Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream (Vegan)

Summertime with kids can be rough. It's too hot to play outside, and a kid can only sit in front of a t.v for so long before even they get bored, plus I do not feel good about my kids watching that much T.V (seems so wasteful of their minds), so I don't allow that much time spent sitting idle like that. If I had girls I think it would be a little different. Maybe they would enjoy cooking and cleaning with me, or sitting and coloring for hours. Or maybe they would be just like my precious boys who love being outside just as much as their mommy. Adlai is still small enough that it is not too bad, but Emory is ready for cooler weather (or maybe just I am). Today we made ice cream together. Usually he is not interested in helping me cook or bake, but he always loves testing my creations, and probably more than anything loves the dessert ones. He was so sweet. He sat by the ice cream machine patiently (well as patient as he could) waiting for it to be done. When it finished and I scooped it all into a container, I gave him the ice cream machine bowl, and let him have at it. I usually don't encourage big messes, but today it was much needed, and I don't think there is many cuter things than a 3 year old, in his undies (when is he not??), completely covered in (healthy) chocolate ice cream! He loved it, and had no idea it was actually a dairy free, refined sugar free protein filled treat. This mommas heart was filled. I love seeing my boys get excited, especially when it is over something I have created! 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream

Dairy Free/Refined Sugar Free

Makes about 2 cups

1 can full fat coconut milk

3 tablespoons honey or agave

2 heaping tablespoons cocoa powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 ripe (but not overripe) bananas

3 tablespoons crunchy natural peanut butter (the kind with peanuts as the only ingredient) 

1/4 cup toasted almonds, roughly chopped

In a saucepan warm coconut milk, honey, cocoa powder, and cinnamon until all powder is dissolved. 

Place the rest of the ingredients, and the coconut milk mixture in a blender and blend until fully mixed. Place in ice cream maker and make according to manufacturers instructions. When the ice cream starts to become solid, add in almonds, and let mix through a few more minutes. Scoop into a sealed container, and freeze for a couple hours until hardened. (or you can eat it right from the machine like we do :)

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ok so these are in now way "healthy", but they are "healthier" in the sense that 1: they are gluten free, making them easier for your body to digest, and 2: that they are made with all natural ingredients making them unprocessed and "better" for you. Too many quotations? This cookie was a complete splurge for us, and I will probably not be making them anytime soon, not because they were not delicious (trust me, I have declared these the best darn cookies I think I have ever had) but because we really do not need to be eating things with sugar and butter, but they were worth every bite. I really made these out of a pure desire to experiment with gluten free baking. I finally have accumulated random gluten free products and just wanted to test out some Babycakes recipes. While they keep their recipes vegan, I did not have coconut oil on hand and opted for butter , and who am I trying to kid, butter is just down right delicious in cookies. BUT, next time I would like to try these with coconut oil and agave instead of the butter an sugar, although more than likely my sister is going to inherit all of my gluten free baking items since I prefer to eat gluten/grain and refined sugar free when baking. Anyways, the cookies are amazing and really worth the effort to be gluten free. Not only is it easier on your body, but the oat flour (I just ground up whole oats myself) gives these a delicious texture and flavor. You must try them!

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from Babycakes NYC Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe found on Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free All purpose Baking Flour Bag (whew that was a lot)

Makes 36 small cookies, or about 2 dozen bigger ones for me

1 1/2 cups gluten free oat flour (you can just pulse gluten free oats in a food processor or blender until fine)

1 cup Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Baking Flour

1 cup organic sugar (I used natural cane sugar)

1/4 cup almond meal (or flaxseed meal)

1/4 cup Tapioca Starch (or arrowroot starch)

1 1/2 teaspoons Xanthan Gum

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons melted butter, coconut oil, or canola oil

6 tablespoons unsweetened Applesauce

2 tablespoons gluten free Vanilla Extract (or regular if your not gluten sensitive)

1 cup gluten free, dairy free chocolate chips (I used regular old chips here)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, almond meal, tapioca starch, xnathan gum, baking soda and salt. Add the melted butter, applesauce, and vanilla and stir with a rubber spatula until a thick dough forms. Stir in the chocolate chips until evenly distributed. 

Drop the dough by the tablespoon-full on the prepared baking sheets, about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake for 7 minutes, rotate baking sheets, and bake for 7 more minutes or until golden brown and firm. I like mine a bit more soft so I did not let mine get super firm. Let stand on the baking sheet for 15 minutes before eating. (Are you serious? this is really what it says, but who am I kidding..I singed my tongue devouring a hot cookie, which is just the way I like it!)

Chocolate Banana Brownie Bites

Chocolate.. My mouth starts watering just at the word. No seriously. I can honestly say I love chocolate. Chocolate cake, chocolate pie, chocolate ice cream, and just a small square of dove chocolate. But this year we have decided to make our best attempts at living and eating a life that is fulfilling and life giving, so needless to say chocolate is not on that list (at least not every night).  I have done A LOT of researching of recipes that are gluten/grain and refined sugar free, and it is not easy to find food, especially desserts that meet these standards. Luckily there are a few blogs I follow (like Roostblog) who cook according to these guidelines.  Baking is a challenge. I have been experimenting with almond flour desserts for about 7 months now, and have come to really love baked goods made with it. Toby however has been harder to convince. But, and this is a big but, these brownie bites are the first dessert I have made that he loves! Yes! Huge victory for me, his wife, who tries very hard to cook the healthiest foods but keep them exciting and tasty, and I finally did it. 

These brownie bites could not be easier to make, and are made with ingredients that digest well in your body, and keep you thriving (aka no sugar rush). Me and Emory have a little brownie bite every afternoon with my coffee break. He loves them, and as his mom I could not be more happy to see him eating foods that are going to help fuel him for his day. I would encourage you to try them out, even if you think you would not like sweets made without refined sugars and flours. They are quite delicious!

Chocolate Banana Brownie Bites 

Gluten/Grain/Refined Sugar Free

I adapted this recipe from This blog

2 ripe bananas
5 eggs (preferrably cage free and brown)
3/4 cup coconut oil, liquified ( I like to use unrefined)
1/2 cup Pure maple syrup (I like to use grade B)
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup almond flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat all wet ingredients on medium speed until well mixed. Stir in dry ingredients and mix until incorporated. You can make mini muffins, big muffins, mini loafs, or a large loaf. I made 4 dozen mini muffins and baked them for ten minutes. Make sure to spray pan, or use muffin liners, and bake until they feel set when touched. For mini muffins it was 10 minutes.

Chocolate Croissants and a Winner!

First off I want to say that you to all of you who participated in the Blog Giveaway.  I really loved reading all of your holiday traditions, and I think I may even steal a few ideas for this years holiday season. This morning I wrote everyone's names down on a piece of folded paper and drew from a hat, and Kate Stockman you are the winner! I will email you this week to get your address, and then the book is all yours! Thank you again for all the responses, it was such a blast reading them all. 

Now on to a more foodie note, this past week was a crazy one. I mean crazy. I had one sick baby, and a huge to-do list that has been put on hold. But there is one thing on my to-do list that I was able to check off, and that is "making Pain au Chocolat", or chocolate croissants. I honestly can't take all the credit for these because this really was mostly the handy work of my sister Brittany. She is INCREDIBLE, and an insanely good baker. She is the chocolate croissant queen, and she is the featured baker of the day on this blog. I am not going to such much more than the fact that they were AMAZING, because there is a lot of directions on how to make these. The process itself is quite simple, but it takes a total of 2-3 days to make because of the rising time. But don't let that scare you, you must make these, or find someone who will because you will never want to taste another croissant again.

Pain Au Chocolat

Adapted from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook

This recipe makes about 16-20 large chocolate filled croissants, or 2 dozen regular rolled croissants. 

2 cups cold milk
2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 pounds (about 4 1/2 cups) bread flour, plus more for dusting
4 ounce (1 scant cup) unbleached pastry flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
1/2 cup sugar
3 packages active dried yeast (or 2 oz. fresh yeast)
1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 pounds (5 sticks) Unsalted butter, cold
1 large egg, lightly beaten
8 oz good quality milk chocolate or a mix of semi-sweet and milk (1/2 oz per croissant)

Make the dough package; Heat milk to 110 degrees F. Stir in the yeast to dissolve, and let sit about 5 minutes until foamy. Stir in the honey. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, stir together 4 1/4 cups bread flour, the pastry flour, sugar and salt. With the mixer on low, slowly add in the milk mixture. Mix until the dough just comes together, 2-3 minutes.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface, gently knead to form a smooth ball, about 45 seconds. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, or overnight.

Make the butter block. Lay the butter sticks side by side on a piece of plastic wrap, and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup flour. Pound with a rolling pin until flour is incorporated, and roll into an 8-inch square. Wrap tightly, and refrigerate at least an hour, or overnight.

Remove dough package from refrigerator; place on a lightly floured work surface. roll out to a 16x10 inch rectangle, about 1/2 inch thick, with a short side facing you. Remove butter package from the refrigerator; place on the bottom half of the dough; fold the top half of the dough over the butter; pinch the edges good to seal.

Roll out the dough to a 20-by-10-inch rectangle, about 1/2 inch thick, with a short side facing you; keep the corners as square as possible/ Remove any excess flour with a dry pastry brush. Starting at the far end, fold the rectangle in thirds as you would a business letter. This completes the first of three turns. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour.

Repeat rolling and folding process above, two more times for a total of three rolls, with an hour refrigeration time in between. After the third roll, wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate 6-8 hours, or overnight.

Turn out chilled dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll out the dough to a 30-by-16-inch rectangle. (If the dough becomes too elastic, cover with plastic wrap, and let rest in fridge for 10 minutes). Using a pizza wheel or pastry cutter, cut the dough lengthwise to form two 30-by-8-inch rectangles. Cut each half into 4-by-8-inch rectangles. Place 1/2 oz of chocolate 1/4 inch from edge on short side of rectangle nearest you. Roll the croissant over the chocolate and brush the edge with egg before sealing over. Finish this process with all croissants. Cover loosely in plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until very spongy and doubled in size, 45-60 minutes. I put my oven on proof/warm, and let them rise for 25 minutes in there. Just make sure they do no start to cook.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, with the racks in the upper and lower thirds. Lightly brush croissants with the rest of the beaten egg. Bake, rotating the sheets halfway through, until the croissants are puffed and golden brown, about 20-25 minutes. Transfer sheets to a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temp.

Flourless Chocolate cake and Two Rustic Galettes

This past week Toby and I were invited over to one of our friends houses for dinner. I was in charge of bringing dessert, and brought them this flourless chocolate cake. It was devine. Rich, but not too dense. Moist, but not too gooey. And it is even more perfect paired with some bluebell homemade vanilla ice cream... I was in pure chocolate bliss.

I have been dying to make a flourless chocolate cake for months, but never could get myself to find the right occasion to do it. I am so glad I finally tried it because it was seriously so easy to make, and the results were stunning. Visually, it is a really beautiful and simple dessert (there are no pictures besides the one right out of the oven because i forgot my camera, and there was nothing left to snap later). When it comes out of he oven it is puffed and slightly cracked, but as it cools it falls and creates dramatic chocolate crevasse's. Beautiful!

I adapted this recipe from amandeleine blog, and it is a really good recipe. Also, there are some pictures below of a pear and vanilla galette, as well as a peach and cinnamon galette my mom made this week for some dinner guests we had at the house. She is an amazing baker! (that is where I learned my baking skills from). She used a recipe from Tyler Florence, and they were incredible! The dough has some lemon accents, and the filling is barely sweetened which is just how I like it! As you can see, it has been a week of amazing desserts around here! Next week I promise a healthier post!

Flourless Chocolate Cake

One thing to note here is use good chocolate. I used some really great bittersweet chocolate that gave this it's incredible richness. If rich is not your thing, you can always use a mix of bittersweet and semi-sweet. 

12 oz. bittersweet chocolate
1 cup butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
6 large eggs, yolks and whites separated into two bowls

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prep a 9 inch springform pan so that a large sheet of parchment paper hangs over the bottom of the pan, latched in place by the pan ring (see photo above). Grease pan sides and parchment.

Chop chocolate into small chunks, and place in a heatproof bowl. Add the butter, and melt over a pot of simmering water (a double boiler), making sure the water does not hit the bowl. Stir until melted and smooth. Remove from heat, whisk in sugar until combined. Add egg yolks, one at a time, whisking continuously.

In a medium bowl, beat egg whites on high with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into chocolate mixture until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour. The cake will rise in the oven and fall drastically as it cools. This is just what you want!

Let cool at room temperature for 1-2 hours. (I pulled mine out of the oven as we walked out the door and we ate it while it was still warm with some vanilla ice cream. Heaven!

Chocolate Loaf Cake

You are going to have to trust me that this cake is good. I tried my best to get a good picture with my digital camera, but it just doesn't cut it. Thank goodness mom lets me borrow her canon for the rest of my pics...The ones below were taken by some good friends for Emory's 1 year shoot. I may be biased, but I think he is the most handsome boy ever!

I have this obsession with chocolate, something I have had since I can remember. Growing up in Northern California, we spent a lot of evenings on the beach, evenings that were always accompanied by a good ol' fashioned s'more. I will blame this on my chocolate obsession. As I got older, and started baking with all realms of chocolate (who knew there were so many types of chocolate out there..) I have found a love for rich chocolate flavors. Don't get me wrong, I still have to have a s'more (made with none other than hershey's chocolate bar) every we have a fire, but I can no longer snack on a candy bar (unless it is dove) and consider it "chocolate". It lacks that rich velvety chocolate essence that I crave.

So needless to say this chocolate loaf cake is beyond any other chocolate treat I have ever made. The funny thing about it is its simplicity. Me and Brittany (my little sister) were making this last week expecting it to be average (we needed an excuse to bake), and we were completely blown away with the depth it held. So blown away we ate the entire thing (with a few helpers) in one day. Yes one day. I tweaked this recipe a lot, but it turned out perfect.

The original recipe called for bittersweet chocolate which I didn't have on hand so I went ahead and used semi-sweet chocolate chips. I am sure the more expensive you go on the chocolate the better it will taste, but there were obviously no complaints with my use of nestle chips. The recipe called for a brown sugar to be crumbled on top and ten broiled to create a crust. When we did this we found it to be way to crunchy, and too sweet. We picked it off, and instead made a brown sugar caramel and liberally drizzled it on top. It was much better. Personally, I think this loaf cake is perfect without the caramel, but if you want to take it a bit further, go ahead and make the drizzle.

Chocolate Loaf Cake

This cake is so incredibly easy to make, and it is by far the most moist cake I have every tried. 

Adapted from 101cookbooks

Chocolate Loaf Cake

1 1/4 all purpose flour


1 teaspoon baking soda


½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt


1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

1 cup unsalted butter,at room temp

1 2/3 cups loosely packed brown sugar

2 large eggs, beaten


2 teaspoons vanilla extract


4 oz (1/2 cup) semisweet chocolate, barely melted


1 cup plus 2 tablespoons boiling water


For Brown Sugar glaze:

¼ cup Brown Sugar

¼ cup Heavy Cream

2 Tablespoons of butter

pinch of salt

For the Loaf:

Preheat oven to 375F with a rack in the center. Butter a 9x5-inch (23 x 13-cm) loaf pan and line with parchment paper. You have to line the pan if you ever want to get this cake out of it.

Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cocoa powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Cream the butter until light and feathery, either with a wooden spoon or with an electric mixer. Beat in the sugar. Then add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl a couple times along the way. Add the vanilla, then fold in the melted (and now slightly cooled) chocolate, stirring until just barely combined. Now stir in 1/3 of the flour mixture, then 1/3 of the water, alternating until all the flour and water has been incorporated into what seems like an impossibly thing batter. Go with it. Pour into the prepared pan, place on a rimmed baking sheet (just in case there's an overflow), and bake for 30 minutes. Turn the oven down to 325F and continue to cook for another 18-19 minutes. The cake isn't going to test done like other cakes, but as long as your oven temp is accurate, you should be fine. Place the loaf pan on a rack, let cool completely, and enjoy the next day.

For the Glaze:

In a saucepan on medium heat, melt the butter. Add the sugar and whisk for about 1 minute. Add salt and cream, bring to a boil over medium heat and continue cooking for 2 additional minutes. Take off heat and cool for 15-20 minutes before pouring over your cooled loaf.

Makes 8 - 10 slices.

Mini-Chocolate Meringue Cupcakes

This recipe is a new one for me. I hardly ever try a new recipe and make it exactly how it says (I feel the need to change at least one part of it), but this recipe seemed to be perfect as is and I am glad I kept to the recipe. I love watching the food network (a guilty pleasure of mine) and one of my favorite chefs to watch is Giada De Laurentiis. She really loves cooking, and she makes some dang good food too! When I first saw the episode that featured this recipe I was very hesitant by the term meringue. I am not a big meringue fan, not even in the slightest bit. All I can picture is a mess of lemon custard, topped with a mile high mound of egg whites, displayed under a glass window in a cheap restaurant (I don't know when this association took place, but as you can see it haunts me).