Nutty-Fruity Oatmeal Cookie Cups

Sorry. I was a little bit stressed out in the last post. I'm feeling much better about everything today. I'm caught up on most stuff. Except for my blog reading, which I will do very soon. And the German chocolate cake was a success! I'll blog about that next.

And guess what? We didn't get six to twelve inches of snow, but we did get four (UPDATE - we had eight inches of snow. I stand corrected). The roads were actually pretty bad, and most businesses were closed. In a great romantic gesture, Eric picked me so I wouldn't have to drive in the snow, and we had a delicious Taco Bell date filled with gorditas and cinnamon twists. He deserves a medal for his honor.

Anyway, I'm going to get caught up on my blog reading tomorrow. I started reading a few health and fitness blogs a few months ago. At first, I didn't really understand them. They blog a few times a day about what they eat. That doesn't sound terribly interesting, does it? Well, apparently I'm interested, because I've continued to read them.

I have discovered that I'm strangely fascinated with what people eat every day. Is that weird? That's weird. Are you curious about other people's meals like I am? I feel like my grandma. Wait, actually, she doesn't care what other people eat, but she tells you what she ate that day. (Whataburger)

I decided one day that I would blog about what I ate in a day. So I started off by taking pictures of my "morning" coffee.



I like to make mocha lattes with espresso, milk, and... um, chocolate Ovaltine? I'm embarrassed. But yes, I bought a huge canister of Ovaltine a month ago. My thinking is, I'm getting sugar, chocolate flavoring, and vitamins, all in a cup of coffee. Then you must top it with aerosal whipped cream. For extra calcium.
The coffee mug is from the pottery place at Silver Dollar City, and I LOVE it. It's the best coffee mug ever.



Then I moved on to taking a picture of my "breakfast" which consists of quick oats in a coffee mug, with almond butter, banana, milled flax seed, honey, and milk. It's pretty incredible. Oh! I forgot the granola. I top the oatmeal with granola for some crunchy texture. I slice bananas and freeze them when they're getting ready to go bad. Pretty thrifty, I am. You should have seen the steals I got from Old Navy the other day.

Are you fascinated yet? I bet so. Just kidding.

Then, I forgot to take pictures of what I ate the rest of the day. So that's all I have for you. Haha. I have to give credit to the food bloggers who take pictures of everything they eat all day.



This is my last post of January, and my last healthy post for a while. I'd like to do more healthy desserts in the future though. But let's be honest - most of my healthy desserts were not that healthy - but I tried to convince you otherwise.

The name of these cookies is quite lame. Nutty-Fruity Oatmeal Cookie Cups?? Come onnn. I can do better than that. Except I can't.



This is a healthy cookie batter that contains flour, oats, flax, walnuts, coconut, sunflower seed butter (from HEAB - thanks Heather!), brown sugar, egg, honey and dried fruit, and then it's rolled into balls and baked in a mini muffin tin. They're cute and healthy!

Nutty-Fruity Oatmeal Cookie Cups (Recipe by Me)
Printable Recipe

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup old fashioned oats
1/4 cup milled flax seed
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts, toasted
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut, toasted
1/2 cup sunflower seed butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup finely chopped dried figs
1/3 cup dried blueberries
1/3 cup sweetened dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 30 mini-muffin cups with paper liners.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt; whisk in oats, flax, walnuts and coconut until well combined. In a large mixing, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together sunflower seed butter, brown sugar and honey until well combined and creamy; beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually beat in flour mixture until combined. Beat in dried fruit until combined.

Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into balls, and place balls into muffin cups. Bake 15-17 minutes or until golden brown on top. Cool five minutes before removing liners from pan.

Makes 30 cookie cups

White Chocolate-Blueberry-Almond Granola Bars

M y-oh-my. I'm tired.

It's three in the morning and I just finished up working on my dad's birthday cake. What time did I start? I don't even know. 11:30?
Happy birthday pops! I hope you have a good day!

The cake is a variation of German chocolate cake and I will be posting the recipe soon.
What did tonight's baking lesson teach me?
-German chocolate tastes like regular chocolate. Sooo disappointing. I was expecting it to taste like wiener schnitzel and beer. And it didn't. Won't be buying that again, that's for damn sure.

-Traditional German chocolate cakes have this icing that consists of cooked eggs and condensed milk. I think that's weird. Wouldn't it taste like scrambled egg icing? I don't even know if I've had German chocolate cake before.

Anyway. I'm really, really tired and it's time for bed. I've been testing two or three recipes at night, and it's taking its toll. I haven't read any blogs for a week or so now. That's another thing I'm behind on. Sigh.

But I do have a new recipe for you! White Chocolate-Blueberry-Almond Granola Bars.

Dried blueberries are my favorite dried fruit EVER. I hadn't had them before and they are so good. They're on the pricey side, though, which makes me sad. These granola bars contain honey, flax, cinnamon, dried blueberries, almonds, coconut, oats and white chocolate. Prettttty healthy for you. Almost healthy. They have butter in them. I couldn't help myself.

These were delicious granola bars, but a little big raggedy looking, I think. I probably could have made the presentation on these a bit better.

I'm starting to doze off as I type this. You're probably dozing off too. What a boring blog post. My-oh-my.

One more thing - it's supposed to snow tonight and we might get anywhere from 6-12 inches. Can you believe that?! I strongly dislike that. I'll be stranded and won't be able to see my schmoopy. He brought me coffee at work tonight and cleaned one of my tables. Isn't he sweet?? He is the best.

White Chocolate-Blueberry-Almond Granola Bars (By Me)
Printable Recipe

1 large egg
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons milled flax seed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup dried blueberries
2/3 cup finely chopped almonds, toasted
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 1/4 cups quick oats
3/4 cup crushed bran cereal
Melted white chocolate, for drizzling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8x8-inch baking dish with foil; coat foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together egg, brown sugar, butter, honey, flax, vanilla, almond extract and cinnamon until well combined; stir in blueberries, almonds, coconut, oats and cereal until combined. Evenly press mixture into prepared pan.

Bake 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cover with foil and bake an additional 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely. Lift foil out of pan and slice into bars. Drizzle with white chocolate and allow to dry.

Makes 12 bars

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

I f you had to pick your favorite foods, what would they be?

Let's say... top ten. Top five favorite foods would be too difficult, I think. If you could only have these ten food items for the rest of your life, what would they be?

I recently thought about this question myself.

10. Baja Chicken Gorditas with Fire Sauce
9. Croissants with Nutella
8. Peanut-Butter-Banana Oatmeal
7. Avocado
6. Cornbread
5. Sweet Potato Fries
4. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream
3. Mocha Lattes with Whipped Cream
2. Fried Okra
1. Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Hmm plenty of fried stuff and sugar on that list. I'm glad I don't really have to only eat those items, because I'm pretty sure I'd get the diabetes.

Let's see if I can get Eric and Hannah's top five favorite foods... maybe they'll comment and we'll see if I am correct.

Eric
5. Cornbread/Baked Beans
4. Burgers
3. Ribs
2. Pepperoni Pizza
1. Orange Chicken

Hannah
5. Ramen Noodles
4. Flamin' Hot Cheetos
3. Fries
2. Cashew Chicken
1. Sushi

Have I wasted enough of your time today? Okay then.



Two of my favorite foods are chocolate cake and avocado. I've seen various chocolate-avocado cake recipes around the web in the past. Joy's comes to mind. Her cake even has an avocado buttercream. Coooool.

Using avocado in a recipe to make it vegan is kind of brilliant. It has a neutral, buttery flavor that blends perfectly into a chocolate cake batter. No eggs or butter necessary.



Into my cupcake batter went flour, flax, avocado, brown sugar, oil, unsweetened chocolate and coconut milk. The frosting is made with Earth Balance, confectioners' sugar and unsweetened chocolate.

I put sprinkles on top. It just occurred to me that sprinkles may not be vegan. Whoops. But they might be. Who knows! It's one of the great mysteries of life.



These cupcakes are really good and rich, but not light and airy like a regular chocolate cake. These are more like soft brownie-cakes.

So here they are: Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes for all you smokin' hawt vegans out there! You're fabulous! Keep doin what you're doin!

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes (By Me)
Printable Recipe

2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons milled flax seed
3/4 cup mashed ripe avocado
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 1/3 cups coconut milk (or almond, rice, soy)

Chocolate Frosting
1/2 cup dairy free margarine spread (such as Earth Balance)
2 cups confectioners' sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 16 muffin cups with liners.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt; whisk in flax until combined. In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together avocado, brown sugar, oil and 1 teaspoon vanilla until creamy - about 1-2 minutes; beat in 4 ounces melted chocolate until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually beat in flour mixture, alternating with coconut milk, until well combined.

Divide batter into muffins cups. Bake 15-20 minutes or until well risen and slightly crackled on top. Cool 10 minutes in pan before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

To make the frosting, in a medium mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together margarine spread and confectioners' sugar until well combined - about 1-2 minutes; beat in 3/4 teaspoon vanilla and 2 ounces melted chocolate until well combined. Pipe or spread frosting on cupcakes.

Makes 16 cupcakes

Chocolate-Orange Ricotta Torte

Tonight, it occurred to me that I should probably stop eating the Chunky Monkey Biscotti. I've been crumbling them up and stirring them into pudding cups.
Sorry, that was too much information. But then again I told you about my bed sheets and hair roots in my last post, and you're still here. Thanks for your advice, by the way. Looks like I'm going to have to look into a duuvayyy or go Euro with one sheet. :)

Anyway, I should probably stop eating the biscotti because I made them at least a week before I posted about them. And here it is a week after I blogged about the cookies. So we're talking about 2-2 1/2 week old biscotti here.

The good news is they hold up well and are still delicious two weeks after you bake them. The bad news is I could get food poisioning at any second.

I started eating a biscotti and then I thought about how old they were and immediately stopped eating it. Then I felt all gross and dirty, like I needed to take a hot shower.

I feel the same way after I watch Hoarders. I watched an episode the other day (Sorry, I watch too much TV. That's what happens when you start working two days a week.) where an older woman hoarded food, and kept rotting pumpkins and apples in her living room, and it was so disgusting. She kept all of her food months after the sell dates. She said if whatever it was wasn't "puffy", it was still good.
Oooh, I found the episode. She's the second woman to come on.

I do not want to turn into that woman. I'm going to be more careful about what I let sit around. I'm throwing everything I bake away, two days after I make it.



Example: Chocolate-Orange Ricotta Torte. This was only around for a day, but it was delicious while it was here. It's like a rich, Italian brownie. This is another "light" dessert I made. I'm not sure how healthy it actually is, so let me break it down for you. I used toasted almonds, light ricotta cheese, flour, sugar, eggs, orange zest and unsweetened chocolate in this torte - no added butter or oil. Almonds, ricotta, orange, chocolate... that's healthy. I certify this as being healthy when eaten in moderation.

Chocolate-Orange Ricotta Torte (Recipe by Me)
Printable Recipe

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup very finely chopped almonds, toasted
1 cup ricotta cheese (I used part-skim)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
2 large eggs
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9-inch cake pan.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; whisk in almonds until combined. In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together ricotta cheese, sugar, and orange zest until well combined - about 1-2 minutes. Beat in eggs, orange zest, orange juice, and vanilla until well combined, about 1 minute. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in dry ingredients until just combined. Beat in melted chocolate until combined.

Scrape batter evenly into prepared pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until set. Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour before slicing.

Makes 8 servings

Vanilla Bean-Sour Cream Panna Cotta with Cherries

Happy Martin Luther King Day! Does everyone have the day off? I hope so. If you don't, I feel for you. That's pretty crummy.

A few annoying things are on my mind today.

-Putting sheets on your bed takes entirely too long. I dread washing my sheets. It literally takes me twenty minutes to put clean sheets on my bed. The thought of putting sheets on my bed for the rest of my life makes me want to vomit. Think of all that wasted, precious time. There has to be an easier way. Somebody please invent something, fast.

-I'm down to the last two weeks before I can get my hair fixed. Do you know what I'm talking about? I try to wait four months before I allow myself to get my hair cut and highlighted... it's too expensive otherwise. These last few days before you get your hair fixed can be some of the darkest days in your life. I avoid eye contact with the mirror. If I do come in contact with it, my eyes are drawn to my roots, and then I have to stare at them at least ten minutes. Without blinking.
My hair is a mess it's getting way too long and out of hand. February can't come soon enough.

-The third annoyance: NBC. What. Are. You. Thinking?! If only I had the opportunity to punch some NBC executives in the face right now.

I'm with COCO. I'll continue to watch Conan wherever he goes. I'm a HUGE fan. I was lucky enough to see Conan in New York when he was hosting Late Night. Remember when I blogged about it? This is the funniest man alive, and he belongs on the Tonight Show. I think the Tonight Show is so much better now. Do you agree or disagree? I know a lot of people are Leno fans.





Today's dessert is another healthy one. Vanilla Bean-Sour Cream Panna Cotta is light, refreshing, and delicious. Oh, and it's a snap to make. Really. Like it's really, really easy. You heat the milk and sugar, whisk it into gelatin, sour cream and vanilla bean, and then pour the mixture into ramekins to chill. I had some frozen sour cherries on hand, so I made a simple cherry sauce to serve with the panna cotta.

Vanilla Bean-Sour Cream Panna Cotta with Cherries (By Me)
Printable Recipe
1 1/4 cups reduced fat milk, divided use
1 1/4 teaspoons gelatin
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup reduced fat sour cream
1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped out

1 1/2 cups frozen sour cherries, pitted
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Place 1/4 cup milk in a medium bowl; sprinkle gelatin into milk and allow to sit for ten minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, over medium heat, bring additional 1 cup milk and 1/3 cup sugar to a boil, whisking frequently. Whisk milk into gelatin mixture, along with the sour cream and vanilla bean seeds, until well combined, about 1 minute. Divide into 4 ramekins. Cover and chill for 4 hours or until set.

To make the cherries, in a small saucepan, bring cherries and 1/4 cup sugar to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Break down the cherries slightly, using some sort of mashing device. Continue to cook for 10 minutes or until thickened and bubbly, stirring frequently. Pour into a dish, lightly cover, and chill until ready to serve.

When ready to serve, run a knife around panna cotta edges, and invert onto plates. Drizzle with cherries and garnish with walnuts.

Makes 4 servings

Chocolate Babka

A fter reading and viewing news coverage about all of the devastation in Haiti, my usual banter doesn't feel appropriate. Poor, poor Haiti. I wish I were a doctor or some other useful profession, and I could help out. It's so frustrating when you feel like you can't do anything to help.

I feel so grateful for everything I have in my life. I bet you guys feel the same way, too. We have family, friends, shelter, food... we're so lucky. A devastation like this makes you realize that life is short. Be happy and thankful, and live life to the fullest. You know? Cherish what you have and don't sweat the small stuff. That's what I'm thinking today.

Sorry, that is so depressing! Also, I feel guilty blogging about food. Like, here, let me show you this delicious loaf of bread I baked and couldn't stop eating!

Two things happened to me one day, about a month ago - I saw the Seinfeld babka episode on tv, and I also came across a chocolate babka recipe in Cooking Light.

I took this as a sign that I needed to bake a babka. A chocolate babka... not cinnamon (the lesser babka).

A babka is technically a cake, but it seemed like more like bread to me, because it's made with yeast. It's twisted with a cinnamon or chocolate filling, and topped with streusel and baked.



I whipped this bread up and it was pretty easy. I only had one problem with it, and it happened when I transferred the bread from the pan to the wire rack. The bread sunk a bit, and I think it might have been my fault - I think I added too much chocolate. Which I don't think is too much of a problem... do you??

Anyway, this was a delicious recipe and I highly recommend it. I love Cooking Light! It's one of my favorite magazines. I take it into work and savor every recipe... and try to ignore the tables with people that need refills and such. ;)
One more thing, I met a Sugar Plum reader at the restaurant where I serve at. Hi Susan! She's one of my few local readers (which consists of my family).

Chunky Monkey Biscotti

I've had more good luck than bad luck when it comes to grocery shopping. Usually I can find something new and wonderful each time I visit the store. You know, the items you see in the grocery store that make you stop dead in your tracks.

"Meyer lemons! Wowwww."

Or:

"Medjool dates! Amazing!"

Or:

"Tandoori cilantro & garlic naan... I've never seen THIS before!"

You pick the item up, caress it a bit, and look around for someone to share your excitement with. The only person close is the produce manager, and he's too busy unloading bananas.

Wait... what is he unloading? Are those MINI bananas! That's incredible! I have to have some mini bananas.

I bought them, and guess what? I don't like mini bananas - the flavor is slightly off and they're not as sweet as you'd think. I think I'll stick with regular bananas now. You can't beat regular, cheap bananas. Have you had mini bananas before? What did you think? Also, I find it strange that bananas don't completely freeze. You can eat them after they've been frozen, and they're still soft.



Fortunately, a good way to use up mini banana (or regular) is to make Chunky Monkey Biscotti. My favorite biscotti ever, using my favorite ingredients ever - banana, chocolate, and chunky peanut butter.

These are kind of healthy, right?? Kind of? Come onnnn.

Chunky Monkey Biscotti (By Me)
Printable Recipe

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana
2 large eggs
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Melted chocolate for dipping, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a large cookie sheet with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; whisk in sugar and chocolate chips until combined. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together banana, eggs, peanut butter and vanilla until well combined. Stir in dry ingredients until well combined. Divide dough and shape into three (9 x 2 1/3–inch) logs on cookie sheet.

Bake for 30 minutes; cool 5 minutes before transferring logs to wire racks to cool an additional 15 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and cut rolls diagonally into 1/2-inch thick slices. Place, cut sides down, on baking sheet. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees; bake 10 minutes. Turn cookies over; bake an additional 15 minutes (cookies will be slightly soft in center but will harden as they cool). Remove from baking sheet; cool completely on wire racks.

Dip in melted chocolate if desired.

Maple-Pumpkin Granola

There are things that I regret in my lifetime. Things that I wish I could go back in time and change. I wonder... how would my life be different now?

What if... what if, when I was a kid, I hadn't stolen from the grocery store? What if I had resisted that urge to eat sugar wafer cookies from the bin? What if I left the walnuts alone and hadn't stuck them in my pocket? I wouldn't have gotten scolded.

Or, that one time when I was youngin', what if I hadn't eaten so many Cheddar Bay Biscuits and popcorn shrimp at Red Lobster? I wouldn't have had to lie down in the booth and clutch my stomach.

There was this time in fifth grade, when I was painting my nails on the kitchen table, and spilled nail polish remover. If I had painted them in my room, I wouldn't have ruined the brand new kitchen table that my parents bought.

More recently, what if I hadn't worn those super slippery socks on Wednesday night? I wouldn't have slipped on the stairs and spilled coffee and pastries everywhere. I wouldn't have drenched my only pair of warm, fuzzy pants, and had to clean up the mess for twenty minutes.

The giant 2 lb. bag of gummy bears seemed like SUCH a good idea the other night. My thinking: "I love gummy bears! That's not too many at all!" What was I thinking? Gummy bears aren't that good. And they make you sick after eating twenty of them. If I hadn't bought that bag of gummy bears, I'd still like gummy bears. And I wouldn't be stuck with a 1 3/4 lb. bag of gummy bears.

BUT. The greatest regret in my life was my choice to watch an episode of Jersey Shore. Because now I'm hooked. BEST SHOW EVER! ;) I know who's getting the Emmy this year!

What's going to happen this Thursday on the two hour-episode? We know the gang goes to Atlantic City, but what other shenanigans will happen? Will Sammi Sweetheart and Ronnie have another fallout? Will the Situation avoid the grenades? Will Snooki get punched in the face, yet again? Ooooh. Can't wait.



I really don't feel like talking about granola, even though this granola was really good, and I LOVE granola. Just not in the mood. I created this granola recipe, because I was frustrated at how expensive granola can be in the stores. It's so much cheaper to make it at home, and you can control what goes into it - including fat and sugar.

This granola is low fat, and is made with pumpkin puree, brown sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon, vanilla, oats, pecans and raisins, and I threw in some chopped up dried apples and figs, too. You could add whatever nuts, spices, or dried fruit you had on hand.

Maple-Pumpkin Granola (By Me)
Printable Recipe

1/3 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup Grape Nuts
1/3 cup finely chopped pecans
1/2 cup raisins
1/3 cup finely chopped dried apples
1/3 cup finely chopped dried figs, dates, or plums

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Coat a large cookie sheet with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together, pumpkin, brown sugar, maple syrup, butter, cinnamon, vanilla and salt until combined; stir in oats, Grape Nuts and pecans until combined. Spread onto cookie sheet.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, or until golden brown and slightly crisp. Remove from oven and stir in raisins, apple and figs, and cool.