Nanaimo Bars Revisited

These are delicious no bake bars. They were so good I made them again for some co-workers.  I posted these once before.  

Get the recipe here.

Easy Vegan and Gluten-Free Brownies

 

Very chocolatey and surprisingly good!  I will be playing around with some vegan baking recipes.  Here is the first of many!

Easy Vegan Brownies

Serves 8

Ingredients:

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup Truvia Baking Blend 

2 large flax eggs (2 tbsp flaxseed + 6 tbsp water)

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup dutch process cocoa powder

3/4 cup almond flour

optional add ins: 1/3 cup walnuts or chocolate chips or a mixture of both!

Instructions:

Preheat oven 350 degrees and spray a 8 standard size with cooking spray or place a paper liner in each.

Prepare flax eggs* in a small bowl and let rest in the fridge for 15 minutes

*(grind your flaxseed and slowly add the 6 tablespoons of water whisking with a small whisk until blended)

Place coconut oil in large bowl and melt in microwave.  Then stir in flax eggs, Truvia, vanilla, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder. Whisk to combine then add almond flour stir until just combined then fold in nuts or chips if using.

Scoop batter in muffin tin filling each until 3/4 full and bake on the middle rack for 20-25 minutes.  Do not bake too long because they will get very crumbly. 

Cool completely on a rack

Store in airtight container or they can be frozen.

Fat Flushing Soup

Baking has been very limited lately...

I have been juicing, eating well and trying to get healthy!  This is one of my favorite soups for dinner.  Please give it a try you will love it!

Fat Flushing Soup
http://skinnyms.com/fat-flushing-soup/



Yields: 8 servings | Serving Size: 1 cup | Calories: 137 | Previous Points: 1 | Points Plus: 2 | Total Fat: 1 g |
Saturated Fat: 0 g | Trans Fat: 0 g | Cholesterol: 0 mg | Sodium: 75 mg | Carbohydrates: 28 g | Dietary Fiber: 8 g |
Sugars: 7 g | Protein: 8 g
Ingredients
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1" cubes
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
Kosher or sea salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon paprika
1 bay leaf
2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained (optional, the beans are for added protein)
2 cups vegetable broth, low-sodium
1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes (no salt added)
4 cups baby spinach, loosely packed
(I also add a some red pepper flakes)

Directions
Add all ingredients, except spinach, to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 6 to 8 hours, or until the
vegetables are tender. Add spinach, stir and continue cooking just until wilted, approximately 5 minutes.
Serve and enjoy! Tip: If you prefer a thicker stew, after 5 hours of cooking, simply remove 1 cup of soup, along with
ingredients, mash ingredients with a fork, return to the slow cooker, stir and continue cooking 1 to 3
hours.

Stovetop Method:(I do the stove top method)  Follow the same instructions above for prep, cover, and simmer until veggies are
tender, approximately 2 hour. Stir every 15 minutes to prevent sticking. Add spinach at the end of
cooking time, remove from heat, cover and allow spinach to wilt before serving

Bale Bars: Baked Sunday Mornings

I have been MIA from the baked group lately!  
Thought that I would get back into the swing of things with the easy recipe.  I assume these are called Bale bars because they resemble bales of hay?  Whatever!  Well, they were easy and there was no baking involved...always feel like I am cheating when I don't have to bake! Just had to do some chopping, melting, pressing and chilling.  Easy Peasy!   Peanuts and pretzels are covered with a white chocolate, caramel, peanut butter mixture then pressed into a pan and chilled until firm.  I had extra white chocolate so I did a little drizzle. 

 I had the same problem some of the other bakers did....my bars were very crumbly.  I don't know if it is because I halved the recipe and didn't calculate right?  Not really sure.  But I think that maybe the recipe has too much crunchy stuff and not enough sticky stuff.  They look alright and I tasted a small corner and they taste very peanut buttery.  We will see what the rest of the family thinks!

Well anyway....here they are! 
Recipe here

Enjoy!

Until next time!

Swig Sugar Cookies

I have to admit I am addicted to Pinterest...I know, sad but true!  I spend lots of time browsing through all the pins and finding some pretty interesting things!  These cookies caught my eye because they were so unique and quite pretty!  

Swig is a little snack and drink drive-thru in St George, Utah and according to the pinterest peeps this cookie is a to-die-for cookie.  Evidently it is a destination that you definitely don't want to miss if you are any where near. You are suppose to order a cookie and a dirty Coke (whatever that is!)

So I decide to give these cookies a try.  They are extremely easy to make...taking no time at all.  The cookie is a shortbread cookie and the frosting is your standard powdered sugar frosting but it has a little twist....there is sour cream in it...sounds yummm...right?  

They actually are not suppose to be frosted until they are ready to be eaten...you are to have a cold cookie and room temp frosting. They say it is the best sugar cookie ever!

  Unfortunately I can't taste them so I won't know first hand how they are, I will have to rely on the reviews of my family and co-workers.  

Well if they are as good as they look...I might be on to something.

                                        I will let you know what they all think!

Until then,

Enjoy!

These cookies were a hit!  Everyone loved them!

Classic Apple Pie

CLASSIC APPLE PIE

Pastry Ingredients

2 cups (300g) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 c + 2 Tablespoons (160g) softened butter and/or shortening

5 T ice cold water

Filling Ingredients

½ cup (100g) sugar (or less)

1/3 cup (50g) flour

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

¾ teaspoon cinnamon

7 medium apples, peeled and sliced thinly

For a beautifully pictured step by step instructional on how to make this pie please go to Arabic Zeal.  She has some wonderful tips.  I followed her instructions to the letter and the pie turned out great!

As always,

Enjoy!

Antique Caramel Cake: Baked Sunday Morning

I have yet to taste this cake....it looks really good and after licking the spoon from the frosting....I know that is good...I know, I know I am busted!

This caramel (well really brown sugar-buttermilk) cake was very simple to put together and the frosting went together like a dream!  I should have let my caramel get more color on it but...shhhh... don't tell, I tasted 

that too and it is good! 

My big brother is coming into town and I was in charge of making the dessert for our family dinner tonight.  I hope everyone likes it!  

To see what everyone else did with this Baked Elements cake click here.

You can get the recipe here.

Next up is Chocolate Velvet Walnut Fudge with Olive Oil and Fleur de Sel.  Sounds like a good holiday treat to me! 

Until then

Enjoy!