Deceptively Healthy Dessert: Pumpkin Apple Spice Cake

Hello and welcome!

Today's Deceptively Healthy Dessert is a take off of my grandmother's classic Pumpkin Bread. (Don't tell my brother ;) )

The Recipe: (Makes one 1lb loaf cake)

• 1 cup pumpkin
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Salt
• 2 tbsp cinnamon

The Process:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
2. Mix the pumpkin, egg, applesauce, and vegetable oil in a bowl.
3. Add the sugar and honey and mix. 
4. Add the flour and mix.
5. Add the baking powder and cinnamon and mix. 
6. Pour into greased pan. 
7. Bake for about 1 hour. 
8. Allow to cool for about 30 minutes. 
9. Enjoy! 

The Calories:

Pumpkin- 80 calories

Egg- 70 calories

Applesauce- 50 calories

Sugar- 773 calories

Honey- 128 calories

Vegetable oil- 1927 calories

Flour- 796 calories

Baking Powder- 0 calories

Salt- 0 calories

Cinnamon- 38 calories

__________________________________

TOTAL: 3889 calories

What went right: 

          It tastes wonderful and is very rich and filling! 

What went wrong:

          Entirely too addictive ;) 

What I would do next time: 

          Add cinnamon whipped cream or cinnamon ice cream. It would definitely add to it. Kirby also suggested putting the cake in the fridge near the end, which made it taste completely different but very good! 

Overall, a great cake warm or cold! 

Deceptively Healthy Dessert: Gluten, Dairy, and Grain Free Chocolate Loaf Cake

Hello health food fans, vegans, and gluten free folks!

This recipe was suggested to me by my little brother, Kirby. I know, shocking, right?! Turns out he saw the picture of the original trending on buzzfeed. He didn't know what was in it and I changed the recipe anyway when the consistency wasn't what I wanted. Reading the recipe, I was a little skeptical, but it was better than I expected!

The Recipe: 

Cake:

• 1/2 cup plus 7 tsp pumpkin puree
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp applesauce
• 1 egg (***Dairy free by using 1/2 cup applesauce instead of egg)
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 6 tbsp honey
• 1/2 cup ground flaxseed
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 2 tbsp cashew butter (almond butter or peanut butter would work as well!)
• 1 1/2 tsp nutella

Glaze: 

• 2 tbsp almond milk
• 1 tsp cocoa powder
• 2 tsp powdered sugar

The Process: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Mix the salt, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, and ground flaxseed in a small bowl. 
3. Whisk the pumpkin, almond milk, applesauce, egg, nutella, vanilla, and cashew butter in a larger bowl using a fork.
4. Add the dry to the wet bowl and mix. 
5. Grease a 1 lb loaf pan. 
6. Add batter to pan. 
7. Push chocolate chips into batter. 
8. Bake for 30 minutes. 
9. Mix glaze in a small bowl. 
10. Apply to cake while hot. 
11. Allow cake to cool. 
12. Enjoy! 

The Calories: 

Pumpkin: 53 calories

Applesauce: 2 calories

Cashew Butter: 150 calories

Egg: 70 calories (dairy free substitution has 30 calories)

Salt: 0 calories

Baking Powder: 0 calories

Baking Soda: 0 calories

Cocoa Powder: 98 calories

Vanilla Extract: 12 calories

Honey: 384 calories

Flaxseed: 365 calories

Chocolate Chips: 201 calories

Almond Milk: 10 calories

Nutella: 33 calories

Powdered Sugar: 20 calories

__________________________________________

TOTAL: 1398 calories

This genuinely surprised me! The cake was about 9 slices, which means each slice was only 155 calories of mostly healthy ingredients. The dairy free version contains 150 calories per slice, though applesauce is less protein than eggs. 

What went right:

          The cake tasted great and was gone in one night! Kirby ate three slices and my parents really liked it too. It was rich and moist with the bitterness of dark chocolate and nicely satisfying. It came out of the pan very easily and displayed well. 

What went wrong: 

          Once Kirby was told what was in the cake, he decided he was no longer a fan. We've decided he's no longer allowed to know what's in food. I think I'll make it again and tell him it's different (shhh! ;) )

What I would do next time: 

           While shopping for almond milk, I noted that there is such a thing as dark chocolate almond milk. That is something I definitely want to try, as well as adding more glaze so it covers the entire cake. I would also like to try using half as much cocoa powder and a square of melted baking chocolate (like in brownies). It would also be interesting to use almond butter or peanut butter instead of cashew butter; the consistency of using almond might make the taste more consistent. Additionally, adding pecans or walnuts on top would add some much needed texture. Finally, I would like to serve this with a frozen yogurt, sorbet, or ice cream. Something cold and fruity would go very well with this cake. 

Overall, an amazing and simple cake that I can't wait to play with!

Chocolate Hazelnut Banana Cupcakes

Hello Cupcake Lovers!!

This recipe is one of three adaptations of the Chocolate Buttercream M&M Cupcakes from New Years Eve, made on New Years Day for a dinner party with some of our close family friends, Jana, Andy, Alexander, and Larissa! 

If you have any fun cupcake-related experiences, please share them in the comments at the bottom of the page, or send me an email or google+ comment! 

The Recipe: Chocolate Hazelnut Banana Cupcakes (Total Recipe makes 12 cupcakes and 6 mini cupcakes, but only 6 became this flavor and the others had additions to their filling and frosting). 

The Cake: 

• 1 cup flour
• 7/8 cup sugar
• 3/8 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2.5 tbsp shortening (aka Crisco)
• 1.5 mashed bananas
• 1.5 eggs
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 dark chocolate chip (for shavings)

The Filling/Icing: 

• 3 stick butter, softened
• 1.5 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp hazelnut powdered creamer
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

The Process:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (176.6 degrees C). 
2. Sift together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 
3. Cut shortening into small pieces to make it easier to mix with dry ingredients. 
4. Mash banana into another, smaller bowl. (Don't tell the kids there's banana in their cupcakes!!)
5. Add one egg to the bowl with the banana. 
6. Break other egg into a small cup or bowl and whisk so that it becomes relatively homogeneous. Pour half of this into the bowl with the banana.
7. Mix oil, milk, and vanilla extract into bowl with banana. 
8. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and beat. 
9. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners (or butter and flour the sides of the pan). 
10. Fill cupcake liners about halfway with batter. 
11. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a skewer (or toothpick) can poke the center and come out with some moist crumbs. You will be able to see the cupcakes rise and smell when they are done. Use the pictures as a guide as each oven is different. 
12. Allow to cool with paper towel covering. 
13. Blend ingredients for filling/icing.      
14. Use cupcake corer to remove the center of each cupcake. Fill each cupcake and replace its center.
15. Fill an icing press with remaining icing.          
16. Press into desired pattern. 
17. Shave dark chocolate on top. 
18. Enjoy! :) 

The Calories:

Flour:  455 calories

Sugar: 665 calories

Cocoa: 70 calories

Baking Powder: 0 calories

Baking Soda: 0 calories

Salt: 0 calories

Shortening: 260 calories

Banana: 150 calories

Egg: 115 calories

Oil: 482 calories

Milk: 30 calories

Vanilla: 12 calories

Hazelnut creamer: 35 calories

____________________________________

TOTAL: 2274 calories 

Granted, this recipe was for about 12.5 cupcakes. So each cupcake really only had about 182 calories :) 

What went right: 

          They were very delicious and looked prettier than the first batch. 

What went wrong:

          This batch was less moist than the last batch. Not sure why, but might have been a minute or two over cooked, comparatively.

What I would do next time:

         Technically, this batch was basically the same as the M&M batch, and the changes were made in the other cupcakes you see below (coming soon! ;) ) 

Would I do this in college: 

          Totally! In fact, I'm working on reducing this recipe for single serving cupcakes without waste so that I can easily make a quick cupcake for a friend's birthday without having to make an entire batch. One of my least favorite things about baking is that the amounts can be so arbitrary because they depend on your specific baking equipment. One of my goals for this page is to be able to have a mix for every common number of cupcakes desired. Recipes can always be doubled, but the hard part is reducing and keeping the consistency of the original. Keep watching for single serving cupcakes :)

Overall, a wonderful party treat and a great time in the kitchen. It took much longer than I planned to make all three different types of cupcakes, but they turned out fantastic so I don't even care. Everyone enjoyed and I had a blast baking them and honing my icing skills. 

Having a cupcake for 182 calories is actually quite good! A plain bagel has 260-280 calories, and a scone or muffin can have 350-430 calories. However, it's not particularly healthy, so if you'd like to ensure you wake up with your toned body in tact, be sure you've done any of the below before you indulge...

1. Run 1.5 miles
2. Walk 2 miles
3. Dance for 40 minutes
4. Rearrange furniture for 30 minutes
5. Play darts for 70 minutes
6. Play badminton for 40 minutes

Any of the above will burn about 200 calories, making your cupcake guilt-free ;)

                                                            

Spritz Cookies with Friends

Hello and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

So apparently most people don't know what spritz cookies are, which shocked me because they are one of the most classic Christmas cookies ever.Hopefully the 200 or so spritz cookies Emmy, Lauren, Clarissa, and I made was enough of an explanation ;)

                                       

Thanks for baking and enjoying with me darlings <3 

                                        

Thanks to everyone who indulged with us as well :) 

The Recipe: 

• 1.5 sticks butter (3/4 cup)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 cups flour
• Dark Chocolate (as desired)
• Sprinkles (as desired)
• Hershey Kisses (as desired)
• Reeses (as desired)
• Crushed Candy Cane (as desired)
• Marshmallows (as desired)
• M&Ms (as desired)

The Process:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (176.7 degrees C). 
2. To separate the egg, crack carefully and move yolk to one side of the shell. Transfer yolk between the shell halves, allowing the egg white to drip into another container. 
3. Mix butter, sugar, yolk, vanilla extract, almond extract, salt, and flour. 
4. Chill batter for about 30 minutes. 
5. Fill cookie press. 
6. Press dough onto baking pans using cookie press. 
7. Decorate as desired. 
8. Bake for 5-8 minutes, depending on your oven. 
9. Allow to cool before removing from pan. 
10. Share the love with friends :) 

The Calories:

Butter: 1215 calories

Sugar: 387 calories

Yolk: 55 calories

Vanilla: 6 calories

Almond: 6 calories

Salt: 0 calories

Flour: 910 calories

_______________________

TOTAL: 2579 calories

A single recipe makes about 65 cookies. This means each cookie contains about 40 calories. Not too shabby! 

What went right:

         Everything! These were such a hit, we made a double batch a couple days later :) 

What went wrong: 

         They're entirely too addictive. 

What I would do next time: 

          Try other toppings and potentially mix cocoa powder into part of the recipe to make chocolate spritz cookies. 

Overall, one of my favorite holiday traditions fulfilled! 

                                                                                                                                    

  Here are the Spritz Cookies with the Gluten Free Mint Chocolate Cookies:

Here is the final collection of my Christmas Cookies and Truffles, including Spritz Cookies, Gluten Free Mint Chocolate Cookies, Caramel Truffles, and Peanut Butter Truffles: 

M&M Eclair Cake

Hello Decadent Dessert Connoisseurs!

Today's recipe was shared with my entire hall as the birthday cake for October. Happy birthday to my hallmates, Emma, Clarissa, and Kyle :) Thanks to Emmy, Lauren, and Liljuan for baking with me! 

The recipe was originally adapted from the girl who ate everything's Eclair Cake, and a Pinterest photo of a cake covered in M&Ms. However, due to some complications with the instant pudding not solidifying properly in a four hour time period, we had to make some changes to the original plan. Thankfully, it still tasted fantastic and our hall -quite literally- ate it up! 

The Recipe: M&M Eclair Cake

The Crust: 

• 1 cup of all-purpose flour 
• 1 stick of unsalted butter
• 1 cup of water
• Four large eggs

The Filling:

• 1 large box of Vanilla Instant Pudding
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 3 cups milk

The Whipped Cream:

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar (can be substituted for 3 tbsp granulated white sugar)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

The Decorations: 

• 1 bag of Dark Chocolate M&Ms

The Process: 

The Pudding: ****Must be made the night before or you will not have firm pudding!!****

• Beat pudding mix and milk for 3 minutes.
• Boil pudding-milk mix on the stove. 
• Put in the fridge until set. 
• Also chill a separate bowl for your cream cheese.

Ours did not set, and we ended up pouring the liquid into the crust and refrigerating the whole cake, it still didn't completely set after four hours, and we poured out the liquid, topped it with whipped cream, and ate a slightly less thick cake.

After reading the directions on the actual pudding box rather than the online recipe for this cake, I realized it was missing a crucial step: boiling the pudding-milk mix before putting it in the fridge. We did not do this, but I added it in just for you.

The Filling:

• Whip cream cheese into the chilled bowl
• Slowly add pudding and whip until there are no lumps. It must be thick before being added to the cream cheese. 

The Puff Pastry:  

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Lightly grease a regular baking sheet
• In a medium saucepot, slowly melt butter in water until it boils. Remove from stove. 
• Put flour in bowl, add water/butter mixture, and stir. 
• Completely mix in one egg at a time (this is the part where it's so much easier to have two people!)
• Spread mixture evenly onto the pan, covering the bottom and sides. It should be relatively wet, like cake batter, rather than thick like cookie batter. 
• Bake until golden brown. (Ours took about 30 minutes.) Remove from the oven and allow to cool without covering it. 

The Whipped Cream: 

• Using a separate chilled bowl, or the chilled bowl from your filling, mix cream and sugar for 1-2 minutes on high. 
• Add vanilla and beat for an additional couple minutes. It should look fluffy rather than thick. 

Putting it all together:

• Once your crust has cooled, pour in the filling. 
• Top with whipped cream. 
• Arrange M&Ms in a pattern, or cover the whole cake, as desired! 

The Calories:

Flour: 455 calories

Butter: 810 calories

Water: 0 calories

Eggs: 312 calories

Pudding: 480 calories

Milk: 309 calories

Cream Cheese: 776 calories

Cream: 821 calories

Powdered Sugar: 154 calories

Vanilla Extract: 6 calories 

M&Ms: 3120 calories

__________________________________________________

TOTAL: 7243 calories

However, I'd say 80% of the milk, pudding, and cream cheese were not in the cake, so subtracting:
7243-[.80*(480+309+776)]= 5991 calories

The cake made about 60 servings, and was shared between 30 people. This means a single serving was about 100 calories. At an average of 2 servings each, that makes a single person's consumption only about 200 calories. (Looks a lot better, doesn't it!!)

While this is far from a healthy dessert (workout included at the end), one of my friends made a wise, biological observation grounded in 100% scientifically proven fact: Calories don't count on your birthday! ;) 

So keep this treat as a birthday favorite, or be sure to share it, as we all deserve a treat sometimes :) 

What went right:

         Most people loved the cake and the puff pastry was perfect; it ended up tasting relatively like a crepe. It's definitely necessary to have the M&Ms for texture and taste, and I think this would be true regardless of the filling concentration.

What went wrong:
        The filling, as mentioned, did not set easily. It would have been nice to know about that earlier. Maybe our fridge just isn't as cold as it should be, but at least now we know for next time.

What I would do next time:
         Make the pudding the night before. I also might try making a custard instead of pudding, since that way I know for sure it will set in a given bake time.

Will I make this again in college?: 
         Given that we all decided we would like make the cake together again, I'd go with yes on that one, as long as it's with my friends :)

Overall, a great cake despite the contents. Made with the full recipe, it definitely needs a work out, but not if you only eat two servings of the one we ended up making.

My personal favorite way to get over college calories is a dance party! Dancing is a fantastic workout, when done full-out. It's a great ab work out, and if you dance in three inch heels like I do, you get some extra leg toning too!

If you're not up for a dance party, do the following rotation three times:
50 crunches
50 reverse crunches
50 oblique crunches
20 leg lifts on one side
20 bridges
20 leg lifts on the other side
20 squats

This should take about 15-20 minutes and you'll burn about 100 calories, depending on your initial weight.

Peanut Butter Cookies and Tart Cakes

Welcome dessert fans and cookie monsters! 

I know, I know, what's a cookie doing on a health food blog? Well, these cookies are remarkably healthy when baked from scratch...as healthy as cookies can be, anyway. 

These cookies are part of my regular favorites that I've been making for years. The recipe was adapted from a recipe given to us by our family friend, Nancy Kampmeyer. I hadn't made them in a very long time, and my brother mentioned them a few months ago, so, by special request....

The Recipe: Peanut Butter Cookies and Tart Cakes

• 1 3/4 flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp baking soda

There are a few ways to make these cookies...I generally end up baking a few different types from the same batch: barely baked for my brother, crispy for my father, and in the middle for my mother. 

The Process: For Softer Cookies

• Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees
• Combine flour, sugar, and baking soda in a bowl
• Melt butter in the microwave for 45-60 seconds, or until it is 3/4-completely melted
• Combine peanut butter, egg, melted butter, and vanilla extract in another bowl
• Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients
• Mix with a hand mixer until completely blended and creamy. 
• Butter a baking pan (you may need more than one; the batter makes 40-60 cookies depending on size)
• Using a regular spoon, make small balls of batter about an inch apart on the baking pan.
• Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until edges begin to form. 
• Allow to cool before serving. 
• Try to stop eating ;) 

The Process: For Crisp Cookies

• Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees
• Combine flour, sugar, and baking soda in a bowl
• Melt butter in the microwave for about 10 seconds, or until it loosens slightly
• Combine peanut butter, egg, butter, and vanilla extract in another bowl
• Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients
• Mix with a hand mixer until completely blended. It will first become a more rice-like batter and then will combine again into a more sticky single batter.
• Butter a baking pan (you may need more than one; the batter makes 40-60 cookies depending on size)
• Make small balls of batter with your hands, about 3/4-1 inch in diameter. Place them about 1 inch apart on the baking pan. 
• Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until edges are clearly visible and darken slightly 
• Allow to cool before serving. 
• Try to stop eating ;)

The Process: For Medium-Baked Cookies

• Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees
• Combine flour, sugar, and baking soda in a bowl
• Melt butter in the microwave for about 30 seconds, or until it becomes 1/2-3/4 melted.
• Combine peanut butter, egg, butter, and vanilla extract in another bowl
• Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients
• Mix with a hand mixer until completely blended. It should have a more creamy texture, but low viscosity.
• Butter a baking pan (you may need more than one; the batter makes 40-60 cookies depending on size)
• Make small balls of batter using a spoon, about 3/4-1 inch in diameter. Place them about 1 inch apart on the baking pan. 
• Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until edges are formed. 
• Allow to cool before serving. 
• Try to stop eating ;)

The Process: For Soft Tart Shells

• Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees
• Combine flour, sugar, and baking soda in a bowl
• Melt butter in the microwave for about 30 seconds, or until it becomes 1/2-3/4 melted.
• Combine peanut butter, egg, butter, and vanilla extract in another bowl
• Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients
• Mix with a hand mixer until completely blended. It should have a more creamy texture, but low viscosity.
• Line a mini cupcake tray with cupcake paper. 
• Fill each cupcake paper 1/2-3/4 full. 
• Add mini chocolate chips, if desired.
• Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until they rise.
• As they cool, the batter will fall and become tart shells. You can eat them empty or fill them with anything you like. (We added raspberry jam)
• Enjoy with a spoon.  

The Calories:

Flour:

Sugar:

Egg:

Butter:

Peanut Butter:

Vanilla Extract:

Baking Soda:

_______________________________

TOTAL:

If desired, add....

Raspberry Jam: 

Strawberry Jam:

Chocolate Sauce:

Caramel Sauce: 

Applesauce and cinnamon: 

Custard:

Pudding:

What went right:

           They were finished in a day and a half. 

What went wrong: 

           The tarts were good, but I had initially intended on making cupcakes...I think I needed to bake the batter longer and add baking powder as well. We ate them with spoons and they still tasted fantastic. 

What would I do next time?:

            Next time I would bake the tarts longer to be tarts, or add baking soda to be cupcakes. I would also  try the different fillings and toppings. I would also like to try folding in other mix-ins such as cinnamon. 

Would I do this in college?: 

            I might have to make half batches of them in college so I don't eat 60 cookies in one night! Just in case....

The Workout: For abs, hamstrings, and pelvic alignment

8 sets of 8 normal crunches

10 pelvis lift bridges

8 sets of 8 bicycles

10 pelvis lift bridges

8 sets of 8 crunches with legs at 90 degrees

10 pelvis lift bridges

4 sets of 8 normal crunches twisted to each side

10 pelvis lift bridges

Approximate time: 8 minutes (hint hint wink wink nudge nudge, this is also the baking time for the cookies)

This batter is exceptionally easy to make, and has a whole world of potential. Watch out for more peanut butter cookie experiments in the future!

Fluffy Buttermilk Biscuits

Hello Biscuit Bakers!

This is a recipe that needs no disclaimer--even the buttermilk is from scratch. No Bisquik, no Pillsbury. However, I must credit pinterest once again for the link to the recipe.

It was also the starting point of tonight's dinner including biscuits, Penne Rigatti, and Sauteed Vegetables. Usually when crafting dinner for three, you start with the main dishes and find sides to compliment them. Tonight, I wanted to make buttermilk biscuits and asked what my family wanted to go with them. I must say, I was shocked that they wanted plain pasta (in the case of my brother) and vegetables (for the rest of my family. But the result was surprisingly harmonious...

The Recipe: Fluffy Buttermilk Biscuits

• 3 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 stick butter
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup water
• (The milk and lemon juice could be substituted with 3/4 cup buttermilk)

The Process:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 
• Slice and dice your butter.
• Combine flour, salt, sugar, baking powder in a large bowl.
• Add the butter chunks, constantly mixing so that the butter becomes evenly dispersed.
• Hand mix until crumbly. It is very important to hand mix, or the biscuits will not be light and flaky.
• Mix in buttermilk, egg and just enough water to make a workable dough. 
• Mix the dough until it is just barely combined (I believe I may have overmixed slightly).
• Roll the dough onto a floured cutting board about 1 inch thick.
•  Cut with a 2 inch biscuit cutter, or a 2 inch round cup (any mothers will recognize the purple sippy cup I used...it was quite nice!). 
• My recipe made 16 biscuits, but it will make less if you roll the dough out thicker. 
• Place on a greased baking sheet (they were supposed to be touching one another and I failed to follow this...next time I will and let you know how it goes).
• Bake 11.5 minutes (the pinterest recipe says 12-15 minutes, but I think I should have stopped at 10 minutes) or until golden brown.

The calories: 

Flour: 1734 calores

Salt: 0 calories

Sugar: 9 calories

Milk: 65 calories

Lemon Juice: 6 calories

Baking Powder: 3 calories

Butter: 800 calories

Egg: 70 calories

Water: 0 calories

___________________
TOTAL per biscuit (for 16 biscuits): 168 calories

Okay, so this looks like a lot. But let's compare them to a few national restaurants....

One regular McDonald's biscuit: 260 calories
One Popeyes biscuit: 260 calories
One Dunkin Donuts biscuit: 280 calories
One Denny's buttermilk biscuit: 190 calories

So comparatively, it's not terrible! I don't feel as awful given that I ate five and swum 2000m today at a rather high pace, as well as biking four miles :)

What went right:
          They were great on the inside, and my family and I very much enjoyed them!

What went wrong:
          My little brother saw me baking and when he realized there was lemon in biscuits, he was able to taste it, so did not like them as much as he might have otherwise. Additionally, I believe I should have taken them out after 10 minutes, because a few of the biscuits were more cooked on the bottom than desired. I might even bake them for 9 minutes.

What I would do next time:
        Next time, I will change the bake time and bake them right next to one another so they can't spread out. It might also be fun to try them with mix-ins like bacon and cheese, or marinara and rosemary or basil.

Will I do this in college?:
        Yes, for sure! They are a great alternative to fast food biscuits, and do not take long to prepare.

Overall, I'm very glad I made these today, even though I'm not so happy I ate five...they were quite delicious!

We did not finish the biscuits, so I've frozen the last few to be reheated and enjoyed later...the recipe says this will be alright, so I'll let you know how they turn out!

Greek Yogurt Chocolate Muffins

Welcome healthy bakers!

This recipe is a take off of a pinterest Greek Yogurt Chocolate Bread. I decided to make them into muffins due to lack of a bread pan, and the fact that I felt they would be easier to take for breakfast this way. 

The Recipe: Greek Yogurt Chocolate Muffins

• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup plain original Greek yogurt
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup reduced fat milk
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

The Process: 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and baking soda
• In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla and greek yogurt. Whisk in the oil, the sugar and the milk, until mixture is smooth
• Transfer the liquid mixture into the dry mixture
• Mix with a spatula, just until incorporated, allowing batter to remain lumpy
• Fold in the chocolate chips.
• Transfer the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a spatula
• Bake 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean
• Cool in the pan for 30 minutes

The Calories:

Because this recipe is from an alternate site, I am lucky to have a full set of nutrition facts available. These numbers are per serving of bread:

Calories: 239.7
Total Fat: 11.2 g
Saturated Fa:t 3.3 g
Cholesterol: 37.9 mg
Sodium: 165.2 mg (less due to removed salt)
Total Carbohydrates: 33.8 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.0 g
Sugars: 20.8 g
Protein: 4.2 g

The major differences between the bread and the muffins were the removal of salt, and change in cooking time and shape. The shape difference also created a serving difference; the full loaf of bread made 12 servings, where my batch made 16 muffins. This means that in a single muffin...

(Bread calories per serving)*(number of servings)=(total calories in batter)

(total calories in batter)/(number of muffins)=(total calories per muffin)

So...

239.7*12=2876.4

2876.4/16=179.8 calories per muffin

This is an extremely significant difference in caloric value. All nutrition facts can be manipulated using the same formulas.

 What went right: 

           The muffins were great while they were hot, and tasted amazing with some raspberry jam. 

What went wrong: 

          The muffins did not keep very well, and I believe they needed to be cooked for a shorter period of time to ensure that they would retain their moistness. Additionally, if I were to wrap the pan in tin foil partway through baking the way the recipe asks, it might also assist this moistness. 

What I would do next time: 

         I would definitely bake for a shorter period of time, and potentially bake raspberry jam into the muffins as well. They would also taste great with white chocolate or butterscotch chips, and a variety of nuts. 

Would I make this in college: 

        Unfortunately, I don't believe I will have the opportunity to make this in college, at least not for a while. I definitely won't be bringing the muffin pan first semester. Oh well!

Overall, this was a very good first attempt at what I think will be a great recipe when perfected :)

Variations on the Peanut Butter Cookie

As promised! Some simple variations on the Peanut Butter Cookie...

These cookies used the recipe for basic peanut butter cookies from earlier in my blog, and the medium baked process. 

Experiment 1: Folding in Cinnamon Swirls

• Sprinkle cinnamon onto a small plate.
• Using your hands, flatten a small amount of batter and press it into the cinnamon.
• Roll the batter into a ball with the cinnamon in the center. Each ball should be 1/2-3/4 inches in diameter. 
• Bake 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees

Experiment 2: Adding a dark chocolate center

• Bake 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees
• Immediately post baking, press a dark chocolate Godiva chip into the center and allow to cool. The chocolate chip should become fully embedded into the cookie. 

The caloric addition of a single chocolate chip or a small amount of cinnamon is not significant enough to change the health value of each cookie. 

And of course, while they bake, do the Peanut Butter Cookie Workout to stay in shape and enjoy, guilt-free!

Both experiments went well, and I will definitely have more trials in the future. I might try different shapes for the cookies, such as a triangle for the cinnamon, and rolling it like a crescent, or cinnamon roll. 

 Keep checking for more variations on the Peanut Butter Cookie recipe!