredients:

1 cup natural unsalted almond butter or smooth peanut butter
1/3 cup REAL Grade B maple syrup
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 ripe banana
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder

Directions:

Line a bread pan with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a standing mixer, or with a hand mixer, whisk together the banana, almond or pb, vanilla and maple. Mix in the cocoa powder and baking powder until smooth. Pour into your prepared bead pan and smooth out evenly. Sprinkle with some dark chocolate or vegan chips if desired. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan before removing. To remove, gently lift the bars out by the parchment paper hanging over the sides. Refrigerate for at least one hour before slicing.

*I left out the chocolate chips, and melted a little coconut oil and dark chocolate, drizzled it over the brownies and then sprinkled some hemp seeds over the top before popping these babies in the fridge. Waaaay good.

These things are super duper addicting, and I found myself eating one before breakfast, as a snack and basically everywhere in between. I recommend cutting them into little squares for this very reason :]

xoxo

Banana Bread Granola

I love baking, especially around the holidays. All of the usual festive treats are great, but sometimes I like to switch things up by baking something on the healthier side. Granola is one of my all time favorite snack foods, and it can actually be pretty good for you. Don't be fooled, though... some of those pre-packaged, store bought granola cereals are packed with sugar, and basically qualify as a dessert food. Making granola at home is a lot more wholesome and healthy, while still maintaining that dessert-like appeal! I was pleasantly surprised to find that granola is super easy to make, and only takes a few, quality ingredients. I almost always have some sweet, ripe bananas around, so I was so excited when I found this recipe for Banana Bread Granola from the magical miss Minimalist Baker (love her recipes!). Who doesn't love the smell of warm, freshly-baked banana bread? This granola will fill your entire home with the sweetness of this all-time-favorite comfort food.

Ingredients:
slightly adapted from The Minimalist Baker

3 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup of mixed nuts: I used pecans, almonds and hazelnuts
3 Tbsp coconut sugar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 Tbsp flax seed
1/2 Tbsp chia seed
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup honey (can sub maple if vegan)
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (extract works well too)
1 medium ripe banana, mashed (~1/2 cup)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix the oats, cinnamon, coconut sugar, salt, flaxseed/chia and nuts together in a large bowl, and toss together. In a small saucepan over low heat, warm the coconut oil, honey and vanilla until everything is melted together. Remove from heat and whisk in banana puree until combined. Pour over the dry ingredients and mix well, ensuring that the mixture is well coated.
Spread the mixture evenly onto one large or two small baking sheets (if you pile the granola onto the sheet, it won't bake evenly and may result in a chewy granola). Bake for 23-28 minutes or until golden brown. Note: For a more clumpy granola, don’t toss the granola while baking. If you prefer a more crumbly granola, stir the granola on the baking sheet halfway through baking to break up the clumps. Once the granola has browned, remove from the oven and toss just a bit to let the heat escape. Cool completely on the baking sheet before transferring to an airtight container.

Granola can be enjoyed with milk, yogurt or by the fist-fulls!

xoxo