Chocolate Chip Cookies...with a Twist

I received some coconut flour in my June Foodie Pen Pals box and had to make something with it right away. I'll preface this by saying that I didn't read much about coconut flour before beginning this journey which may have been a bad idea. 

Coconut flour is much higher in protein and fiber than white flour, but it's also much more dense so you need to add a lot more liquid to your recipe. Instead of doing this, I just took a recipe I found online, catered it to my needs, and went for it. 

I ended up with good cookies (made better with a little cookie butter spread on top), but they were incredibly dense and had a distinct difference when compared to regular chocolate chip cookies. I'll definitely make them again, but I'll follow the directions and only use coconut flour as 15-20% of my flour. Whoops. 

I adapted my recipe from this one. 

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 tbsp vanilla extract

4 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup coconut flour 

dash of salt

3/4 cup milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Mix all ingredients (except chips) with standing mixer until combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Scoop by the tablespoon, roll into a ball and flatten out onto cookie sheet. Bake for 25 minutes or until light golden brown.

Banana S'mores

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Just another 5 minute dessert for you!

Make an aluminum foil "bowl".

Add whole banana (cut-up), chocolate chips, crushed graham crackers (or cinnamon sugar cereal), and marshmallows. 

Place "bowl" on cookie sheet.

Broil on high for 5 minutes or until marshmallows are to desired brown color (like s'mores!).

Transfer to bowl for eating

Add a little milk if desired.

This is my favorite dessert lately. Enjoy!!

Adapted from this original recipe found on Pinterest.

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French Vanilla Cake Cookies

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My favorite recipes are short and only have a few ingredients. 

These cookies are no exception. 

They are my go-to for any party...and any Sunday afternoon dessert craving.

The cake flavor makes these so much better than a regular old chocolate chip cookie.

I've made them with several types of cake mixes including devil's food, chocolate, and red velvet, but french vanilla is my favorite. Try this recipe and you won't regret it!

French Vanilla Cake Cookies

Lightly adapted from this recipe.

1 package of french vanilla cake mix

1 egg

1/4 cup of oil

1/4 cup of water

1 cup milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F

Combine first 4 ingredients until well blended.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop teaspoon amounts of dough about 1 inch apart on greased cookie sheet.

Bake for 13 minutes or until done. 

Makes about 48 amazingly delicious cookies.

5 Minute Brownie

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Sometimes I'd rather just have a single serving dessert than the temptation of leftovers. I had a brownie craving the other day and found this recipe. After tweaking it a little bit, I came up with the 5 minute brownie. Only 143 calories and the easiest thing I've ever made. 

Ingredients:
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
Dash of salt
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp Water

Stir together all dry ingredients into a mug. Then add the wet ingredients. Make sure to stir completely as to avoid clumps of the dry ingredients. It should look like brownie batter! Microwave for 40 seconds.

Ta da! That's it! I added some white chocolate chips and stirred those in after taking it out of the microwave. Don't judge me.

I'm linking up today for the 52 Weeks of Pinterest at Dutch Being Me!

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Raspberry Nutella Crepes

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Although I have written out a lot of steps, this is a VERY simple recipe (and as you'll come to learn, I only like simple recipes) and the batter is made with ingredients you already have on hand. 


Ingredients:
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tbsp butter*
1/3 cup Nutella*
1/2 cup fresh raspberries*
*approximate, no need to measure these out


1. Preheat a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium low heat. 
2. Whisk together the eggs, milk, flour, sugar, and salt until it forms a smooth batter. (You can also use the blender, but either way, make sure to mix completely to avoid any clumps.) 

3. Melt a cube of butter in the pan. 
4. Add 1/4 cup batter & tilt the pan to form an even coating of batter on the bottom (I don't have a nonstick skillet, so I used my griddle instead which made for crepes that were definitely not uniform circles.)
5. About 1 minute later, the batter should be set and slightly browned. This means it's time to flip. Using a spatula, carefully loosen the edges and flip it over. 

6. Cook the other side the same way, for about 1 minute. 
7. Repeat with remaining batter. 
8. Spread about 1/2 tbsp of Nutella on each crepe, leaving a 1/2 inch border. 

9. Line 3-4 raspberries along the center. 

Nutella all over my fingers. Yum.

10. Fold like a burrito: fold in half over the berries, then fold the 2 ends inward & continue to roll into a tube shape. 

11. Cut each crepe in half & dust with powdered sugar...and you're done!

Obviously you can use anything you'd like for the filling, but I already had the Nutella on hand and was in the mood for chocolate. :)


Adapted from Giada de Laurentiis' recipe. All photos taken by my photog mom. 


-KB

Semi-sweet Peppermint Bark

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This week I made semi-sweet peppermint bark for the 52 Weeks of Pinterest Link-Up. This is a very simple recipe that anyone can make. 

First, break up the candy canes by placing them in a plastic baggie between 2 dish cloths. 

You can use a rolling pin or a hammer. A hammer seemed to work much better for me. 

Using a double boiler, melt the chocolate. Add water to the bottom pot making sure the water does not touch the top pot. Bring to a boil. Chocolate should melt in about 5 minutes.

Add the crushed candy canes to the melted chocolate. At this point, you can add peppermint extract. I've been adding it to my coffee in the morning and a little bit goes a LONG way, so be careful not to put in too much. I didn't add any, so it didn't have a big peppermint taste. 

Next, pour mixture onto parchment paper on top of a cookie sheet. Unfortunately, it's not very pretty right now since the candy canes are stirred into the chocolate. Don't worry. We'll fix that. 

Add pretty decorations as you please. I added more candy canes and some red & green sprinkles (to make them more holiday-esque). 

Put the entire cookie sheet in the freezer to harden (about 5-10 minutes depending on how thick your chocolate ended up being). After the chocolate is hard, break into pieces and voila! You have delicious semi-sweet peppermint bark for holiday parties...or yourself. 

Like I said, without the peppermint extract, they're very chocolatey and less of a peppermint flavor. But, hey, they were easy, cheap, and extremely delicious. :)

ENJOY! -KB

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