Chocolate Banana Swirl Cakes

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Alyssa G

This is the time in the year where I’m moving out and frantically try to use up all my ingredients. I have tons of leftover flour and sugar, so I dig through my cabinet to find flavors. This was what I came up with the other day… chocolate, banana, and coconut!

Chocolate, Coconut, Banana Swirl Cakes
Makes 1 dozen.

Ingredients
1 1/2 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
dash salt
1 C sugar
1/3 C oil
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 small very ripe bananas
1/4 C cocoa powder
1/2 C milk
1/3 C shredded coconut (optional)

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, mix flour, powder, soda, and salt.
3. In a smaller bowl, mix sugar, oil, egg, and vanilla. Add wet to dry and combine. Mixture will be crumbly.
4. Mash bananas in another bowl, and pour in half the batter mixture. Mix well.
5. Add cocoa powder, milk, and coconut (if desired) to remaining batter.
6. Pour a spoonful of each batter into each cupcake liner. Swirl with a knife or toothpick. Sprinkle with extra coconut.
7. Bake 20 min until a knife comes out clean. Let cool before serving.

Black Cherry Almond Chocolate Chip Muffins

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Alyssa G

I’m done with final exams! Hooray! Only a few days left until graduation, and I’m getting very excited.

During finals week, there are always free muffins before the early morning finals. A couple of my friends were sad there weren’t any GF muffins, so since I had leftover flour after making cookies, I decided to make them some GF finals exam muffins!

Black Cherry Almond Chocolate Chip Muffins
Gluten free. Makes one dozen.

Ingredients
1 1/2 C gf all-purpose flour
1/2 C almond flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
dash salt
1/2 C sugar
1 egg
1/4 C oil
3/4 tsp almond extract
1 C black cherry Greek yogurt
1/4 C milk
1/3 C chocolate chips

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a muffin pan with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, sift together flours, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a smaller bowl, mix sugar and egg. Add oil, extract, yogurt, and milk.
4. Add wet to dry and mix until combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
5. Bake 20-25 min until browned.

Triple Chocolate Espresso Cookies

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Alyssa G

The school year is coming to an end… finally! I just passed the two week mark until graduation. WOOHOO! I don’t have much going on during finals week, so hopefully that means I’ll have time to bake a lot and use up all of my ingredients before I move out.

I made these cookies as a thank you to my dancers for a great semester and brought them to our last rehearsal. The show was great and I was so happy! And I know they were very happy with the cookies too ;)

Triple Chocolate Espresso Cookies
Makes about 1 1/2 dozen.

Ingredients
1/2 C butter, softened
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 C flour (GF or regular all-purpose)
1/2 tsp baking soda
dash salt
1 Tbsp finely ground coffee
1/3 C white chocolate chips
1/3 C milk chocolate chips
1/3 C Sno-Caps or other chocolate chips

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a cookie sheet.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars with an electric mixer. Add egg and vanilla and combine.
3. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, soda, salt, and coffee.
4. Gradually sift dry into wet.
5. Fold in chocolate chips.
6. Place spoonfuls on cookie sheet at least 2 inches apart. Bake 10 minutes until browned. Cool before serving.

I made one batch with regular flour, and one batch with GF flour… both came out great! The GF cookies were actually a little fluffier than the regular ones, which came out more crunchy, but both were delicious.

Good luck on finals if you have any! I’ll bring you recipes for some stress-relieving treats soon, I promise!

Chocolate Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

Posted on April 21, 2013 by Alyssa G

Since discovering I have a few friends who can’t eat gluten, I’ve really enjoyed trying different gluten free recipes, like my brownies and pizza. These cookies were supposed to be gluten free… then I found out not all oats are created equal. Whoops. But they were really delicious, so next time I’ll have to get some specifically GF oats so I can share with my GF friends!

Chocolate Coconut Oatmeal Cookies
Makes about 2 dozen. Gluten free.

Ingredients
1/2 C GF oats
3/4 C GF oat flour (you can buy this or make by putting oats in a food processor)
1 Tbsp corn or potato starch
1/2 tsp baking powder
dash salt
1 stick butter
1/3 C sugar
1/4 C packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp milk
1/2 C chocolate chips
1/2 C shredded coconut

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a baking sheet or line with a silicone mat.
2. In a large bowl, combine oats, oat flower, starch, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a smaller bowl, cream butter and sugars. Add egg and vanilla.
4. Slowly add wet to dry. Add milk if mixture seems too dry.
5. Fold in chocolate and coconut.
6. Drop spoonfuls on baking sheet at least an inch and a half apart. Bake 15 min. Cool before serving.

Warning: these are very addictive! You might not want to share ;)

Snickers Blondies

Posted on April 6, 2013 by Alyssa G

Long time no blog! I feel like I say that every time I write something. Whoops.

But anyway. We’ve had this giant bag of candy sitting in the house for a while now. We’ve been eating it slowly but surely… But then Girl Scout cookie season came along, then Easter, and there was so many OTHER desserts to eat! So the candy was left sad and uneaten. Until I decided to repurpose some of it yesterday!

Snickers Blondies
Makes one 8×8 pan, or about 9 blondies.

Ingredients
1 C flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
dash salt
5 Tbsp butter, melted
1 C brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 – 1/2 C chopped Snickers, or your favorite candy bar

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease an 8×8 baking pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, powder, soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a larger bowl, combine butter with sugar. Whisk in egg and vanilla.
4. Gradually add dry to wet, stirring to make a thick batter.
5. Spread evenly in pan. Sprinkle candy on top and lightly press in.
6. Bake about 30 min, until a knife comes out clean.

The Snickers is really great in these! It gives it some extra gooeyness and some crunch from the peanuts. You could also use M&Ms, Milky Way… Almost any type of candy bar. Enjoy!

Blood Orange Yogurt Cakes

Posted on March 3, 2013 by Alyssa G

There are a number of reasons why I made these cakes. Well, I suppose there are reasons behind every recipe I make, but this one has specific ones.

First, I picked up a bag of about 10 or so blood oranges at the grocery store last weekend. If you’ve never had one, they’re about the size of a tangerine and a little more tart than regular oranges. And they’re beautiful. They make a great snack on their own, but I thought their color would look beautiful baked!

Second, on that same trip to the grocery store I bought a big tub of Greek yogurt. Which I hate. I do this every so often – I buy yogurt because I want something new for breakfast and because I know it’s healthy for me. Greek yogurt with fresh fruit, granola, and honey… it sounds so delicious! Then I eat it and remember why I never buy yogurt. I hate yogurt. So I thought, what am I going to do with this?

Lastly, I was convinced I had a loaf pan. So I wanted to make a loaf cake. I didn’t realize I don’t have a loaf pan until after I put out all of my ingredients and started preheating the oven. Whoops.

Blood Orange Yogurt Cakes
Makes 12 cupcakes or 1 loaf cake. Adapted from Sprinkle Bakes.

Ingredients
for the cake
1 1/2 C flour
2 tsp baking powder
dash salt
1/2 C sugar
1 C nonfat Greek yogurt
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 C vegetable oil
zest of 2 blood oranges
juice of 1/2 blood orange
for the glaze
3oz reduced fat cream cheese
juice of 1 1/2 blood oranges
1-2 C powdered sugar

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare cupcake tin with liners or loaf pan with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a larger bowl, mix sugar, yogurt, eggs, vanilla, oil, zest, and juice until smooth.
4. Add dry to wet and stir until combined.
5. Bake cupcakes for 20-25 minutes, or loaf for 50 minutes until a knife comes out clean.
6. Once cakes are cooled completely, begin glaze by mixing juice and cream cheese.
7. Slowly incorporate powdered sugar. Add less for a thin glaze or more for thicker frosting.
8. Frost cakes and serve.

Isn’t that pink color gorgeous? The blood orange juice is beautiful! And the yogurt makes a really light, fluffy cake. Much more enjoyable than in a bowl all by itself.

Flourless Pizza?!

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Alyssa G

I probably wouldn’t believe it either. But I promise, I’m not lying – this pizza has no flour. No carbs. No gluten. No guilt. And it tastes amazing!

Trust me, I was a little skeptical when I first saw this idea on Pinterest. But then I tried it and I fell in love.

Cauliflower Pizza Crust
Makes 8 slices. Gluten free. Adapted from Eating Bird Food.

Ingredients
1/2 head cauliflower
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 egg
1 C shredded cheese (mozzarella, parmesan, etc)
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat, or use a pizza stone if you have one.
2. Put cauliflower florets into a food processor and pulse until crumbly. You should have about 2 cups.
3. Saute over medium heat about 5 minutes.
4. In a large bowl combine cauliflower with all remaining ingredients. Mixture should be crumbly.
5. Spread crust on pan about 1/4 inch thick, pressing down with your fingers so it sticks together.
6. Bake 25-30 minutes until edges are crispy.
7. Remove from oven, top with sauce and any toppings, and broil another 5 minutes. Serve hot.