Natilla - Colombian Custard

While I was browsing Goya's website for recipes, I found this one for Natilla, a Colombian Custard perfect for the Holidays. I went to the grocery store with all intentions of buying the ingredients needed but I couldn't find a bag of Panela (chopped dried sugar cane). I browsed the web to see if I could find a swap for the Panela (in one recipe it said 1 cup of dark brown sugar) but instead I discovered this wonderful version on My Colombian Recipes that required no Panela or Dark Brown Sugar at all! Instead, it had coconut milk, sweetened condensed milk and plain sugar, all of which I had on hand. I also liked that the shredded coconut was inside the custard and that it was dusted with cinnamon on top. It also looked a lot more visually appealing than the Goya recipe or the other ones I found online. I'm trying to reduce my lactose intake so I swapped out regular milk for Almond Milk and besides the butter and the sweetened condensed milk, this was pretty light on the lactose. If you don't like egg-based custards, give this one a try!

Adapted from My Colombian Recipes

Ingredients:

3 cups of milk (or Almond Milk), divided

1 cup of cornstarch

2 cinnamon sticks

1 cup of coconut milk

1/2 cup of shredded coconut

1 can of sweetened condensed milk 

1/4 cup of white sugar

dash of salt

1/2 tsp of vanilla

1 tbsps of butter

ground cinnamon to taste

In a small bowl, add 1 cup of the milk and 1 cup of starch. Mix thoroughly until all the cornstarch is dissolved and there are no lumps. Set aside.

In a pot over medium heat, add the rest of the milk (2 cups) and the cinnamon sticks. Warm up the milk without bringing to a boil. Make sure you cover the pot! While that's heating up, add the coconut milk and coconut to a blender and blend until it's as smooth as you can. Roughly 1 minute.

When the milk is warm, add the coconut-coconut milk mixture. Stir and bring to a boil. Add the sweetened condensed milk ,sugar, salt and vanilla.

Now the original recipe says to heat at low for 2-4 minutes until it thickens. I tried this and it was still watery. So I turned it to medium heat (on the lower side) and stirred constantly for about 10 minutes or so until it noticeably thickened and clumps began to form. Drop in the tablespoon of butter at this point.

I took the pot off the heat, grabbed a whisk and whisked until all the lumps were gone. Then I took a 9 X 13 baking dish and poured the custard in. Let cool for an hour. Sprinkle some cinnamon on top then let cool for a couple more hours (or up to 2 days) in the fridge. Cut slices cold and serve. Enjoy!

Christmas Bark - Two Kinds

These recipes were originally posted on my Thoughtful Eats column at the Woburn Patch.

 Candy Cane Bark 

Ingredients:

2 11-oz bags of White Chocolate Chips
10 candy canes

Remove the wrappers off your candy canes and break into pieces. Place the pieces in your food processor and pulse until you only have small chunks of candy cane. You’ll have a lot of candy cane powder so don’t be discouraged if you see this. Set aside.

 Set up a baking sheet and cover with one piece of wax paper so that it covers the entire sheet. Add an inch or so of water to your pot and bring to a boil. Place your heat-resistant bowl into the pot and add your white chocolate chips to the bowl. Stir and fold the chocolate continuously until it’s all melted and there are no chunks of chips left. White chocolate melts differently than milk or dark chocolate. You’ll have a lump that looks and feels sort of like very soft clay. Immediately transfer the chocolate to the wax papered baking sheet.

With spatulas, spread the chocolate evenly over the entire baking sheet. You may need to hold the wax paper taut as the chocolate can be tricky to deal with. Sprinkle the crushed candy cane over the top of the chocolate.

Refrigerate for 45 minutes.

With a sharp knife, cut the sheet of chocolate into uneven sections.Don’t worry if some of the candy cane will fall off, only some will stick. Pack and keep in the refrigerator.

M&M Peanut Butter Cup Bark 

Ingredients:

2 11-oz bags of Milk Chocolate Chips
mini peanut butter cups, chopped into quarters
red and green M&Ms

 Follow the same instructions as above with the following changes. Omit the candy cane. Cut the mini peanut butter cups into quarters. I recommend a generic brand of peanut butter cups instead of Reese’s as they’ll be sturdier and will lend themselves to chopping.

You’ll also need about half a small bag of red and green M&Ms. This time you’ll be melting milk chocolate, which is easier to melt and handle than white chocolate. Once melted, add to a wax papered baking sheet and smooth out evenly with a spatula. Sprinkle the peanut butter cups on top then fill in the spaces with red and green M&Ms.

 Refrigerate for 45 minutes and cut into uneven pieces.

Keep refrigerated. Enjoy!

Hello Dolly Bars

This recipe was originally posted on my Thoughtful Eats column at the Woburn Patch.

Ingredients

1 sleeve of Honey Graham Crackers (about 8 or 9)

4 tbsps of melted butter

¾ cup of chopped hazelnuts

1 cup of butterscotch chips

1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup of shredded coconut

1 small can of sweetened condensed milk

cooking spray or parchment paper

This makes enough for a 9 X 13 or 9 X 9 baking pan, depending on how thick you want the bars. 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Add the graham crackers to your food processor. Pulse until there are no chunks left and you have perfectly ground graham cracker crumbs. In a separate bowl, add the crumbs and the melted butter. Mix thoroughly.

Take your baking pan and spray with cooking spray. If you prefer, you can use parchment paper for easy lifting and clean up. Add the graham cracker-butter mixture to the bottom of the pan and press and spread until it covers the bottom of the pan. Don’t worry if it’s a little loose.

Now it’s time for the layers! Sprinkle the hazelnuts, butterscotch chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips and shredded coconut one at a time creating layers. Take the can of sweetened condensed milk and drizzle all over the top evenly.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until it’s lightly golden brown on top. Remove from oven and let cool for 15-20 minutes. Loosen the edges with a knife and cut into squares. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

This recipe was originally posted on my Thoughtful Eats column on the Woburn Patch.

Ingredients:

2 overripe bananas, chopped

½ cup of sour cream

2 eggs

1-2 tsps of vanilla

1-1/4 sticks of butter (10 tbsps) melted and cooled

2 cups of flour

½ cup of sugar

1 tsp of baking soda

1 tsp of baking powder

a dash of salt

1 heaping cup of milk chocolate chips*

Cooking Spray

*I recommend Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips

This makes 12 medium-sized muffins.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, add your chopped bananas. With a handheld mixer, blend the bananas until it looks like the consistency of baby food. Add the sour cream, eggs, vanilla and cooled melted butter and mix again with your mixer.

In a larger bowl, add your flour, sugar, baking soda & powder and salt. Mix then toss the chocolate chips in the flour mixture. Add the banana mixture and fold it into the dry ingredients until thoroughly incorporated. Don’t over mix. Mix only enough so that you no longer see flour.

Take a medium-sized muffin tin and spray with cooking spray. Spoon in the mixture into each well evenly. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until they are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean. Let cool for a few minutes but enjoy warm. You can always zap these in the microwave for a few seconds if you refrigerated them. Enjoy!

Boozy Pumpkin Pie

This recipe originally appeared on my Thoughtful Eating column on the Woburn Patch.

Boozy Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

15 oz of canned pumpkin

½ cup of sugar

1 tsp of cinnamon

¼ tsp of ground cloves

¼ tsp of ground nutmeg

2 eggs

1 jigger of brandy (1.5 oz)

1-1/4 cup of milk

A thawed but uncooked pie shell

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, add your pumpkin, sugar and spices and mix. If you’d like, add a pinch of salt at this stage too. Then add your eggs, brandy and milk and mix thoroughly with a handheld mixer or a spatula and some elbow grease.

Add the pumpkin pie mixture to your uncooked pie shell. Transfer the pie to the oven and bake for an hour or until the center of the pie no longer jiggles and the filling is relatively firm. You can give the pie a slight shake to test it out.

Let the pie cool on your counter for about 30-40 minutes then cover in plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator. Cool overnight and serve within 1-2 days. If you prefer warm pumpkin pie to cold, heat your pie up in a 325 oven.

It’s important to note that this pumpkin pie cannot be served hot. The brandy separates from the pumpkin mixture and leaks out the bottom. When it’s cold or slightly warm, the brandy stays with the filling. Enjoy responsibly!

Severed Finger Cookies

This recipe was originally posted on my Thoughtful Eating column on the Woburn Patch.

Severed Finger Cookies

Ingredients:

2-2/3 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

1 egg

1 tsp almond extract (optional if you want almond flavored fingers)

red writing gel or red frosting in a tube

sliced almonds

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

Mix the flour and baking powder in a bowl. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and confectioner’s sugar with a handheld mixer or a spoon and some elbow grease. Add the sugar and butter mixture to the flour mixture and add the egg and almond extract. Mix thoroughly until you get one big lump of dough.

Take sections of the dough, about 1 inch round clumps. Roll in our hand to form a ball then roll again between the palms of both your hands to make a 3 inch long finger. Add each finger to a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Flattened each finger ever so gently. If you want to be even more creative, you can score the cookies with a knife to make the lines for the skin wrinkles or the cuticles.

Once you have formed all your fingers, bake for 20-25 minutes or until the edges just start to become golden. Don’t over cook!

Let cool for about 10 minutes before frosting. Take your frosting or gel tube and squeeze a half moon at the top of the finger. Place an almond nail on top. Then add three lines across in the middle to represent wrinkles. Squeeze more frosting on the bottom to represent the bloody stump. Enjoy!

Mud and Worm Cupcakes for Halloween

This recipe originally appeared on my Thoughtful Eats column on the Woburn Patch.

Mud and Worm Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 cup of flour

½ cup of cocoa powder (Recommended: Hershey’s)

1 heaping tsp of baking soda

1 stick of butter

½ cup of brown sugar

½ cup of regular sugar

2 eggs

¾ cup of milk

1 tsp of vanilla

chocolate frosting

gummy worms

This makes 10 cupcakes

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Sift the flour, cocoa and baking soda together and add to a large bowl. Then add the butter, 2 sugars, eggs, milk and vanilla. Mix with a handheld mixer just until smooth.

Line a 12-cupcake tin with liners. Fill each liner ¾ of the way up with the batter. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Set aside to cool.

Once your cupcakes are cooled, take two of them, remove the top and crumble the rest in a small bowl.

Frost the remaining 10 cupcakes with the chocolate frosting. Sprinkle the cupcake crumbles over the top of each and pat gently so they stick to the frosting. In order to not make a mess, add the crumbles over the bowl of crumbles so the excess has somewhere to fall.

You can place one worm on the top of each cupcake. Or take a knife, poke a hole in the top and stick in a worm so it’s hanging out. Make sure that the head of the worm is out and you are sticking the worm backside-in. Enjoy!

Banana Waffles with Blueberry Sauce

I'm starting to develop some serious waffle making skills. I've got the basic recipe down to a science, thanks to Alton Brown of Food Network, and they've been coming out moist in the center and crispy on the outside just how I like them. I thought I'd alter the basic recipe by replacing one egg with banana. I take a ripe banana, cut it into chunks then blend it to baby food consistency with a hand held blender. The delicious goop gives cupcakes and in this case waffles a delicious mild banana flavor. But in this recipe, the blueberry sauce is the star of the show. And I don't drown blueberries in tons of sugar. It's just not necessary. One tablespoon is all you need. Let the fruit's natural flavor shine through! 

Carlos and I recently had these for Easter Sunday Brunch and they were divine. Add some fresh nonfat yogurt on top or perhaps a drizzle of 100% maple syrup and you've got the makings of a delicious breakfast. You don't even need bacon on the side.

Ingredients:

1 ripe banana
2 cups of whole wheat flour
1 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of baking soda
3 tbsps of sugar
2 eggs
2 cups of buttermilk
1/2 stick of butter, partially melted

cooking spray for greasing the waffle press

1 bag of frozen blueberries
1/4 cup of water
1 tbsp of sugar
1 tsp of cornstarch

Heat up your waffle press.

Cut up your banana into chunks and add to small bowl. With a handheld mixer, blend the banana chunks until they are baby food consistency. Set aside.

In a larger bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and sugar. Note how I don't use salt? You don't need it. Just extra sodium you can take out of your diet.  Add the eggs, buttermilk, partially melted butter and banana goop. Stir until mixed well. Scoop portions of the batter into your waffle press (don't add too much so you don't have overflow). Remove the waffles once they are dark golden brown and crispy.

While you are cooking your waffles, add the water, frozen blueberries and sugar to a small pot and stir. Cook over medium heat with the lid on until it comes to a bubble. Remove the lid and cook on low for a few minutes. Turn off the hit and stir in the cornstarch. Set aside to cool.

Serve the waffles while hot and drizzle some of the blueberry sauce over the top. Add a spoonful or two of yogurt if desired. Enjoy!

Last-Minute Easter Cupcakes

Aren't they darling? My Last-Minute Easter Cupcake recipe that I came up with at the last minute! Banana-Strawberry cupcakes with chocolate frosting (mud), green coconut (grass) and Easter Peanut M&Ms (eggs). Lovely! And they taste delicious too. My recipe was originally posted on my Thoughtful Eats column at the Woburn Patch. But I thought I'd share the recipe here too.

Ingredients

1-1/4 cup of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/3 cup of sugar
1 ripe banana, chopped
1 egg
1/4 cup of milk
1/4 cup of light oil (canola or extra light olive oil)
seedless strawberry jelly
chocolate frosting
shredded coconut
green food coloring
candy coated chocolates that look like Easter eggs (such as Easter peanut M&Ms)
pastel colored cupcake liners


This recipe makes 9 cupcakes.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, add the flour, baking powder and sugar. Stir to mix. In a small bowl, add your chopped banana and take a handheld mixer and blend the banana chunks until smooth. Don't worry if there are a few little chunks in there.

To the banana mixture, add your egg, milk and oil. Stir until combined. Add the wet ingredients and stir into the dry until well incorporated.

In a muffin tin, add 9 cupcake liners. Spoon some batter into the bottom of each cupcake liners. You'll want the bottom to be covered. Make sure you use equal amounts in each cupcake liner. Take another spoon and scoop a small amount of strawberry jelly and add to the center of each cupcake liner on top of the batter. Take the rest of the batter and spoon equal amounts of it over the top of the jelly making sure it's covered.

Put the muffin tin in the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into one cupcake comes out clean. Let cool. (Do not attempt to frost these cupcakes while they are hot).

While the cupcakes are cooling, scoop about a cup of shredded coconut and dump into a bowl. Add 3 drops of green food coloring and stir very well with a spoon until all the coconut is green. Don't use more than 3 drops!

Now it's time for the fun part! It's time to decorate. Take a butter knife and spread some mud (chocolate frosting) over the top of each cupcake. Then take 2 or 3 eggs (candy-coated chocolate) and place them on top of the frosting. Then sprinkle some grass (green colored coconut flakes) over the top. It's important to put the candy on before the coconut so it can stick to the frosting and hold. Otherwise they will fall off.

Have a Happy Easter!

Grapefruit Yogurt Bread with Grapefruit Yogurt Sauce

I'm not kidding when I say those Wilson Farm guys sure know how to sell me produce. I'm still over-doing it on the citrus purchasing (remember this post?). And I'm also not kidding you when I say I eat 5 grapefruits a week. I bring one to work with me every single week day and I have it with my lunch. After having grapefruit juice every morning with breakfast, I decided to switch it up and eat a whole grapefruit. Less sugar, more fiber and more nutrients for sure than just juice. I love cutting the grapefruit in half and running my knife along the sections. I sprinkle some sugar over the top, scoop out the sections and the juice with a spoon and I'm in heaven.

In the blogosphere, there have been a lot of dessert recipes involving grapefruits. Grapefruit cakes and breads especially. I decided to take a traditional lemon yogurt loaf and use grapefruit zest and juice instead. It's especially wonderful with the yogurt sauce on top which is simply and delicious. If you don't like grapefruit, I pity you. Because you are truly missing out.

Ingredients

Loaf:

1-1/2 cups of flour

1 tablespoon of baking powder

3/4 cup of sugar

3 eggs beaten

1 cup of nonfat plain yogurt

1 teaspoon or so of grapefruit zest

1/4 cup of grapefruit juice

1/2 cup of extra light olive oil (or canola oil)

Yogurt Sauce:

1/4 cup of light agave nectar (or honey)

2 tablespoons of grapefruit juice

1 cup of nonfat plain yogurt

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and sugar until well combined. I think we have way too much sodium in our diets as it is so I've stopped putting salt in my desserts altogether. If you want to put 1/4 teaspoon of unnecessary salt into this dish, by all means go ahead. It's your health that is at risk.

In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, yogurt, zest, juice and oil until somewhat smooth. What you'll get is a big bowl of ugly looking gloop. But don't worry it will look glorious in a bit. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until smooth.

See? What did I tell you. Glorious huh?

Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray and add the batter. Tap on a table to get settle any air bubbles. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out smooth AND it looks nice and golden brown on top.

While the loaf is baking, make the yogurt sauce. In a small bowl, add the grapefruit juice and agave nectar. The acid from the juice should break down the nectar a bit. Stir then add the yogurt. Mix until smooth. Dip your finger in and taste. Repeat several times but make sure you don't eat the whole thing. This really is the best part of the whole process.

Once your loaf is done, let cool. Then drizzle the yogurt sauce over the top. Slice and enjoy! You may want to have some extra sauce on the side for more drizzling purposes.

Cinnamon Raisin Pancakes

I never thought I'd be able to top my Lemon Ricotta Pancakes or my Chocolate Chip (Banana) ones. But these might just take the cake... pan-cake that is. I had a whole bunch of whole-wheat flour and extra raisins at home. So I decided instead of buying extra chocolate chips for another batch of chocolate chip banana pancakes that I would instead try making Cinnamon Raisin Pancakes. It's one of those pantry scrounge type creations that I'm never really excited for but I'm glad that my extra stuff is being put to good use. The result? Flipping amazing. These pancakes are moist and fragrant. They are a little dense with the whole-wheat flour but are still soft and airy because the ratio of the wet ingredients is higher than that of the dry. Even if you don't like raisins in things, you'll love them in these. They complement the cinnamon batter so beautifully. And when you pour 100% all natural maple syrup over these and take one big bite, you'll be in heaven.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups of whole wheat flour

2 heaping tablespoons of sugar

1 tablespoon of baking powder

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

2 cups of buttermilk

2 eggs

1 teaspoon of vanilla

handfull of moist raisins (from the bag not the box)

butter for greasing the griddle

Heat your griddle and grease with some butter. Pour some batter (about half of a cup or so) onto the hot skillet. Sprinkle some raisins over the top. When the batter starts to bubble and those bubbles start to pop, flip it over and cook for a couple of more minutes. Repeat until you run out of batter. This makes about 6 good size pancakes. Enjoy with some strips of bacon on the side, some sliced banana and a hot cup of tea. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies

This recipe was originally posted on my Thoughtful Eats column on the Woburn Patch.

Ingredients:

1 heaping cup of flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup of creamy or chunky peanut butter
1 stick of butter, at room temperature grape jelly

Makes around 2 dozen cookies.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Then add the peanut butter, eggs and butter. Mix until the batter is smooth. Scoop out batter with spoons and roll into 1 inch balls with your hands. If you keep a small bowl of water next to you and dip your hands in occasionally, this will make the process go much easier. Add the balls to a baking sheet that's been lined with aluminum foil. Make sure they are about 1-1/2 to 2 inches apart. With your index finger, poke the center of each ball, creating a well for the grape jelly. Add a tiny scoop of jelly to the well, only enough to fill it. Bake in the oven for 12-14 minutes and let cool before eating. Enjoy with a glass of milk or a hot cup of tea.

Festive Holiday Brownies

Check out my latest article which includes a recipe for Festive Holiday Brownies. That's dark chocolate-peppermint brownies, drizzled with white chocolate and topped off with crushed peppermint candy. Mmmm....

Apple-Pear-Raisin Crisp

It's official. Carlos and I are on a diet. We've gained quite a bit in the past year or so and it's time for us to slim down. It'll be especially important for us to stick with a good diet and exercise plan through the holiday season and the winter time. Because as you know, it's the time for eating lots of rich foods high in fat and calories. I'm going to start incorporating a lot more vegetables and fruits into our diet as well as reducing the amount of carbohydrates and fat we intake. I'll be baking more low-calorie desserts including this one. Apple-Pear-Raisin Crisp. Slices of Granny Smith apple and Bosc pears alongside plump, juicy raisins. It's quite heaven. And I replaced the butter in traditional crisp recipes with extra light olive oil. I also nixed the flour altogether. The result, quite delicious and refreshing!

Ingredients:

3 Granny Smith Apples, peeled and thinly sliced
2 Bosc Pears, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 cup of raisins
3 tablespoons of sugar
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon of ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon of cornstarch

for topping:
1 cup of oats
3 tablespoons of brown sugar
3 tablespoons of extra light olive oil

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Mix the apples, pears and raisin in a bowl and toss with the sugar, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Toss again with the cornstarch. Usually, I sugar the fruit and let it sit so that some of the excess juice comes out and then I drain. However, during the cooking process the raisins will soak up some of that juice. I did add the cornstarch just to make sure that the result wasn't a watery mess.

In a separate bowl, add the oats, brown sugar and olive oil. Add the olive oil 1 tablespoon at a time until you get the texture you want (a bit clumpy and not dry). You can substitute canola oil for the olive oil if you prefer.

Add the fruit mixture to a 9" round pie dish. Make sure the mixture is even by spreading it in the dish with your hands. Sprinkle the topping over the mixture so it's evenly covered on top. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes and let cool. Serve at room temperature. Enjoy!

Frozen Peanut Butter Pie with Cookie Crust and Dark Chocolate Drizzle

Which shot looks better?

I got the idea of making a Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie from the cookbook Simply Suppers. As I said in my review of the book, the recipe was too calorie-laden and I went elsewhere for a lighter recipe. I adapted the recipe a bit, replacing regular milk with Almond Milk, adding less whipped topping and also using dark chocolate drizzle over the top. The result? Heavenly. And although I usually don't ever make more than one pie at a time, there is something so satisfying about making this Frozen Peanut Butter pies in twos. It'll go quickly so I encourage you to make two and share with friends and loved ones.

Ingredients:

8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
1-1/2 cups of confectioner's sugar

1 cup of peanut butter
1 cup of Almond Milk (vanilla flavored)
1 12 oz container of fat free frozen whipped topping, thawed

container of dark chocolate for melting (Baker's)

2 pre-made Oreo cookie crust pie shells

This makes two pies.

Add the cream cheese and confectioner's sugar to a large bowl. Mix together a little bit with a spatula. This is to prevent all the sugar from flying out the bowl when you mix it properly. At a low setting, use a hand-held mixer to cream the cheese and sugar together. Then add the peanut butter and Almond Milk to the bowl and mix with the hand-held mixer at low. Once everything starts to incorporate, turn it up to high and mix until it's really creamy and smooth. Carefully fold in the thawed whipped topping and mix with a spatula (folding rather than stirring) until everything is combined.

Melt your dark chocolate in the microwave per the package instructions. Set aside.

Add the peanut butter mixture to the two pie shells. Drizzle the dark chocolate over the top with a spoon. Don't worry about getting globs of chocolate on there.

Freeze the pies for 2-3 hours uncovered. Then cover with plastic wrap and keep frozen. Allowing them to freeze uncovered prevents the plastic wrap from warping the filling or the chocolate drizzle.

Slice and serve cold.

Yogurt with Strawberries, Kiwis, Toasted Almonds and Coconut

I was at Wilson Farms on Sunday and picked up some sexy looking strawberries and kiwis. While in the checkout line, I wondered what I could make that paired these lovely fruits. Maybe I could chop them up and put them on some yogurt. Mmmmhmm. Yogurt. Yes that sounds nice. How about some honey or agave nectar drizzled over the top? No no. The fruit will be sweet enough. But its still needs something else. Granola? A nice crunch to add to the softness of the yogurt and the fruit. Should I make my own granola or buy it? Huzzah! I've got it. I have leftover sliced almonds and shredded coconut. I can toss some of that together, toast it and top the yogurt and fruit off. It's a tropical parfait!

The result? Absolutely friggin' delicious. I'm never putting granola on yogurt again. Toasted coconut and almonds always please. I really hope you'll try this. It would be fun with lots of other combinations. Maybe strawberries and mango or mango and kiwi. Maybe some papaya?! Have fun with it.

Ingredients:

Plain yogurt
Fresh Strawberries roughly chopped
Kiwis roughly chopped
sliced almonds
shredded coconut

In a skillet, add equal parts almonds and shredded coconut. Over a medium-low heat, dry toast the almonds and coconut stirring occasionally. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn. Set aside to cool.

Chop your strawberries and kiwis.

Add yogurt to individual bowls. I used plain lowfat yogurt because this dessert is more about the toppings than it is the yogurt, so you don't want the flavor of the yogurt to compete with that. 

Top the yogurt with the fruit and the toasted almonds and coconuts. Enjoy responsibly.

Vegan Coconut & Lime Cupcakes

There are no substitutes for this recipe. Every ingredient has to be exact to keep it vegan. For example, I used Duncan Hines Cream Home-Style frosting in Classic Vanilla because it's on the PETA list of Accidentally Vegan products. Also, I didn't use eggs, milk or butter in this recipe. Just Cream of Coconut and Oil. You'll notice that I don't include sugar. Cream of Coconut is super sweet and you won't need any additional sugar because of it. All these ingredients are easy to find at your local grocery store and this is a simple recipe to make!

Ingredients:

Cupcake:
3 cups of flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp coconut extract (optional)
1 can of cream of coconut
(this is basically coconut water & sugar)
Juice & zest of 2 limes
1/2 cup of light olive oil or canola oil

Frosting:
Duncan Hines Creamy Home-Style Frosting in Classic Vanilla
Juice and zest of 1 lime
1/2 cup of shredded coconut (less or more per taste)

------------
This makes 12 cupcakes.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, add your cream of coconut and lime juice. Mix and let rest.

Mix your dry ingredients together and add the lime zest. Then add your cream of coconut/lime juice mixture, oil and coconut extract. Mix thoroughly until incorporated.

Add batter to 12 cupcake liners in a muffin tin. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Because of the high sugar content, these cupcakes get brown fast so keep an eye on them. Let cool.

In a bowl, add your shredded coconut, frosting, lime juice and zest and mix thoroughly.

Spread frosting onto cooled cupcakes. You can top with a little bit of lime zest and shredded coconut if so desired. Enjoy!

Dark Cherry & Chocolate Chip Muffins

My friend H. (whom I've blogged about before), threw a game night at her place. A group of us had a blast playing charades and Apples to Apples. Everyone brought something and I decided it was a good opportunity to try a new recipe. I recently saw a recipe of Strawberry Hedgehog's blog for Vegan Dark Cherry and Chocolate Cake. While I'm never afraid to try a vegan dessert, my kitchen confidence has been pretty low lately, especially after a series of culinary failures. So I decided to play it safe and make a new recipe off of a tried and true classic, my Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.

My confidence rose a bit when these turned out to be quite delicious. It helped that the friends that helped me eat these at the game night were gasping with delight. My friend Lisa even said it was a new favorite. Huzzah! Success. Confidence has been restored. At least until my next failure.

Ingredients:

2 cups of chopped dark cherries (well drained if frozen)
1/2 cup of sour cream
2 eggs
2 teaspoons of vanilla
10 tablespoons of butter melted and cooled

2 cups of flour
1/2 cup of brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 cup of chocolate chips

This recipe makes 12 muffins

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Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Chop your cherries and drain any excess juice.

Mix your sour cream, eggs, vanilla and butter in a bowl. Set aside.

Mix the flour, baking powder and salt then add in the sugar and chocolate chips. Add in wet ingredient mixture until it's fully incorporated. Fold in the cherries. It's important not to over mix when you add the cherries because they'll bleed and make your batter pink.

Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners. Evenly distribute the mixture to the 12 liners. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

These are especially good served warm.

Dark Cherry & Chocolate Chip Muffins

Warm Pineapple With Coconut Sorbet

While I was searching for cleaning tips on Real Simple, I stumbled upon the recipe section and found this little gem. Caramelized Pineapple With Coconut Sorbet. It was too good NOT to make. I mentioned the dessert to a few people and they were all excited to hear about how it would turn out. I modified the recipe a little bit. I added a tablespoon of water because I felt that it made the sauce smoother.

A friend suggested adding something crunchy on top. You could always toast some coconut flakers or some crushed flaked almonds. Also, if you are not sure where to find coconut sorbet, try your local Whole Foods Market if you have one. They usually carry an array of sorbets and I can always find unique ones there. Otherwise, there are plenty of coconut sorbet recipes on the internet.

Ingredients:

Half of a Pineapple sliced into half moons
2 tablespoons of butter
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of water
coconut sorbet

Makes 4 servings.

Just a few tips for the pineapple: if you don't have fresh pineapple, use 4 canned pineapple rings and cut them in half. If you do have fresh pineapple, make sure you cut out a bit of the core because that part is mostly inedible.

Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan. Add the brown sugar and water and stir. Heat a bit until the mixture is combined and add the pineapple slices. Cook the pineapple until it begins to soften and shut off the heat.

Take four small bowls and add a large scoop of coconut sorbet into each. Add a couple of slices of cooked pineapple and drizzle some sauce over the top. Serve immediately. Devour immediately.

This came out so well that I squealed with delight at the very first bite. Enjoy!

St. Patrick's Day ~ Irish Soda Bread

How do you like your Irish Soda Bread? With carraway seeds or without? I prefer without because I feel that the carraway seeds take away from the flavor of the bread, which by itself is delicious. I was really excited to make Irish Soda Bread for St. Patrick's Day. Irish Soda Bread is a traditional bread that uses baking soda for rising rather than yeast and it's usually filled with raisins or currants. I decided to make mine with raisins, orange zest and no carraway seeds. The result? Delicious! It's even more delicious when you take a slice, toast it and add some butter (and a dash of salt) to it. Mmm... I really hope you take an opportunity to make your own Irish Soda Bread for St. Patrick's Day! It's well worth the effort.

Ingredients:

4 cups of flour
4 heaping teaspoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons of salt

4 tablespoons of cold butter diced

1 egg beaten
1-3/4 cups of cold buttermilk
orange zest (to taste)

1 cup of plump raisins (don't get the boxed ones)
1 tablespoon of flour

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Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Dust your raisins with the flour. Set aside.

Mix all your dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Again, for you baking snobs you can sift to your hearts' content.

Chop up your butter and add it to the dry ingredients. Get your hands in there and smush the pieces of butter with your fingers.

Add your buttermilk, egg and orange zest and with a large spatula, incorporate the wet ingredients into the dry. Then take a handheld mixer and at a low speed, incorporate the ingredients thoroughly. Add the raisins and work into the dough with your hands. Your hands will get sticky so you can dust them with flour beforehand to make this process easier.

Scoop out the dough and lay it out on a well-floured surface. Knead the dough and dust it with flour as you go. Knead it until it forms a nice lump that you can form into a round, but flat ball of dough. Make sure not to over-knead.

Add your round and flat dough ball to a greased baking sheet. With a knife, cut an X on the top of the bread. This will help create a nice surface as it bakes.

Bake in your preheated oven for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle (not the sides please!) comes out clean. It's good to eat while hot with some butter but is just as delicious when eaten at room temperature.

Irish Soda Bread