Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies

Here’s a treat for you! Maybe I’ll start making Sundays treat days…after all, don’t you need something to help you start the week off? Ok, maybe not…we’ll see how it goes.

These cookies use oat flour instead of almond flour. The texture of these are quite different…they are more cake like than cookie like. But, they are still good! I found this recipe on Chocolate-Covered Katie and decided to give it a try. I’ve never used oat flour before and I hear oats are high in fiber and I could use more of that! 😉

Anyway, I hope you give these a try and your family loves them!

Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies Recipe (by Chocolate-Covered Katie…original recipe here)

2/3 c plus 1/2 c oat flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

4 tbsp coconut palm sugar

4 tbsp xylitol

1/4-1/3 c chopped macadamia nuts (I measured 1/4 c into a baggie and then hit them with my meat hammer to break them up a little more to make them go farther…they are expensive, after all)

3 tbsp-1/2 c chocolate chips (I used the enjoy life brand and didn’t measure…just eyeballed)

1 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp coconut oil

3-5 tbsp almond milk, as needed (I only needed 3, actually probably a little less than 3)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 380 degrees (weird, I know).

Prepare cookie sheet with parchment paper

combine dry ingredients and mix well

Add the wet ingredients then the chips and nuts

form into balls and place on lined cookie sheet

Bake 7 minutes. They should be a little undercooked. The bottom edges will be lightly browned.

Let cool at least 10 minutes before removing from cookie sheet as they will be continuing to cook as they cool.

Store them in a jar…if you have any left (I can’t bake when hubby’s home…he eats everything up!)

Enjoy! 🙂

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Ice Cream

I don’t know about your neck of the woods, but today is supposed to be in the 90’s (which I am VERY happy about!) so I figured this would be a great day to post this awesome recipe! Peanut butter and Chocolate are two of my favorite loves and merging them together is nothing short of blissful goodness.

I thought about getting an ice cream attachment for my KitchenAid stand mixer (it’s pink!) but then I heard that it’s possible to make ice cream in a high-powered blender. Well, since I now have a Vitamix blender (I would love to compare the Blendtech with it), I went on a search for healthy ice cream recipes. I got the basics for the recipe from Chocolate-Covered Katie and played around with the ingredients until I got everything perfect. This will probably be the only time you will see any added salt to my recipes but it’s only a very small amount and she said to trust her and not to leave it out.

If you don’t have a high-powered blender, don’t fret! You can still make this and instead of ice cream, you will get a nice thick shake!! Still delicious!

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Ice Cream Recipe

Ingredients:

3/4 c plain almond milk ( I use my homemade almond milk)

1/4 c coconut milk (I use Tropical Traditions brand)

2 tbsp xylitol

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 1/2 tbsp natural creamy peanut butter (I use no salt sunland-nothing but peanuts!)

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/16 tsp sea salt (I use Redmond’s RealSalt)

Instructions:

Add all ingredients in a plastic canning freezer jar (get them where they sell canning jars and stuff. They are clear/white plastic with a green lid-this works best) and mix as best as you can with a spoon. It won’t all mix together but that’s ok.

Freeze over night or until completely frozen

For Vitamix:

squeeze plastic container over blender jar until the frozen mass falls in.

Place lid on blender jar and remove center piece of lid.

turn blender on variable 1 and move to 10 then high.

using your pusher stick, push frozen mass into blades until fully mixed. Less than a minute or so. turn blender off

You now have a rich creamy ice cream.

scoop into bowl and enjoy immediately-it melts fast!

This makes plenty enough to share with another person…but who wants to? 😉

You can always freeze what you don’t eat but it will be very hard so let it sit out a little bit or nuke (if you use one) for a few seconds or even dunk the bottom of the bowl in hot water for a few seconds before eating.

Enjoy! 🙂

For regular blender:

Let frozen mass thaw until your blender can handle it.

Blend until smooth

Either drink as a shake or refreeze for a very firm ice cream which you can thaw out some so it’s creamy.

This makes plenty enough to share with another person…but who wants to? 😉

Enjoy! 🙂

Chocolate Pudding

With all of these yummy main dishes I posted, I figured I need to post a few desserts to quench the after dinner sweet tooth. I love that I am finding healthy alternatives to the sugar and preservative laden garbage that lines the grocery store shelves! What’s even better is the fact that these treats taste good and you don’t feel like you’re missing out on anything at all!

I don’t want to sound like a broken record but remember, just because these treats are healthy doesn’t mean you don’t use moderation! 😉

My daughter actually found this recipe somewhere on this wonderful internet but I don’t know where she found it so I can’t give credit to the true author but I can tell you it’s not one of mine that I came up with, unfortunately! I never would have thought to combine these ingredients but believe me, it tastes like the real deal and you would never know what it’s made from!

Chocolate Pudding Recipe

Ingredients:

1 ripe avocado

1/4 c cocoa powder

1/4 c agave nectar

1/4 c almond milk

1 tsp vanilla

Instructions:

scoop avocado out of skin and into small bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients. Mix using immersion blender or hand mixer until smooth (immersion blender works best) chill if you can wait (it will firm up some) and enjoy! 🙂

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Protein Smoothie

I am not a breakfast person. Never really have been. I am just not hungry until later in the day. I know the saying is that breakfast is the most important meal of the day but if I listen to my body, it says I don’t need it. On my two school days though, I don’t have the freedom to eat when my body tells me to so I whip up one of these protein shakes to get me through my classes and it usually works. It makes me feel like I’m having ice cream! Yum! And, how can you go wrong putting peanut butter and chocolate together?

When looking for whey protein powder, try to find one with the least ingredients, natural sweetener, lower sodium. I like the 365 whole foods brand…it doesn’t have that strong whey protein flavor. Other brands that are good to try are Jillian Michael’s and Jay Robb.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Smoothie Recipe:

1/2 c ice

1/2 c almond milk (or water)

1 tbsp xylitol

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 heaping scoop of  chocolate  whey protein powder

1-2 tbsp peanut butter

Put everything in blender and blend until smooth. Enjoy!

Chocolate Raspberry Banana

This recipe is my daughter’s (Kaela) recipe as she is the smoothie connoisseur! I have pretty much tasted all of her smoothies and they are awesome!

I never thought that fruit and chocolate went together until I tried chocolate covered strawberries. Let me tell ya, they go together 😉

1 frozen banana
1 cup of frozen, or fresh raspberries
1 cup of vanilla coconut milk, or 1/4-1/2 cup of water OR yogurt

1 scoop of chocolate protein powder

Put everything in the blender and use the “crush ice” setting to break it up. Then just blend until smooth!

This is really good and it’s freezing into pops at this very moment 🙂