Chocolate Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies

Recently a colleague of mine approached me about donating some of my treats to a silent auction.  It took me a long time to try and figure out what exactly was worth a bid, and would hopefully garner a decent price (it IS charity after all).  I scoured my recipe books, my pantry, and my refrigerator trying to come up with a great idea.  


Now is a good time to confess my undying love for all things Starbucks (don't worry I'm not straying from how I got inspiration).  I'm there a few times a week to fuel my caffeine sibilation, and am always pining after their treats.  Today my husband happened to buy himself one of their peanut butter chocolate mini-cupcakes.  Eureka!  


I came home and tried to find a way to incorporate peanut butter and chocolate into a recipe.  Enter the Whoopie Pie.  My recipe is of course tweaked from a different version, which I will now bestow upon you.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies (Gluten Free & Milk Free)


1 1/2 Cups Bob's Red Mill All - Purpose Gluten Free Baking Flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
1/4 cup coconut flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp salt
1 cup melted coconut oil
1/3 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
2 tbsp vanilla extract


Preheat the oven to 325º.  Combine the flours, cocoa powder, baking soda, xanthan gum and salt.  Mix the dry ingredients very well before adding in the coconut oil, agave, apple sauce and vanilla.  Stir all the ingredients together until they are very well mixed, a spatula works best for this.  Drop batter by the teaspoon full onto 2 parchment paper lined baking sheets.
With your hand or the flat bottom of a glass flatten each of the cookies. 
Either bake both trays for 7 minutes before rotating positions (baking for another 7 minutes), or bake each sheet separately for 14 minutes on the middle rack.  Let cool thoroughly before adding the icing.


Peanut Butter Icing


2/3 cup peanut butter
1 stick (8 tbsps) butter
3/4 cup fine confectioners sugar


Cream the butter and peanut butter together.  Add the sugar and whip until fully incorporated.

Birthday Bears!

Yesterday was the celebration of a special little boy's 1st birthday.  I decided to make some gluten free cookies to celebrate (and also get some sugar rush on).  

I wanted to make the icing a natural brown without using food colouring and also have a bit of cocoa flavor, so I used cocoa powder for that nice light teddy bear brown. It took quite some time to incorporate the powder into the icing and wasn't the right hue anway.  For ease's sake I would use food gel next time and forgo the powder.  I outlined with a number 2 tip, and when the outline was finished - watered down the icing to flood.  

I coloured the remaining icing blue, and decorated the bear's faces.  I used a number 2 tip again for the Bs and 1s, however it was difficult to get the intricate details I wanted.  Next time I would use a number 1 plain tip for the faces, and a number 2 tip for the bigger stuff.

Eggplant Pizza

Every once in a while my half-baked ideas become fully cooked, and turn out to be quite delish. I do very much miss pizza, or pizza related foods sometimes; this being said - nothing compares to the real deal.  Nothing.  You can come to a pretty delicious alternative though.
I've made eggplant pizzas before, however they were always soggy.  I've even tried it with a crunchy corn flake cereal.  The trick I have discovered (although I'm sure other people have discovered it before me) is to fry up the battered eggplant before putting the toppings on/baking it.  Genius!  Maybe not the healthiest thing ever, but certainly a less painful alternative to calling for delivery.

Small eggplants cut lengthwise work as well.

You will need:


1/4 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup corn flour
1 tbsp corn starch
Pinch of dried oregano
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper
1 -2 eggs
1 large eggplant cut into rounds
Grated vegan cheddar/goats cheddar/real cheese 
5 cherry tomatoes cut into rounds
1/4 cup diced onion
5 large basil leaves cut lengthwise in half
Vegetable oil


Preheat the oven to 350º.  In a large skillet or pan, heat a few good glugs of vegetable oil on medium heat.  Whisk the egg in a medium sized bowl.  In a large bowl, mix the flours, starch, oregano, salt and pepper.  Dip the eggplant into the egg making sure to cover well.  Put the egg covered eggplant into the flour mixture.  Place flour covered eggplant pieces into the pan, frying on each side for about 2 minutes, or until each side is golden in colour.  Place fried eggplant onto a baking sheet.  Cover the pieces with the tomato, onion, cheese and basil.  Bake for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.  

May Long Weekend Healthy Treats

Sometimes I use long weekends as an excuse for poor nutrition choices, as it's hard to get away from all that delicious junk food.  I am a junk food - junkie and can admit it with relatively no shame.  The shame comes in the form of feeling pretty crummy when I jump on the scale after the debauchery, or in the way I feel at work after said weekends.


A bit of inspiration came from a recent grocery shop, buying up all the nice looking fresh produce my eyes could see.  Almost every item gave me some pretty wonderful ideas that will both quell the cravings of sugar and carbs, and keep me feeling pretty good about my weekend food choices.


Recipe Number One:


Egg-less Milk-less Chocolate Pudding

Looks and tastes like the dairy big brother.

1 300g package of soft or silken tofu
1 nice ripe avocado 
1 heaping tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsps agave nectar


In a food processor or powerful blender (I'm using my trusty Magic Bullet), blend up the avocado to be a super smooth consistency.  Add in the tofu, cocoa and agave; blend until completely incorporated.  Empty the contents of the blender or the food processor into a bowl, cover and refrigerate until ready to eat.  Easy.  Delicious.  You almost won't believe it's not pudding.


Recipe Number Two:


Apple Chips

2 crisp apples (Royal Gala are beautiful and readily available)
Cinnamon for sprinkling
Brown Sugar for sprinkling (optional)


Preheat oven to 225º.  Core the apples (optional), and very thinly slice them into rounds. from stem end to the bum end.  Lay them flat making sure not to overlap any on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Bake until golden and crispy.  The amount of baking time will greatly depend on your oven, and how crunchy you'd like your chips to be.  Start with an hour and work from there.


If you don't mind a sweeter apple chip but don't want to make the recipe with refined sugar, you can add a few tablespoons of agave nectar or honey to about 4 cups of water.  Boil the mixture, let cool, and add the apples.  Let the mixture sit for a few hours, or over night in the refrigerator.  To avoid having the apples brown, you can sprinkle them with some lemon juice.  Pat the apples dry before putting them in the oven.

Cinnamon Raisin Tea Biscuits

Ahhhh...to blog again!  It feels like it has been too long. I was feeling the need for a tea biscuit, it was a craving I just couldn't get rid of; a carbohydrate monkey on my back that just couldn't be convinced to let go.  It all started last week in class, when we made the gluten big brother to my reformed recipe.  It smelled divine, I just couldn't eat it without my gut crying and carrying on like a 2 year old.  


 This recipe is a successful first attempt at producing something from school in a gluten free fashion.  They're almost as amazing as the gluten version.  You will need a kitchen scale to be able to make them though.  When I have some more time, I will certainly re-post in cups and tablespoon measurements (the rough conversion is here for use, but cannot be guaranteed to work perfectly).  




600 g all purpose GF (3 3/4 cup)
30 g baking powder  (3 tsp)
10 g salt (generous tsp)
125 g butter (1/2 cup plus 2 tbsps) at room temperature
300 ml milk (almond works well if you're looking for dairy free)
2 eggs at room temperature
125 g sugar (scant 1/2 cup)
1 tbsp cinnamon
125 g raisins (1 cup)
Extra all purpose GF to roll dough


Preheat the oven to 350º.  Sift the flour baking powder and salt into a large bowl.   Pour your milk into a medium sized bowl, crack in the eggs and whisk until mixed; add the sugar/cinnamon and mix well.  Add the butter into the flour mixture, mixing well with your fingers (mixture should resemble small bread crumbs), add that to your stand mixer bowl when mealy.  Pour the raisins into the flour and butter mixture and turn mixer onto a stir setting, once the raisins are incorporated slowly pour in the egg/milk/sugar mix. Mix for about a minute (or until everything is evenly mixed together).  


Flour your work space, and kneed the dough a few times.  Roll out and cut into desired shapes (the dough should be about an inch in height).  Place cutouts onto an un-greased cookie sheet.  Bake for half an hour, switching your trays half way through if they don't fit on the same cookie sheet.  Yields about 18 tea biscuits.  

Spread some butter on top and enjoy!

Holy Granoli ...

As of lately (although this research has been around for many a year), refined sugar has had a very bad wrap.  Even small amounts in our diet can be considered "lethal" by some anti-sugar fanatics.  It's no news that refined sugar can cause diabetes and tooth decay, but what else?  I've read quite a few articles about the subject, and I wanted to find one that was easily understood when it came down to simplifying the breakdown of sugars.

Since I have been been avoiding foods and drinks with refined sugar, a very interesting realization dawned on me; Sugar is addictive and it is in everything. Originally when I went from 195 lbs down to the 130 I am today, the fastest way to lose was true diligence in making sure my diet was no more than 30 grams of sugar a day (this included drinks, breads, pre-prepared foods).  This was also the point in time when I realized that gluten and dairy was my guts arch nemesis.  It certainly feels nice to have much more energy and relatively no more gut pain.  

In light of finding ways to make things delicious without the aide of refined sugars, here is a recipe for yummy granola I recently concocted.  This recipe calls for honey which is still mainly fructose and glucose, however it has not been processed (as long as you are buying unpasteurized/raw honey).  Honey also maintains some particles of antioxidants and trace amounts of vitamin C and Catalase.  Sugar on the other hand is a completely empty calorie that can cause free radical damage in the human body.

Holy Granoli

3 cups rolled oats

1 cup slivered almonds

1 cup walnut pieces 

1 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup flax seeds

1/2 cup raw (unpasteurized) honey

1/4 cup vegetable oil

pinch of salt

1 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 250º.  In a large bowl, mix the oats, nuts, coconut and flax seeds together.  In a separate bowl, combine the vegetable oil, honey and salt.  Combine the honey mixture and oat mixture, mix well.  Spread the mix out onto 2 cookie sheets.  Bake for an 1 hour 15 minutes, making sure to stir the granola a few times during the baking process to ensure even baking and colour.  Let cool before mixing in the raisins. Store in an airtight container.

Perfect on top of yogurt!