Whole Wheat Double Chocolate Banana Muffins

Starting this Monday morning early with a giant cup of coffee and these muffins! Who doesn't want Chocolate for breakfast? And because the 3pm snack break is almost always inevitable, these also make the perfect mid-afternoon sweet treat.

Whole wheat flour makes these feel a little less guilty for me and with agave in place of refined white sugar, I'm calling these healthy-ish. Surprisingly, the coconut oil doesn't hide in this recipe and gives these muffins a little nutty kick. Using super ripe bananas take these muffins from great to best ever. I love them and so did the tiny humans in this house. 

Whole Wheat Double Chocolate Banana Muffins

recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction

3 very ripe bananas

1/3 cup organic blue agave 

2 large egg, at room temp

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare a muffin tin with liners. (these silicone liners are my FAVORITE and I don't know how I ever lived without them)

In a medium bowl, mash the bananas up with a fork. Mash them well! Once they are nice and smooth, whisk in the agave, egg, coconut oil and vanilla until combined.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt together until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until everything is combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. 

Spoon the batter into the liners, filling them all the way to the top. Top each one with a few chocolate chips. Bake the muffins for 5 minutes at 425 degrees. Then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the temperature to 350 degrees. Bake for an additional 13-15 minutes, or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. 

Cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days.

Mini Whole Wheat Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

October is rolling in tomorrow and I will now officially acknowledge pumpkin season. I baked my first pumpkin spiced bites of the season yesterday and to no surprise, they were a huge hit with Will. I don't always have freshly baked treats in my kitchen until Fall arrives and I just can't help myself. GIVE ME ALL THE FALL TREATS. 

I'm convinced that you can really never mess up a recipe made with pumpkin. Almost any pumpkin bread, muffin or cookie tends to stay extra fluffy and never really comes out dry. I have been making these muffins for a few years now and they are still one of my favorites! I lightened up an already healthy recipe even more by swapping in whole wheat flour and omitting some of the sugar. I love that these are bite sized, and perfect for little hands. They are just sweet enough and the mini chocolate chips in every bite make for the perfect toddler treat! 

These mini muffins are totally adult approved, too. 

Mini Whole Wheat Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

recipe adapted from Skinny Taste

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup raw turbinado sugar

3/4 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1.5 cups pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

2 Tbsp. coconut oil, melted

2 large egg whites

2 tsp. vanilla extract

baking spray

2/3 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare mini baking tins with cooking spray or paper liners.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon. In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, coconut oil, egg whites and vanilla until combined. Add the dry mixture to the pumpkin mixture and mix until batter is fully combined. Mix in chocolate chips. 

Pour batter into prepared muffin tin and bake for 22 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. 

Makes 24-28 mini muffins. If you opt for regular sized muffins increase the cooking time to around 25 minutes. 

Chocolate Bark with Pistachios, Popped Quinoa + Sea Salt

A little piece of dark chocolate is almost always the perfect sweet fix for me, even if it just means a palmful of chocolate chips. Dark chocolate has a permanent spot in this house!

Chocolate bark is so easy and so fun! I've never experimented much with it but after making a batch this weekend, I am a believer! I spotted this recipe on Cooking Light's Instagram account last week and knew I needed to make it. It turns out that popped quinoa is, in fact, and thing and it is one of the most surprising bites! I'm currently making a list of other things that I can add popped quinoa to. POPPED QUINOA. I just love it. 

This bark is the most incredible (and incredibly easy) sweet treat ever. It's rich and decadent and basically takes no time at all to make. Pistachios and sea salt make lovely chocolate toppings and the popped quinoa...well, you just need to try it for yourself. It's toasty and poppy and adds a fun little crunch. 

Mmmmmm. I love this stuff. 

Dark Chocolate Bark with Pistachios, Popped Quinoa + Sea Salt

1 Dark chocolate bar (I used Ghiradelli 60% Cacao)
Handful unsalted pistachios
2 Tbsp. quinoa, popped
Sea salt, for sprinkling

Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.

To pop the quinoa, heat a small, heavy bottom pan on medium-high heat. Add 3-4 pieces of quinoa and cover, wait for them to pop. Once you hear them pop, add the remaining 2 Tablespoons. They will pop very quietly and quickly. Remove from the burner and transfer to a bowl. Set aside.

In a double boiler on medium-low heat, melt the chocolate. Pour melted chocolate onto the parchment prepared baking sheet and smooth with a spatula. Sprinkle with pistachios, quinoa and sea salt. 

Transfer sheet to the refrigerator and let harden for a few hours or overnight. Break into pieces and enjoy!

Olive Oil + Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Brownie Cookies

You guys. 

THESE COOKIES. 

Every now and then, I find myself needing a cookie. The craving comes on fiercely and nothing else seems to do. I have always loved cookies, but it wasn't until I discovered the New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies that I truly appreciated the art of cookie baking. Since my obsession with cookies blossomed, these Snickerdoodles stole my heart, and most recently, these chocolatey little loves right here. 

A dear friend of mine took a healthy helping of gelato and sandwiched it between two of these cookies. She's a genius.

Olive oil gives a richness that isn't always present in cookie batter and surprisingly, the taste isn't overpowering once the cookie is baked. And sea salt on top ...my favorite component of a perfect cookie. A little chewy on the outside but soft and chocolatey on the inside. Basically, 50% cookie, 50% brownie and 100% impossible to just stop at one. 

I'm now wishing I had a batch of these already made so that I could sit down, Santa-style, and enjoy a few with an ice cold glass of milk. I don't even like milk. 

Olive Oil + Sea Salt Brownie Cookies
recipe from Butterlust

1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
1 tsp. baking soda
1 Tbsp. hot water
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1.5 cups 60% cocoa dark chocolate chips (Ghiradelli is my favorite)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the olive and sugar and mix on medium until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, making sure to mix well between each one. Add the cocoa powder, flour and salt and mix until a dough forms. 

In a small bowl, dissolve the baking soda into the hot water. Add the dissolved baking soda and water mixture as well as the vanilla to the batter, and beat until just combined. Gently stir in the chocolate chips. Refrigerate the batter for at least 30 minutes or overnight. 

Using a tablespoon, scoop out heaping tablespoons of dough onto your cookie sheets. Sprinkle with sea salt. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are set. 11 minutes was the perfect amount of time in my oven. 

Dark Chocolate Coconut Bites

Easter candy is a slippery slope for me. Once I start, I can't stop, so it's just best to avoid it all together by making sure it doesn't make its way into the shopping cart! Peeps are my weakness and on Easter Sunday, I very well may polish off an entire package on my own. 

Here's a healthy-ish bite sized treat to sweeten up your Easter week. I made a batch to keep in the fridge last week and they were the perfect sweet bite at the end of the night. 

Chocolate Coconut Bites

recipe from Pinch of Yum

2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut

4 Tablespoons REAL maple syrup

5 Tablespoons coconut oil

1 tsp. vanilla

4 oz. dark chocolate for melting (I used Ghiradelli 60% cocoa chocolate chips)

In a food processor, pulse coconut until it's a thick flour consistency. Transfer to a bowl and add maple syrup, coconut oil and vanilla. Stir until you have a thick paste. Using your hands and a 1/2 Tbsp. as a scoop, form the mixture into balls. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and stick them in the freezer for 30-60 minutes to let them firm up. 

When you are ready to coat the coconut balls in chocolate, create a double boiler by placing the chocolate chips in a glass bowl sitting on top of a small saucepan filled with water. The water should not touch the bottom of the bowl as it sits atop the pan. Slowly melt the chocolate.

Using two forks, roll each coconut ball in the melted chocolate until completely covered. Roll them off of the fork and onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Let chocolate harden and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

The New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

There is nothing quite like a perfect chocolate chip cookie. Crisp and firm on the outside with a chewy, melty, chocolatey center. The recipe on the back of Nestle Toll House chocolate chips was always an easy pleaser, but the results never quite lived up to my chocolate chip cookie criteria. I feel like I have spent years looking for such a recipe and I can now say that 2013 has been THE YEAR. The New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies are officially the BEST EVER. 

I have had this recipe on my must-bake list for quite some time now as these chocolate chip cookies have the reputation of being quite famous. Well, let me just say that they are as heavenly as I hoped they would be. Plus so much more.

This recipe sets itself apart by combining cake flour and bread flour, over a pound of rich, dark chocolate chips and a resting time for the dough of 24-36 hours. But the real punch, in my opinion, is the sprinkle of sea salt added to the top of each cookie right before baking. 

For purposes of testing, Mark and I dug into the dough the night I mixed it up and baked two cookies. They were exceptional, indeed, but letting the dough sit for almost 36 hours resulted in something even tastier. 

I don't think I'll ever be able to involve myself with another chocolate chip cookie besides this one.

The New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies
recipe from The New York Times, adapted from Jaques Torres

2 cups minus 2 Tbsp. cake flour
1 2/3 cup bread flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (1 1/4 cups)
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. natural vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds dark chocolate chips
Sea salt

Sift flours, baking soda and baking powder into a bowl. Set aside.

Using a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients, and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate chips in and incorporate without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24-36 hours. Dough may be used in batches and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or nonstick baking mat and set aside.

Scoop six 3.5 oz. mounds (about the size of a generous golf ball) of dough onto the baking sheet. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18-20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack and let cool completely.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Almond Raspberry Tart via Cooking Therapy

It's a busy week in the Moore household. We are knee deep in boxes, our moving truck arrives today, and sometime TOMORROW, we will drive our black SUVs to Charlotte for good! We are so thankful for this new chapter and a bonus that it's bringing us within minutes from friends and family.
My kitchen is officially closed, but luckily, my dear friend Julie has shared a recipe here on my slice of the internet that I am so excited to be posting today. Julie and I met in college where we lived two doors down from each other in our Boone, NC condos and watching Elf and drinking vanilla lattes was nearly a daily occurrence. Snowberries, anyone!? 

Julie spends her days teaching but when she comes home, she unwinds in the kitchen. Her little slice of the internet, Cooking Therapy, is one of my favorites! Julie's recipes will always leave you with a smile on your face and in your belly. They really are as delicious as they look on the flawless pictures. I love the stories and background she gives with each recipe. Julie has a giant heart and I'm so lucky to call her a friend in real life. You're going to want to make Cooking Therapy one of your daily reads!

You're welcome.

...

There are times to make simple, easy desserts. And there are times to make more complicated beauties, because you need to think or be creative or simply want to do something that yields the desired result. I find that I do some of my best thinking, praying and contemplating in the kitchen, working through a recipe. This is why cooking is somewhat therapeutic for me, it gives me the outlet to be creative and craft something with immediate results. More often than not, if you follow a recipe, you'll achieve the desired results. Cooking is one of the few areas of life where that is consistently true!

Though a dessert like this can seem complicated, it's really not. It has several steps that require waiting, which is often the hardest part for me. (My husband has a running joke that I will never burn anything because I'm so impatient that I usually take things out of the oven too soon!) Waiting for the crust to cool allows for good thinking time, and the ability to wash dishes while you go.  

Not only is this tart relatively simple, it is also impressive in both taste and appearance. The bittersweet chocolate filling is complemented by the almond and fresh raspberries, making a delicious combination. I hope you enjoy both the process of making it, and the end result. Be sure to visit me over at Cooking Therapy!

Chocolate Almond Raspberry Tart 

adapted from bon appétit 

Some notes: The raspberry glaze I will probably do without next time. It was difficult to brush over the fresh raspberries without them falling over, and didn't add too much flavor. Almond paste is not the same as marzipan- it is less sweet and has a richer almond flavor, which you want in this tart. The original recipe called for the almond paste to be crumbled and then pressed on to the crust. I found it easier to roll it out into a think layer and place the whole thing on the crust. 

Ingredients 

For the crust:

1 1/4 cup chocolate wafer cookies, finely ground in a food processor or blender

5 TBS unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:

8 oz. almond paste 

10 oz. bittersweet chocolate 

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1 pint or so of fresh raspberries 

Optional raspberry glaze: 

2 TBS raspberry jam

2 tsp. water

Special Equipment: 9 in tart pan with removable bottom 

Preparation

Make the crust: 

Preheat oven to 350. 

Combine cookie crumbs and melted butter in a medium bowl until the crumbs begin to stick together. 

Press in a thin layer onto the bottom and up the sides of your tart part. 

Bake crust until set and beginning to crisp, about 15 minutes. 

Cool completely on rack. 

Make the filling: 

Once crust is cooled, roll out almond paste into a thin layer and press on to the crust. 

Place chocolate in a medium bowl. 

Bring the cream to a simmer in a small saucepan, then pour over the chocolate. 

Let it stand for about a minute, then whisk until melted and smooth. 

Pour the ganache over the almond layer, spread out until even. 

Chill tart until chocolate is cold and set, at least 4 hours. 

Once tart is chilled and completely set, arrange raspberries pointed side up on the top. 

To serve, use a small sharp knife to loosen crust from pan sides. 

Push the pan bottom up and set on a serving dish. Serve cold.

Keep tart refrigerated. 

Optional glaze: 

Combine raspberry jam and water in a small pan over low heat until blended and heated. Brush over berries before serving. 

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