Banana Muffins w/ Raspberry Honey Frosting

So, let's cut to the chase. Frosting, made out of nuts? What? If my grandma knew, I think she'd faint (she doesn't believe in the no butter, no sugar stuff). But it does work. And plus, it tastes delicious! Oh, and the banana muffins? Yum! You see, I got this idea for banana walnut muffins the other day. There used to be this incredible muffin place in the local mall, but unfortunately, it closed. I may or may not have shed a tear or 2. Yes, it was that good. Anyways, this place had the bestest-ever banana walnut muffins, so I thought I would try to recreate a healthier version. I'm sure the ones at the muffins place were loaded with sugar, butter and a whole ton  of other junk! One does have to live a little though :) On to the golden recipes...

Ingredients
Muffins:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup raw coconut sugar (or reduce almond milk, and use agave)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 tsp baking powder
3 bananas (2 mashed, 1 chopped)
1 1/4 cups almond milk
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 400°F. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients, beginning with dry, and adding wet last. Disperse prepared batter evenly into a greased or lined muffin tin. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a fork/toothpick comes out clean. Makes 12 muffins.

Frosting:
1 cup nuts (I used 1/2 cup walnuts & 1/2 cup pecans)
5 tbsp raspberry jam (I used Smucker's no sugar added)
3 tbsp honey

In a cereal bowl filled with hot water, soak the nuts for 2 hours. Once soft, combine all ingredients in a food processing device (ie., blender or food processor). Process until smooth consistency is reached. Once done, frost cooled muffins to your desire. Makes 1 cup of frosting.

Question of the day: What's you're favourite recipe website?
Mine is Chocolate Covered Katie. Her recipes are so awesome, and I've only ever had 1 fail me. Some favourites include Mint Chocolate Fudge Pie, Secret Peanut Butter Cookies, Single Lady cupcakes, and her Cookie Dough Dip! Also many, many more :)

That's all for today! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Until next time!

Ps. Any requests? Just let me know. My goal is to please my readers!

Cake Batter Oatmeal Squares

Cake batter... Cookie dough. How have I not gotten salmonella yet? Because, my desserts don't contain eggs! They're vegan friendly, and can be gluten-free. Anyways, this recipe is awesomely delicious! And the best part; tastes like cake batter... Especially the actual batter ;) Please do not omit the sprinkles. You'll break my heart. Moving on to the recipe!

Ingredients
2 cups oats
1/4 cup cashew butter
1 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 cup agave
1 tbsp sprinkles
1/2 tsp vanilla or butter extract
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup almond milk (or water or other milk of choice)

Preheat oven to 400°F. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine all ingredients, saving the sprinkles for last (so the colour doesn't bleed). Pour batter into an 8x8 pan. Next, place pan in the oven for 20-25 mins. Lastly, enjoy!

Question of the day: What's you're all time favourite recipe?
Besides my banana bread and granola bars, my go-to, favourite recipe is Chocolate Covered Katie's black bean brownies. They never fail me, with their dense, decadent, gooey chocolatey-ness! Perfect sweetness, and no bean aftertaste whatsoever.

Photo from Chocolate Covered Katie

Single Serving Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Raise your hand if you've ever made cookies just so you could eat the dough!
*raises hands* *and feet*
Needless to say, we've all done it. Let's face it; nothing is better than cookie dough! Except when you have a bowl to yourself for only 250 calories. Yummy, chocolatey, oatmealey cookie dough. All. For. You. Unless you decide to share, in which case I may imply that you're off your rocker! You know what would take this totally over the top? Warming it up for 30 seconds in the microwave. Warm cookie dough? Oh my goodness. I have to admit, when I came up with this idea, I felt like Einstein! And no, I don't mean to toot my own horn or anything :) But, really, it's going to be super awkward if someone has already done this. That's OK, I'll just give them a congratulatory plaque that says "Baking Einstein"! On & upwards...

Ingredients
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 tbsp coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
2 tbsp water
1/8 tsp baking powder (for taste)
1 tbsp chocolate chips

In a regular bowl, combine all ingredients, making sure to add chocolate chips last. Grab a spoon, dig in, and enjoy!

Question of the day: What's your favourite kind of cookie?
Besides, of course, peanut butter chocolate chip & oatmeal chocolate chip, mine would be the snicker doodles from Whole Foods. Those things are incredibly addictive & delicious! If you have never had one, well then you are missing out. But don't blame me if you can't stop at just one ;)

Hope you all enjoyed this recipe! Let me know what you thought of it, or if you have any changes to make. Until next time!

Healthy Peanut Butter Granola Bars

These took me ages to perfect. No joke. I probably went through 3 jars of peanut butter and several chocolate chips. But, every time I would tweak the recipe, they would just crumble. Then, finally, these turned out perfectly! I was so happy (as were my parent's credit cards ;). Super filling, these bars make the ultimate snack. If, for some reason, you have a problem with peanut butter (ie., allergic, because who in the world could possibly hate peanut butter??), simply sub a nut-ter butter! If you cannot have nuts at all, try golden pea butter. I have made these with golden pea butter, and didn't notice much of a difference. By the way, please, please, please do not try to sub the agave with dry sweetener. They will crumble. I promise, as I found out the hard way! Anyway, moving on to the recipe...

Ingredients
2 cups oats
2 cups cereal (I used 1 cup Kamut puffs & 1 cup Nature's Path Multigrain Flakes)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp agave (or honey, or pure maple syrup- not the Aunt Jemima kind, please!)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used Foley's Unsweetened)
3 tbsp coconut oil

In a larger bowl, combine all dry ingredients. In a separate, smaller bowl, mix the wet ingredients. Pour wet into dry. Lastly, add the chocolate chips. Place into a medium-large sized pan and refrigerate overnight., or until firm. Cut into 16 bars and enjoy!

Question of the day: What's your favourite kind or brand of granola bars?
Mine is either the above recipe, or Kashi's Peanut Peanut Butter bars. Yes, you read that correctly, double peanut! By the way, I recently found out, that apparently peanuts are not nuts. They are considered a legume! Isn't that odd?

Anyways, that's all for today! Hope you enjoy this recipe! Let me know what you thought and be sure to answer today's question, as well!

Healthy + Vegan Double Chocolate Cupcakes w/ Peanut Butter Frosting

Cupcakes...

That taste like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups...

That are healthy?

I know what you're thinking. No. Way. Jose! Yes. Way. Jose! These are delish. Decadent, dense, and chocolatey. Double the chocolate, in fact. Because, double the chocolate = double the fun! Oh, and you can't forget the perfectly whipped peanut butter tower frosting on top. I'm sure you're waiting for the recipe, so I'll just have to share it then.

Ingredients
Cupcakes:
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups flour
1 cup water
1/2 cup Mimi Cream Healthy Top (or sub for regular whip cream, or cool whip, or Truwhip)
1/2 cup agave
1/3 cup apple sauce
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup carob or chocolate chips (I used carob chips)

Peanut Butter Frosting:
2 cups Mimi Cream Healthy Top
1/2 cup peanut butter (or more, or less depending on desired peanut butter flavor)

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a medium bowl, whip *Healthy Top as per instructions on the box. Reserve 1/2 cup for cupcakes, and 2 cups for frosting. Set aside the rest and use however you would like. In another (or the same) bowl, combine all ingredients, starting with dry, making sure to add the chocolate/carob chips last. Pour batter evenly into cupcake tin. Bake for 20-30 mins.
Wash out the batter bowl (or get another one), and combine the 2 frosting ingredients. Once cupcakes are removed from oven, let cool 10-15 minutes, then frost to your liking. Lastly, enjoy!

*Instead of using Healthy Top, you could use coconut milk whip cream, real whip cream, Cool Whip, Truewhip, etc.

Hope you guys enjoy this recipe. Apologies, for this weeks lack of posts. I will try really hard to stick to my every 2nd day rule.

Chocolate Cream Pie w/ a Hint of Coconut

Ohmygosh! This is probably my best recipe to date. If you're trying to introduce "regular" people to healthy desserts, make this. Now. Seriously. Oh, what's that? You need a recipe. Here you go...

Ingredients 
Pie Filling
1 can full fat coconut milk (leave in the fridge overnight to harden & pour out excess coconut liquid next day)
1/4 package silken tofu 
1/4 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
1/2 cup sweetener (I used raw coconut sugar)
1 tablespoon cashew butter

Almond Crust
3 cups almond meal
Enough water to make a cookie dough type texture

In a food processor, combine all pie ingredients. If it is quite thick, add a touch of water. Next combine almond meal and water to form pie crust. Press crust into pie pan. Pour pie mixture onto crust and freeze until texture is firm, but not frozen. Time will vary, depending on your freezer. Once firm, remove from freezer and cut into 10 equal slices.

That's all for this delicious recipe! All you have to do now, is enjoy the pie. I don't really need to say anything in this post, because the pie really speaks for itself. Yes, it's that good. I, unfortunately, don't have any pictures to share, as it was gone too fast! Let me know what you think in the comments below. Until next time!

Foods We Avoid That Are Good for Us

Today, I wanted to discuss some foods that we are taught to avoid, but that are actually good for us. The media has given so many nutritious foods a bad rap! We are so influenced by the media, that one does not stop to think if the information it is giving is true or false. 

#1: Eggs- Yes, they have cholesterol, but that doesn't make them bad! There are 2 types of cholesterol. LDL (Low density lipoprotein), which is the bad guy, and HDL (high density lipoprotein), which is the good guy. Eggs happen to contain HDL cholesterol, protein, omega 3's and healthy fats, making them an awesome meal choice.

#2: Peanut butter- Food is going to have fats, that's just how it works! What matters, though, is the type of fat in the food. Peanut butter contains mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated fats (aka "healthy" fats). Besides healthy fats, peanut butter also contains protein. So, put down the magazine and pick up the peanut butter!

#3: Pasta- It's okay to have carbs. There is no need to completely cut carbs out from your diet! Pasta (as long as it's whole wheat) is an awesome choice. It's filling and will give you quick energy. Not only will it provide you with energy, it also contains fiber, protein, and a multitude of vitamins. 

#4: Chocolate- Chocolate is not bad for you! As long as it is high quality and low or no sugar. It contains healthy fats, antioxidants and can help to improve heart health. And no, teens, chocolate will not give you acne. Sugar will. If you cannot find low sugar chocolate bars/chips, simply make your own. Chocolate Covered Katie has an awesome, super easy recipe here.

Question of the day: What's you favourite "unhealthy" food?
Mine has to be the warm gingerbread cake with gingerbread glaze that my grandma makes at Christmas time. Omygosh, it's seriously like the best stuff in the entire world. Words cannot even describe how good the cake and glaze are. Maybe I'll try to healthify it one day...

That's it for today! If you have anything to add, please feel free to comment down below. 

Buttery Mango, Coconut & Banana Muffins

First of all, sorry for the lack of posts this week. School starts tomorrow, so life has been enormously busy! Hopefully, I will try to post every 2nd day. Anyways, on to the muffins! Super moist and buttery tropical muffins. Like a smoothie, but better. Yes, I said it. Better than a smoothie. Forgive me :) The mango, banana and coconut flavors really compliment each other. The sweetness of mango and banana balance out undertones of coconut. Gosh, it sounds like I'm talking about a Slatkin & Co. candle! Moving on. Perhaps you could substitute the mango for papaya? Or the ever-classic strawberry banana combo. These are just suggestions, which I haven't personally tried, but if you do, let me know how they turn out! On to the recipe...

Ingredients
3/4 cup fresh or frozen mango, pureed (I used frozen, and found that adding a bit of water really helped to pulverize it better)
3/4 cup mango, chopped (again, I used frozen)
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp honey
1 cup oat bran
1 cup flour
1 banana, chopped into fourths (chop banana in half, then in half again. Next, cut small chunks and voila!)
1 cup liquid (I used 1/2 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup water)
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp earth balance "butter"
1/2 cup flaked coconut 

Preheat your oven to 400°F. Puree mango in a food processor or high powder blender. Pour puree into mixing bowl and add in the brown sugar. Chop up the other mango into small chunks. Slowly stir in the rest of the ingredients. Disperse batter evenly amongst 12 greased muffin tins. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until edges or golden. 

Question of the day: Are you excited to go back to school? (And if you're not in school, how about work?)
To be completely honest with you, I'm excited to get back to school. Mostly to see and hang-out with friends (duh!). I'm also excited to get my class schedule. I'm sure a few weeks from now, when I'm bogged down with homework, I'll be saying "Get me outta here!"

On another note, hope you like this recipe. Let me know your opinions, thoughts or requests!