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Coconut Chocolate Banana Squares

August 21, 2011 By Laura

Another weekend.  Over too soon.

It was a fun one!  My friend Kat was in town from South Korea.

She moved there a few years ago to teach, which I think is incredibly cool.  It’s good to see old friends so happy and fulfilled.  We used to be concert buddies, so naturally we caught up over a show.

Michelle Malone was playing the Sunday night 99X Unplugged in the Park show.  Unplugged in the Park is a summer-long free music series put on by a local radio station.  They pull in some great musicians at these!

The weekend was also punctuated with…

a baking WIN!!!

 

I’m not gonna lie – my ego needed this one after last week’s baking fail(s).

During my weekend trip to the Farmer’s Market I found coconut flour on the cheap.  $1.36

Normally I hoard the stuff because… well, do you know how much it costs at Whole Foods?  Hint: more than $1.36.

Click here for some of the benefits of coconut flour (and for an awesome coconut chocolate chip cookie recipe).

I was so excited to use it with reckless abandon in Coconut Chocolate Banana Bars!  Low in sugar and high in fiber, these tasty little chocolate bars can be eaten as breakfast OR dessert.

To bake them, I used my square pan, but you could also bake them in cookie-like form on a baking sheet.

The texture coconut flour gives baked goods is so silky it’s downright luxurious.  I also love the notes of sweetness from the banana with the rich cocoa.

Tip: use a good cocoa powder in dishes like this – the difference in taste/quality is worth the splurge!

Recipe at the end!  First a bit ‘o fitness.


Here’s the weekly recap.  I’m happy with last week because I worked out every day!  Usually there’s one day that I simply cannot motivate (unintended “rest” days).

Whatever happened, it worked well because I landed a new PR in Saturday’s hill-filled 5K. 🙂

Workout Recap (8/15-8/21)

  • Monday – Kickboxing
  • Tuesday – 4 mile run, P90X Ab Ripper X, 84 push-ups
  • Wednesday – Biceps/Back, 84 push-ups, 6 Minute Plank Sequence
  • Thursday – 4 mile run, P90X Ab Ripper X, 84 push-ups
  • Friday – Triceps/Chest, Plank Sequence, 84 push-ups
  • Saturday – 5K, + 1 mile run, 84 push-ups 
  • Sunday – 4 mile run x2, 100 push-ups

Coconut Chocolate Banana Squares

by Laura Hall

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 10-12 mins

Keywords: bake snack dessert vegetarian low-sodium nut-free low-sugar sugar-free banana coconut flour cocoa greek yogurt healthy cookie

Ingredients (9 squares)

  • 2 ripe bananas, mashed
  • 2 T Greek yogurt
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 C unsweetened apple sauce
  • 1/4 C NuNaturals’ More Fiber Stevia Baking Blend
  • 1 C whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1/3 C coconut flour
  • 2 T cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • Pinch of salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Place muffin cups in muffin tins

Whisk together NuNaturals, applesauce, and egg until creamy and light yellow

Add mashed bananas, yogurt, and vanilla, and whisk to combine

Add flours, cocoa, baking soda, and salt, and stir until smooth.

Spoon the batter into tins

Bake for 10-12 minutes

Approximate Nutritionals: 108 calories, 1.9g fat, 21.3g carbohydrates, 6.1g fiber, 3.9g sugar, 3.8g protein.

Powered by Recipage

***

I’m already excited to eat one of these for afternoon snack.

How was your weekend?  Anything exciting?

Do you have a favorite flour to use?

Filed Under: Baking, Breakfast, Core, Fitness, Products, Recap, Recipes, Running, Weights Tagged With: breakfast, coconut flour, dessert, NuNaturals, race, running, snacks, stevia, workout

Coconut Milk Greek Yogurt + WIAW

August 17, 2011 By Laura

Jen’s WIAW is becoming my favorite weekly feature.

 

 

I get SO many great ideas reading other people’s posts!  Head over Peas & Crayons to check them out.

 

Breakfast

I was fortunate enough to receive samples of the new So Delicious Greek-style yogurt.  The flavors include blueberry, raspberry, chocolate, and plain.  Made with coconut milk, the Greek-sytle yogurt is VEGAN.

 

The nutritional information overall is good.  The fiber contect is awesome – 8g!  For those who prefer flavored yogurt, it only has 11g of sugar.  That’s a lot for my taste, but it is pretty low compared to others on the market.  It also have a ton of Calcium, Vitamin D, Vitamin B12, and Magnesium.

Admittedly, I was a bit disappointed with protein.  One of the reasons I love Greek yogurt so much is the high protein content.  This coconut version only contains 2g.

 

I tried the blueberry version first.  While I did like it… it was very different than Greek yogurt.  The texture wasn’t as creamy and it didn’t have the tartness.

Recognizing that this may be a plus for some of you (especially if you don’t like/have never had Greek yogurt), I like the “real” thing better.

 

Had I tried it expecting a traditional yogurt, I would have been happier.  I think it’s better than “regular” yogurt!  (Disclaimer: I don’t like regular yogurt.)

 

I gave it some more “oomph” with my new love: Peanut Flour.  Why didn’t you guys beat me over the head to order this sooner?!  It’s life-changing!!!

 

It’s incredible.  Just add a little liquid and salt and you have a protein and fiber-rich peanut butter substance with less fat.  Did I mention it’s also gluten-free?!  I cannot wait to make pancakes and cookies with this.

I’m not sharing – order your own here: Protein Peanut Flour (woo hoo for this hometown Georgia company!)

From a galaxy far, far away...

 

PBJ Vegan Yogurt Deliciousness

  • 2 T Peanut flour
  • 2 T So Delicious unsweetened vanilla coconut milk
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 container So Delicious Blueberry Greek-style yogurt

 

In small bowl, mix together first 3 ingredients to form a peanut butter-like substance.  Swirl in yogurt.  Inhale bowl of deliciousness.

 

 

Lunch

Moroccan Carrot Salad is even better a day or 2 later!  I made some extra so I could eat it through0ut the week and I thoroughly enjoyed it in a wrap today.  I used a Rudi’s spelt tortilla and stuffed it with hummus, carrot salad, cucumber, celery, spinach, and green pepper.

With lots of water throughout the day in my Georgia Tech glass.  (16 days until the beginning of the GT football season!!!)

Insert 4 mile, music-less run here.  Silly Shuffle was out of juice. 🙁

Do you see that sweat?!  It was so flipping hot.  No music.  630pm.  I think I ran fast just to get ‘er done.

I fantasized thought about dinner the WHOLE way.

Dinner

More carrots!  This time with Shirataki tofu noodles and peanut sauce (yes, more peanut flour!).

Tomorrow you get more details on this!  This post is getting loooong… it was a fantastic throw-together-meal.  You should check back.  Everybody’s doing it.

Snacks

I cannot believe I FORGOT to take a pic of my snack today.

 

Pinkberry yogurt.  Sheer deliciousness.  I got the watermelon (only in stores until August 19th!) with mango and toasted almonds on top.

I also sampled the Salted Caramel.  It was good, but I prefer yogurts in fruity flavors.  “Dessert” flavors (like chocolate and caramel) are reserved for ice cream treats.  Clearly I don’t mind a fruity tart!  (That’s what she said.)

 

My nighttime snack doubled as dessert – a chocolate-peanut butter protein shake.  With spinach, of course.

Almost forgot the pic.  Lucky me – I was chatting with the famous Jen while drinking it and remembered just in time.

In my shake:

  • 1 scoop chocolate casein protein powder
  • 1/2 C spinach (I ran out!)
  • 1/2 C unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 1 T crunchy peanut butter
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • Pinch of guar gum (helps to make the texture more shake-like)
  • Ice + Water, to taste

***

I have dinner plans tonight and it’s making the day dragggggg.

Do you have dessert preferences in terms of what you like fruity vs. chocolate-y?

What is the best thing you’ve eaten so far this week?

 

Filed Under: Breakfast, Products, Recipes, Restaurants, Running, Smoothies Tagged With: breakfast, dessert, dinner, gluten-free, lunch, peanut flour, protein, raw food, Rudi's Bakery, running, Shirataki, smoothies, snacks, So Delicious, vegan, WIAW, yogurt

Strawberry Smoky Almond Tart

August 16, 2011 By Laura

Dessert Noir

Funny how all you guys seemed more interested in hearing about the dessert than the carrot salad. 🙂

Maybe because you were invested in it since I asked for help selecting the dish for Feast Noir???

In the end, I couldn’t choose between the tart and the brownies.  The smoky almond crust spoke to me… but how can you NOT have chocolate for dessert? *insert look of horror*

The tart was awesome!  My crust didn’t hold together as well as I’d have liked (I used 6 T of butter – I adjusted the recipe below to read 8T), but the flavor and creamy filling were right on.

Don’t let the smoked almonds scare you – they weren’t at all overpowering.  I could only find salted, which worked well as long as you use unsalted butter.  The crust perfectly complemented the sweet flavor of the graham crackers and strawberries, as well as the slight tang from the Greek-style yogurt.

For chocolate, I baked Lavender Brownies from The Sweet Life.

They were ok... I loved the lavender flavor, but the texture of the brownie wasn’t my favorite.  I’m more of cakey brownie person and these were closer to the chewy variety.

I’d love to try these again with a few adjustments for texture.


Strawberry Smoky Almond Tart

by Laura Hall

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 15 mins

Keywords: bake dessert low-sugar vegetarian low-sodium greek yogurt strawberries almonds cream cheese July 4th tart spring summer

Ingredients (8-10 slices)

  • 1.5 C graham crackers (1 package)
  • 1/2 C smoked almonds
  • 2 T palm sugar (you can use regular)
  • 8 T unsalted butter, melted
  • 8 oz cream cheese, softened (1/3 less fat works)
  • 1/4 C Greek yogurt + 2T (I used Atlanta Farm Fresh 2% Greek-style yogurt)
  • 1 T agave syrup
  • 1 egg
  • ~1.5 C strawberries (enough to cover top of tart), cut into thin slices

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°.

In a food processor, combine graham crackers with the almonds and sugar. Mix until finely ground.

Add the melted butter and pulse until the crumbs are evenly moistened.

Press the crumbs into the bottom and 1/2 in up the side of a 9-inch springform pan. Bake for 10 mins, until the crust is set.

Meanwhile, wipe out the food processor bowl. Add the cream cheese, sour cream, egg and agave. Process until smooth.

Pour the custard into the crust and bake for 15 mins, until set. Let the tart cool slightly and transfer to the freezer to chill. (Note: you can make ahead and store in the freezer for at least a couple of days.)

Spread the remaining 2 T of yogurt across the top of the tart. This will help to anchor the strawberry slices. Arrange the strawberries in a circular fashion over the custard.

Remove the ring, cut the tart into wedges, and serve.

Powered by Recipage

***

 Ah, how I love dessert.

What is the best dessert you have made lately?

Do you try to “healthify” all desserts, or do you let treats remain full-fledged treats?

 

Filed Under: Baking, Products, Recipes Tagged With: Atlanta Farm Fresh, dessert, dinner, entertaining, Feast Noir

Biscoff Cookie Dough Balls

August 8, 2011 By Laura

Let’s talk about balls.

 

Hee hee… yes, I’m 10 years old…

Delta is my home-away-from-home this week.  Lots of work travel.  It’s only appropriate that I highlight my favorite Delta snack – Biscoff.

biscoff

 

Ever since Miss Smart benevolently bequeathed unto me a scrumptious jar of my very own Biscoff spread, I’ve been fantasizing innovating new and decedent different ways to use it.

I’m officially on the sauce.  Soft serve sauce, that is. 🙂

 

Enter: Biscoff Cookie Dough Balls.

I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconut balls… here they are standing in a row…

 

No joke – these really are like eating a big, satisfying bite of Biscoff cookie dough.

This edible cookie dough is a bite-sized ball of brown-sugar and coconutty deliciousness.  At less than 60 calories, 2.5g of sugar, and 1 gram of protein, they aren’t that bad for you!  I’m not claiming Biscoff to be a health food, but the other ingredients are. 🙂

 

A couple of these balls make a great pre-workout snack – easy to grab and go with a teensy sugar boost to pick you up.  They even have a whole gram of protein each!

 

These may be the best balls yet.  And I really, really loved S’more Balls.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Don’t worry, you’re getting the recipe…. AFTER you tell me if you’ve been doing push-ups!

I’m really proud of myself – I did them all but one day this week.  The day I skipped was one where I did the P90X Tricep workout, which is push-up-heavy.

 

I also tried out a new-ish ab exercise.  Hayley @ Oat Couture posted 4 and 6-minute versions of a plank sequence she does.  It reminded me that I’ve been slacking in the planking (click here for my plank advice).  It really is the single best thing you can do (aside from cardio) to improve your abs.  Click the links below to see Hayley’s plank progression with her demo pics (she has perfect form!).

 

Workout Recap (8/1-8/7)

  • Monday – P90X Shoulder & Arms, Ab Ripper X, 84 push-ups
  • Tuesday – 4 mile run, 84 push-ups, Oat Couture’s 6 Minute Plank Sequence
  • Wednesday – P90X Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X, 84 push-ups
  • Thursday – Oat Couture’s 6 Minute Plank Sequence, 84 push-ups
  • Friday – 4 mile run, 84 push-ups
  • Saturday – P9p0X Triceps & Chest, Ab Ripper X
  • Sunday – 9 mile run, 84 push-ups

 

The running was a bit lacking this week because I was SO SORE from the P90X leg workout that I was struggling to do much (that’s what I get for slacking on legs).

However, I did bang out 9 miles on Sunday (in 1:12:14!!!) AND I committed to running Atlanta’s Thanksgiving Half Marathon with some friends. I can’t wait!

_____________________________________________________________________________________

 

Biscoff Cookie Dough Balls

  • 1/2 C Biscoff spread
  • 1/4 C applesauce
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 3 T coconut flour
  • 3 T white whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 C rolled oats
  • 2 T unsweetened shredded coconut (optional)

 

In a large bowl using an electric mixer, combine wet ingredients until smooth.

Slowly mix in flours, followed by the oats. Lastly, mix in shredded coconut.  

Scoop ~2 tsp of dough onto parchment-lined tray and roll to form balls. Freeze or refrigerate until dough firm.

Enjoy!

Makes ~20 balls

Notes: If you don’t have access to Biscoff spread, substitute your favorite nut butter.  If you do that be sure to taste as you go – you may need to add maple syrup or other sweetener.  You may also sub in other flours – or use all coconut for gluten-free dough!

Approximate Nutritionals: 58 calories, 2.9 g fat, 6.8g carbs, 0.9g fiber, 2.5g sugar, 1g protein

***

Thank you for your input on the dessert for Feast Noir!  I think I’m going with the Peach Tart… but those brownies will happen SOON too!

What are your favorite balls?  (Keep it clean!)

Have you been doing push-ups?!

 

Filed Under: Baking, Core, Fitness, Products, Recap, Recipes, Running, Weights Tagged With: Biscoff, dessert, Feast Noir, oats, P90X, raw food, running, snacks, underground dinner, workout

Dessert Dilemma

August 6, 2011 By Laura

Feast Noir.

 

It’s being held at an undisclosed location in Atlanta on August 14th.  They’ve held similar events in Paris so it must be cool.

Video of ‘Dinner en Blanc’ in Paris: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v​=CtZtVxho1Zk&feature=fvst

 

The premise is that 1,000 people come together to dine.  One person volunteers as the “head” of their table and organizes the others.  This means figuring out every aspect of who brings what – from the table to the silverware to the dishes.

 

Of couse I volunteered dessert. 🙂

I know I want to pair it with a Spanish sherry, and that almond pairs exceptionally well with sherry.  I also know I want to try a “next time I need something impressive to share” recipe I’ve saved (please tell me other people do this too… I have 132 saved on Delicious – and that’s just desserts).  That’s as far as I’ve gotten.

 

Now I need your help.  I’ve narrowed it down to 4 recipes.  Which one would you bring?   Or would you bring something entirely different?

 

In the running so far are my (TBD) versions of the following:

 

Sweet Cherry-Brown Butter Bars

Source: The Baker Chick


Raspberry Lemon Amaretti Cake

Source: What's For Lunch, Honey?


Creamy Peach Tart with Smokey Almond Crust

(note: this would become probably a cherry tart)

Source: Food & Wine


Chocolate Lavender Brownies with Lavender Ganache

(I realize this has nothing to do with almonds but don’t they sound fantastic?!)

Source: Sweet Life

***

Maybe I should test all 4… this is my kind of dilemma! 🙂

Have you ever heard of an event like this before?

What would you bring to share at Feast Noir?

 

Filed Under: Baking, Recipes Tagged With: dessert, dinner, entertaining, Feast Noir, underground dinner

Biscoff Sauce + WIAW

August 3, 2011 By Laura

What I Ate…

errrr... on Friday night of last week.  Details, details… but I promise a real recipe from Wednesday at the end!

I’ve been meaning to write a post about this Underground Supper I went to last Friday.  It is the best supper event I’ve attended to date!  And you guys know I do these a lot.

Atlanta native Zach Meloy started Push Start Kitchen with his wife, Christina.  They recently returned from a stint in Costa Rica where they ran a restaurant.  This supper club is their way to generate some buzz and money in hopes of pushing a restaurant start here in Atlanta.

So my foodie-partner-in-crime (Corinne) and I trekked out to The Goat Farm.

The Goat Farm is a kitschy little hippie-like colony that – in addition to literally being a goat farm – hosts a variety of events (this night included a dance performance and a food truck), is home to a few loft owners, and has it’s own coffee shop/late night $2 beer stop.  I had NO idea places like this existed in Atlanta but I’m moving in.

We were to dine in a small room with 8 others among ancient ceiling pulley systems, discarded books, and cotton mill ruins.

Candles were lit, Dark and Stormy beverages flowed, and the night began to move.

Pictures were taken in front of an old pile of bricks by a local photographer.  A train rolled by.  We found a copy of The World According to Garp.  I ran into a girl I went to high school with (what are the odds?!).

All while enjoying a lovely canape – a small masa biscuit topped with cream cheese and red pepper jam:

After the first round of drinks and the canapes were consumed, we took our seats at a rustic (read: IKEA) dining table for the first course.

First, the wine (served by Zach): a light rose, full of strawberries and refreshing on a muggy night.

I was of course busy ogling the already-plated food on the chef’s table next to my right…

First course: crispy Serrano ham, tomato confit, avocado, smoked chile cornbread, with molasses vinaigrette and basil.

Now.  I don’t like cornbread (bad Southerner!), but this stuff was delicious.  It was soft and smokey, not gritty and dry like the bread I often see.  The Serrano was perfectly crisped and added the right level of salt to compliment the plump tomatoes.

I could have eaten this all night and been content.  Alas, the meal must go on!

Second Course: Sous vide pork tenderloin, roasted plum mole, crispy grits, goat cheese, country ham powder, and greens.

You read me correctly – PLUM mole.  Spiced chocolate plum sauce.  I nearly begged Chef for a jar of the stuff.

For those of you who haven’t had meat prepared sous vide before, it is basically cooking meat at a low temperature in a plastic bag underwater.  This allows you to cook even the thickest cuts of meat evenly at a perfectly controlled temperature, resulting in (arguably) the most juicy meat perfection (sorry if I just made all the vegetarians gag!).

Back to the mole.  It was amazing with the pork not too sweet and a bit smokey.  All of this was complemented by the slightly salty flash-fried grit cakes and creamy goat cheese.  I gobbled up mine so fast Corinne asked if I wanted to finish hers.

The Finale: Rum scented “pan perdido,” condensed milk ice cream, pickled cherries, and galleta maria

I didn’t know what half of that meant until I googled at home later.  My initial description was “deconstructed dessert French toast.”

It turns out I wasn’t too far off!  Pan perdido is essentially bread pudding.  Chef Zach pan-fried it so it was especially french toast-like (nom nom).  Galleta marias are tea biscuit-like brown sugar cookies found throughout Latin America.  They almost crumbled to the touch and their vanilla and cinnamon flavorings only added to my french toast fantasy.  Served with homemade ice cream and pickled cherries… I can now die happy.

The way to my stomach’s heart is dessert.  Someone must have let that cat out of the bag because we were presented with a sweet coconut candy rolled in almond meal:

The bird didn’t want any, so I ate it all myself. 🙂


As promised, I am posting something I actually made and ate this week for a change.

The Biscoff spread Miss Smart gifted me with has been burning a hole in my pantry.  This is an emergency situation, remedied only by having banana soft serve (which I think you all are familiar with) for breakfast.

Why soft serve?  To go with my Biscoff Sauce, of course!

Biscoff spread tastes like a creamed version on the brown sugar cookies served on Delta flights… but better.

Why better?  Let me break this down: Spread = Peanut Butter-like = Awesome.

biscoff spread

In fact, it says right on the jar that it should be used any where you’d normally use PB or chocolate spread.  Cookie spread!!! *swoon*

Can you call 2 ingredients a recipe?  Maybe not… but it’s what I ate for breakfast on Wednesday (WIABW).


Banana Soft Serve

Freeze a banana.  Toss said banana in blender.  Blend until smooth (can add milk if you need to thin it out a bit to blend).

Biscoff Sauce

  • 1 T Biscoff spread
  • 1/8 tsp coconut oil

Place both ingredients in a small bowl.  

Microwave for ~10 seconds – just until melted (BE CAREFUL – it will burn).  Stir together.  

Try to top soft serve with sauce before you slurp it up

***

This jar doesn’t have a prayer of lasting through the weekend.  It will be used for some epic oats.

What food product have you recently tried and loved?

Does anyone want to write a guest post for me next week?  Pretty please?!

Filed Under: Breakfast, Recipes, Restaurants Tagged With: breakfast, dessert, dinner, Push Start Kitchen, restaurants, snacks, underground dinner, WIAW

Indian-Inspired Tofu Scramble

July 30, 2011 By Laura

Impromptu dinner parties are the best.

My friend Jessica stopped over to share a bottle of wine and dinner.  She’s pretty brave, as I was trying a new recipe.

How I’ve never made a tofu scramble before, I do not know.  What I do know is that I’ll be doing these a lot more in the future!  Much like scrambled eggs, you can throw basically anything into them.

 My first scramble had a decidedly Indian flare (surprise, surprise… it’s a little bit of an obsession).  

Garam masala with sautéed onion, fennel, and garlic were my starting points and I amped it fom there.

Red pepper flakes, turmeric, cumin, paprika… I’m hoping I remember it all!  Despite all of the spices, for once I didn’t add so much that Jessica’s mouth caught fire.

It turned out really well!  I loved the Indian flavors and the texture of the scrambled tofu against the crunch of the fennel.

She was an awesome guest and brought over some Whole Foods mango-pineapple salsa (if you haven’t had it, I highly recommend!), as well as dessert!

Red cherries and American Grafrutti Coconut-Chocolate balls!

Side note: American Gra-frutti is a great local gluten-free bakery with items that can be found at Whole Foods.  Try out their pimento cheese too – and my mini-review here!

The wine we shared was a 2008 Bodegas Ateca Garnacha “Atteca“ from Calatayud, Spain.

It was a great bottle, especially after it had a few minutes to open up.  Very drinkable, even with the spicier food.  The long finish was especially pleasing and I loved how the rich, berry flavor stood out when paired with the cherries for dessert.


Indian-Inspired Tofu Scramble

  • 1/2 T EVOO
  • 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 medium fennel bulb, thinly sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tsp garam masala
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 tsp coriander
  • 1 (14 oz) package extra firm tofu
  • 1/4 C cilantro
  • S+P, to taste
Add olive oil to large skillet over med-high heat.  Stir in the spices, then quickly add onions and fennel.  Saute until onions soften (3-4 mins).  Stir in garlic, cooking until just before then brown (~1-2 mins).
Add crumbled tofu, stirring to combine.  Cook until warmed through (~5-6 mins).  Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.  Remove from the heat and stir in cilantro.

Plate and enjoy!

Makes: 2 mains or 4 sides.

***

What’s your favorite scramble?

Have you ever scrambled tofu?

Filed Under: Giveaway, Products, Recipes, Wine Tagged With: American Gra-frutti, dessert, dinner, gluten-free, tofu, vegan

Better-Than-S’mores Brownies

July 25, 2011 By Laura

It’s Weekend Recap Monday!

Saturday I got to see the now 1 week old Jackson – how cute is he?!

That’s my massive-looking finger he’s holding!

Mommy, Daddy and baby are all doing well.  They are all so cute together – I can’t believe the girl I used to run around the softball field with now has a baby.  Totally surreal.  

Of course, I couldn’t drop by empty-handed.

I brought the new parents some of the treats I made to take to a friend’s beach volleyball party.

These baller-friends built a sand volleyball court right in their own backyard.  It stays there year-round.  Coolest.  Idea. Ever.

We braved the heat and played for hours.  I was impressed at the skill level of my friends!  After a few rounds (and a minor injury), I decided to play it safe and spectate.

My thumb is a hard-core shade of purple today.

Volleyball = not one of my many skills

The Chipotle Corn Hummus made an appearance at the party.  

Heat + charred, sweet corn + hummus = Mmmmm.


Oh… did you want to know about that treat?

I put the Edge Brownie Pan mom gave me a few years ago to a whole new use.

S’more Brownies.  Complete with graham cracker crust and toasted marshmallows.

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know I like to sneak “secret” ingredients into foods.  (I swear by these brownies).

Betcha can’t guess the secret in S’more Brownies…

I used brownie mix.  Don’t judge me.

Rather than adding the called-for water and oil, I added a can of Diet Coke.  You can stop there, but I added an egg to achieve a fudge-ier brownie that would be a bit more reminiscent of melted s’more chocolate.

The chocolate chips in the batter give it added texture and make this even more sinful fantastic.

This may be one of the best desserts I’ve ever made.  (And I make a lot of desserts.)  They’re your childhood s’mores on crack made better.

I can never make these again.  

For at least a week.


S'mores Brownies

S’mores Brownies

Crust:

  • 1.5 C crushed graham crackers
  • 1/4 C + 2 T Earth Balance (or butter)

Brownie:

  • 1 box brownie mix
  • 1 egg
  • 1 Diet Coke
  • 1/4 C chocolate chips (mine came in the brownie mix)
  • Marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350 and grease brownie pan (I used the edge brownie pan).

Mix together melted Earth Balance (or butter) with crushed graham crackers.  Press on to bottom of brownie pan.  Bake for 8-10 mins.

*Here’s where I stopped and froze mine overnight.  #1 I didn’t have time to make it all at one and #2 sometimes freezing a crumb-y crust help it to crisp up/not be too greasy.*

Mix together brownie batter (except marshmallows).  Add the soda in fourths to be sure batter doesn’t get too runny.

Pour batter into the brownie pan on top of the crust.

Bake at 325 for 35-40 mins, until batter is set.

Set over to broil and top the brownie with just enough of the marshmallows to cover (they will expand as they warm).  Place in oven for 30-45 secs, until marshmallows are browned.  Watch them closely!!!

Let cool COMPLETELY before cutting.

***

I love how desserts can be re-thought and made even better than the original.

What is your favorite dessert re-make?

Do you re-create them on your own or try them in restaurants more often?

Filed Under: Baking, Core, Fitness, Recap, Recipes, Running, Softball, Weights Tagged With: baby, dessert, P90X, running, softball, workout

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Food lover. Constant Wine-r. Gym Rat. More is more.

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