Chocolate Chip Banana Cupcakes

These little tasty treats are another rendition of my favorite banana bread. This recipe has been altered so many times I don't remember the original.

I have a confession to make. I am a curious person and as a curious person I rarely make the same thing twice. As much as I try to stick to the recipe, my curiosity kicks in, and I find myself thinking, "oh that would be good to add in", or "I wonder what would happen if I put this in instead". That is why baking and me have a love hate relationship, sometimes it turns out really good, and other times I admit to throwing a whole pan out..... which I hate doing, ask my husband, I have gotten pretty creative using the disaster experiments in other recipes.

This recipe was not an exception, I of course had to play around with it. This time it was a winner.

To the original recipe I added a few different flours, flax to up the nutritional profile, and I cut out a 1/2 C of sweetener, and 2 eggs. Surprisingly I like it even better with less sweetener, and the flax added. This is my new favorite banana bread recipe, and Scottie's too for that matter.

I added almond flour, for its nutritional benefits, and flavor. In a 100 grams of almond flour there are 21 grams of protein, 19 grams of carbohydrates, and 10 grams of fiber. It is -1 on the glycemic index. Compared to wheat flour which has 9 grams of protien, 76 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, and ranks 71 on the glycemic index. This makes almond flour a power food in fiber, and protein, and excellent option for people with diabetes, gluten intolerances, and people watching the glycemic index. I just got a cookbook that uses all almond flour for breads, cookies, cakes you name it. I want to experiment with it.

As a side note, if you are active carbs are a necessary thing to fuel your body, and so I think I will bake with a combo of flours including almond flour, to get a variety of nutrition and carbs in my diet.


Note: you can substitute the same amount whole wheat flour for the first four ingredients (2 3/4 C), but take out the guar or xantham gum as well, it is a binder for gluten free flours.

Banana Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

1 C almond flour
1 C brown rice flour
1/2 C sweet brown rice flour
1/4 C tapioca flour
1 1/2 C sucanat ( a natural sugar, that has not been processed, you can find it at health food stores)
1/2 tsp guar gum, or xantham gum
4 T powdered buttermilk*(optional)
1 tsp. baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon
2 eggs
2 T ground flax
6 T coconut oil
8 oz can of crushed pineapple/ with juice
3 medium bananas mashed
1/2 C mini chocolate chips
1/2 C chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat the oven to 325. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, sucanat, guar gum, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon until well combined. In a separate bowl add the coconut oil, eggs, can of pineapple (with the juice), and mashed banana mix until well combined. Slowly mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined. Toss the mini chocolate chips in a 1/4 C of brown rice flour. Fold the chocolate chips and extra flour into the mix. Grease a muffin pan, or use cupcake liners and spoon the batter into a muffin pan, or mini muffin pan. If using nuts, sprinkle on top of the muffins. Bake the muffins for 40-45 minutes, and for the mini muffins 20-25 minutes.

Dairy Free Cinnamon Ice cream

I taught a raw cooking class at my local Bosch store the other day. In the class there was a sweet lady that asked for a dairy free ice cream. She can't have dairy, and has been craving ice cream. This ice cream is so creamy and good you won't miss the dairy in it. The recipe is also a good base for any flavor of ice cream that you want, just omit the cinnamon, and substitute vanilla instead. Some good substitutions are fresh fruit, cocoa powder, almond/peanut butter, really anything you can think of go wild.
I like to freeze the ice cream mixture in ice cube trays. Then when I am craving ice cream, I just put a few of the ice cubes in a blender with a little bit of almond milk, a banana, and a handful of spinach. It tastes like horchata ice cream. It melts quickly though into a thick smoothie, so if you want an ice cream consistency process it in an ice cream maker.



Raw Cinnamon Ice Cream
2 C coconut milk
2 C almond milk
2-3 tsp. ground cinnamon (to taste)
1 C agave
½ tsp. sea salt
Blend all of the ingredients in a high-power blender. Transfer the mixture to an ice cream
maker and follow the ice cream maker’s directions. Or you could also freeze the ice
cream in ice cube trays and when you are craving ice cream, just blend the ice cubes
with a little bit of almond milk! If it is not thick enough, add regular ice cubes.

Raw Almond Joys

The recipe for almond joys is taken from this book. Although a lot of the recipes in this book are time consuming, and as a mom unpractical. However, I love their desserts, they come together fast, and are SO good. I made these for a raw cooking class I just taught, and everyone loved them.

Sorry no picture of the almond joys, they weren't any leftover from my cooking class. This is one of my favorite treats, they are BETTER than almond joys and aren't full of a whole bunch of ingredients that you can't pronounce. As an added bonus coconut oil, is so good for you, it actually helps you burn fat, and gives you energy, hows that for a dessert!
I usually store these in the freezer after I make them. I also use a cookie scoop and scoop them out, or I use a little silicone muffin mold, and put the vanilla mixture in, and then put them in the freezer. While they are in the freezer I make the chocolate sauce. I then pull the almond joys out of the freezer put an almond in the center and top it with chocolate sauce. I put them back in the freezer to set up. OUT OF THIS WORLD.
I prefer the vanilla almond joys with chocolate sauce as opposed to the ones made with cocoa powder instead of almond meal. The chocolate ones are a little bit bitter, kind of like a dark almond joy.


This recipe is taken from Raw Food Real World, which has really good raw desserts
(note: the chocolate sauce is not from the book, and needs a little bit of tweaking to get it the right consistency, play around with it)

3 C shredded coconut, unsweetened
1 1/2 C cocoa powder
1 C maple syrup
1/3 C coconut oil
1 T vanilla
1/2 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients and stir well, or use a standing mixer with a paddle attachment. Scoop out the dough onto parchment paper with an ice cream scoop.

For a vanilla almond joy

3 C shredded coconut
1 1/2 C almond meal
1 C maple syrup
1/3 C coconut oil
1 T vanilla
1/2 tsp sea salt

Combine all of the ingredients and stir until combined. Scoop out the dough with a cookie scoop.

I like to drizzle a chocolate sauce over these.

Chocolate Sauce

3/4 C coconut oil
1/2 C cocoa powder
1 T vanilla
1/4 C agave

Soften the coconut oil, add the cocoa powder, vanilla, and agave mix together.

NOTE: this recipe is rough estimates, play around with the coconut oil and cocoa powder to get the right consistency.

What I Have Learned

I recently have been making batches upon batches of banana bread. If you think that I am lying ask the checker at Smiths, who rung me up with a CART LOAD of bananas, 30 bucks worth on sale to be exact. Anyway, case in point is that I have made the same recipe over and over again, to have it come out completely under cooked even if I leave it in until it is char black on the outside. What I have discovered is that if you add too much banana, it will be mushy in the middle even though you cook it till the cows come home. Another thing that I discovered, is that seltzer water does wonders to lighten a heavy bread. Especially gluten free breads, because they are so dense to begin with without gluten to leaven them. Here is a recipe that I just adpated from vegweb to be gluten free. It is really light and tasty, but needs something more, maybe a cinnamon walnut crumbly topping. I will post the recipe and my updates on how it is going. I am trying to make the perfect gluten free banana bread, just the right balance of sweetness, banana, and lightness.

When it is perfected I will post the recipe, it is almost there!

Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies

I made this recipe up because I was sick of buying expensive power bars, that were full of high fructose corn syrup, and a lot of other additives. It really is simple to change and add things to it. For this picture I made them for the holidays and rolled them in coconut. Other times I have added dry fruit to them, you could do mini chocolate chips, and press them into a pan and cut them up like a bar. I take them when I go on a long bike ride, they pack really well, or just for a snack, but take caution they are addictive and before you know it you might just eat the whole bowl, not that I have ever done that.

1 C peanut butter
1/2 C honey
1/4 C brown rice syrup, or more honey
2 1/2-3 C cereal, I used a brown rice cereal from Good Earth that is like rice krispies
1 C puffed millet cereal, also found at the health food store, again any puffed grain cereal would do, or you could do 1/2 C of oats
2 T chia seeds, or flax, or both

Mix all of the ingredients together and scoop out with a mini ice cream scoop, or you can press the mix into a baking pan to make bars, they will soften as they sit. After lettting them soften for 1-2 hours cut into bars.

Feel free to add coconut, wheat germ, dried fruit, mini chocolate chips, really whatever your heart desires. You can also make them with almond butter instead of peanut butter.


Chia seeds are SO good for you, they have more omega threes than salmon. Chia has fifteen times more magnesium than broccoli, three times more iron than spinach, six times more calcium than milk, and two times more pottasium than bananas. 2 oz of chia seeds gives you 560 mg of vitamin c! Chia seeds soak up to 10 times its weight in water, this helps you to stay hydrated longer (which helps with endurance).
The greatest part about chia seeds is that they are tasteless, so you can add them to salads, smoothies, power bars, muffins, cookies, ext. ext.
To get the most nutrition out of them put a 1/4 C in a jar and fill it with water. The chia seeds will soak up the liquid in the jar, making it like gel. You can then add this gel to your smoothies. Don't let them sit too long or they start to get really thick, because chia seeds can also be used to thicken things.
Chia seeds are very filling, and some people use them as a weight loss aid. They make you feel full, and so you can take a 1/4 cup of the gel before meals to help curb your apetite, and still get all of the nutrition that you need.

I buy my chia seeds at grainmix.com they are only 5 dollars a pound, which is an incredible deal.

Easy Fruit Salad

 

This is such a good breakfast, mid day snack, or dessert!! There has been a ton of strawberries on sale lately, and other berries, so I have been eating this yummy salad almost daily.

5 strawberries
1 mini pineapple
1 oarnge
1 banana
1 mango
1/4 C walnuts
1/4 C coconut**
drizzle of honey

Chop up the fruit, and walnuts, put in a bowl. Drizzle with honey, and the coconut. Simple, but so delicious.

Any fruit would be good in this, just throw whatever you have in on hand.

** Make sure the coconut is not sweetened, you can get it at the health food store, look for it in the bulk section. Coconut that is sweetened is soaked in high fructose corn syrup and a lot of other preservatives, who knew!!

Money saving tip: When fruit is on sale, buy double or triple of it, and freeze half of it for smoothies

Rich Gluten Free Brownies

Again these brownies have been a work in progress, and along with the "work" that means that Scotty, Isaiah, and I have the hard job of "testing" lots of pans of brownies. Good thing I am in the middle of marathon training. (Although these are healthyish, you probably shouldn't eat half the pan like I have been doing). So as I mentioned before I taught a gluten free cooking class and in the class I also taught these brownies. While I was teaching I forgot to add the oil, and they actually ended up being really good.

1/2 C + 2 T almond flour*
1/4 C sweet brown rice flour*
2 T cocoa powder
2/3 C dark chocolate, chopped from a chocolate bar
6 T coconut oil*
1/4 C chocolate chips
2 eggs
1 C sucanat
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 T vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium sized mixing bowl sift the dry ingredients together. Melt the 2/3 C chocolate, and oil (if using) in a seperate bowl. I put it in a glass measuring cup and melt it over simmering water in a pan. Once fully melted, pour the chocolate over the dry ingredients, don't mix yet. Then in the same bowl, lightly beat your eggs, this saves you a dish. Add the eggs to the brownie mixture, and the vanilla. Fold in all the ingredients until incoporated. Pour into a 8x8 pan lined with parchment. These brownies are so gooey that the parchment helps to lift them out of the pan. Bake for 25-35 minutes. When they are done the top is shiny and the edges have come away from the pan. Stick a toothpick in if it comes out with a few crumbs they are done. Let sit for at least a 1/2 hour, the longer the better. Torture I know but it really helps them set up.

Variation: To make the coconut butterscotch brownie pictured above. Add a layer of butterscotch chocolate chips to the brownies when they come out of the oven hot. Spread the melted chocolate chips evenly over the top to make a frosting, and then top with toasted coconut.

Tips:
*to save money I buy the almonds, and sweet brown rice in bulk, and grind the brown rice myself in a grinder. The almonds I blend in my blender until they are powder, like flour
*brown rice flour will work too, but the sweet brown rice gives it a sweeter flavor
* don't substitute chocolate chips they will result in a squatty brownie, you could also use melting chocolate
*As I mentioned before I completley forgot the oil in the class, and they turned out really good, experiment without oil

Go Bananas for Banana Bread

Lets just say this recipe has been a work in progress. This is the version that I like the most. It is so GOOD, moist, sweet, and gluten free! I have probably gone through 10 dozen frozen bananas making versions of this. So without further ado, here is the recipe. ENJOY.

1 C almond flour*
1 C brown rice flour (or half coconut flour, half brown rice flour)*
1/2 C toasted coconut (unsweetened)
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. sea salt
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 C sucanat
3-4 bananas ripe, mashed 1 1/2 cups)
1/4 C yogurt
4 T coconut oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together the first six ingredients in a medium sized bowl, set aside. Pull out your mixer and add the eggs, lightly beat them. Then add in the coconut oil (melted), yogurt, mashed bananas, and beat. When all of the wet ingredients are mixed well, add in the dry ingredients and mix well. (unlike wheat flour which has gluten and is not good over mixed, gluten free batters work better mixed well to whip air into them and make them lighter). Oil a bread pan, or four mini loaves, and cook for 40 minutes for mini loaves, or 55 minutes for one big loaf. Don't be tempted to pull the bread out early, it browns more than normal banana bread because of the flours. Let rest 5 minutes before taking out of pan. ENJOY.

*I make my own almond flour by blending up almonds in my blend tec until they are powdered, but don't blend it too long or you will end up with almond butter. I also make coconut flour the same way from dried coconut shreds.
*Toast the coconut for 8 minutes in the oven while it is preheated and you are mixing the other ingredients.

Update: I just saw a recipe that caramlized the bananas before adding them to the batter so you can lessen the sweetener in the recipe. I also am going to try and make this with agave.