chocolate cake•muffins

Chocolate cake for breakfast?  Wasn't this in a Cosby Show episode?  
Bill feeds the kids cake for breakfast and they all start chanting, "Dad is great!  He gives us chocolate cake!"*
Now Mom's great.  'Cause that's what I just did.

You might say, "Isn't this basically your Insane Chocolate Cake, with some flax meal and almonds mixed in?" 
And I might say, "Don't be ridiculous!"
But really, it is.  
But in all fairness I also cut back the sugar. 
You might also say, "Isn't it a little crazy to feed your kids chocolate cake for breakfast?"
But I say this recipe has some redeeming nutritious elements to it (whole grains, banana, omegas...).  We had these muffins for breakfast with some Greek yogurt, and felt pretty good after that.
And, oddly enough, no one complained...

the (non)veggies:

• 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, lightly packed
• 3 TBS flax seed meal
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 TBS apple cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 1 medium banana, mashed
• 2 cups cold water
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds

the love:

1. Preheat your oven to 350° and prep 24 muffins' worth of pans.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flours, brown sugar, flax meal baking soda, salt, and cocoa.  Smash any large lumps of brown sugar with the back of your mixing spoon.
3. Make three holes in the flour mixture, and put the vanilla, vinegar, and oil each in a separate hole.
4. Dump the mashed banana and the water over the top of everything and stir it all together until it's just combined.  Fold in the almonds.
5. Scoop the batter into your prepared pan and bake for about a half hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean.
6. Serve for breakfast, a snack, dessert-- whenever really-- and prepare for cheers.

*I couldn't find the Cosby Show clip, but here's a hilarious classic Bill Cosby standup clip about chocolate cake for breakfast: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRmN4KnfPxQ

cherry•almond biscotti

Until she moved to Alaska last winter, my friend Mandy and I would get together regularly for afternoon tea time.  

That was back when my kids both napped regularly, so we'd sit and have a nice relaxing chat, sip our tea and nosh some treats while my boys snoozed away.

Ahh...

But Mandy left me and Owen rarely naps now, so my quiet afternoon tea has turned into a less quiet and relaxing but slightly more caffeinated afternoon coffee break.  

One thing that made today's coffee break a little more like the good old days was these cherry-almond biscotti.  I also had a little reminder of my friend Mandy with me: the lovely hand screen-printed napkins she made for me.  

If you love the napkins as much as I do, you can buy them at her Etsy store, HomesteadingRoasters.etsy.com (and it looks like she'll ship them for free right now).  If you need some good fresh-roasted coffee to go with your biscotti, she's got that, too.  

She's also good company for a quiet afternoon chat, but I'm not sure you can get that through her store...

the veggies (or other stuff):

• 1/4 cup ground flax seed
• 1/2 cup milk (I use almond milk)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3 TBS oil
• 2 TBS lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder*
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup sweetened dried cherries
• 1 cup sliced almonds

the love:

1. Preheat your oven to 350° and line a large baking sheet with parchment.
2. Whisk together the flax meal and milk in a large mixing bowl until it thickens slightly.
3. Mix in the brown sugar, oil, lemon juice, and extracts.
4. Stir in the oats.
5. Add the flours, salt, baking powder and soda, and stir until just combined.**  The dough will be very thick and sticky.
6. Fold in the cherries and almonds.
7. Using floured hands, divide the dough in two and shape each chunk into a long log.
8. Place the logs lengthwise on the pan and flatten until each one is roughly twelve inches long and three inches wide.
9. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until golden and crispy on the outside.
10. Let the "loaves" cool on a rack (but hold on to your pan and parchment) and reduce the oven temperature to 250°.
11. Slice the biscotti in 1/3 to 1/2 inch sections and spread out on your pan.
12. Toast for about 40 minutes, or until mostly crisp in the middle.
13. Let cool and serve with afternoon coffee (or milk).  Makes about three dozen.

tips:

*Double the baking powder and soda at lower elevations.

**My standard mixing disclaimer: most recipes will tell you to mix the dry and wet ingredients separately, then stir them together-- this is to prevent clumping and ensure even mixing.  I'm lazy and don't like getting out and washing an extra bowl, so I do it all in one bowl.  To make up for it I try to mix the dry ingredients together on top of the wet before I really stir it into the the wet stuff.  If this is offensive to you, by all means, get out another bowl...

rich chocolate•pudding

This may be terrible timing for posting a chocolate recipe-- right after Valentine's day. 
But if you're anything like me all those heart-shaped chocolates only whet your appetite for more chocolate.
And, in my defense, I actually did try to make this chocolate pudding that I saw on Pinterest on Valentine's day, but it came out gritty from the dates.  We still gobbled it down, but I knew a few tweaks would make it even better.  It also needed to be a bigger batch...
So, as if all those left-over chocolate hearts I ate today did not fulfill my chocolate quota, I experimented with it again tonight.
And I think I've figured it out.

I saved the dates for other things (like my breakfast bars), and substituted banana and maple syrup instead.  Add a pinch of salt and some vanilla for a little extra flavor, and it's even more delicious and still pretty healthy.  
It takes all of about three minutes to whip up, and is incredibly decadent and satisfying.  So, toss the rest of those foil-wrapped hearts (or, on second thought, just save them for tomorrow) and get out the avocados--  this is much more of a treat and is probably better for you.
It also makes an awesome goatee...

the veggies (or technically, fruits, etc):

• 1 banana, peeled (obviously)
• 1 avocado, pitted and peeled
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• a pinch of salt
• 1 TBS vanilla extract
• 2 to 6 TBS water

the love:

1. Combine all ingredients except water in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
2. Add as much water as needed to reach a smooth, pudding-like texture.
3. Chill before serving, if desired-- but you probably don't want to leave this in the fridge for too long because avocados and bananas can both get kinda funky after a while once they're mashed or blended, and also because husbands and kids can't be trusted around chocolate desserts left unattended... 

frozen key lime yogurt•pie

I almost hate to admit this, but I still have a suitcase in my bedroom with a few things in it from our trip to Florida in December.  Maybe it's just that I don't need those things in the mountains in January.  Lord knows we're not wearing shorts.  Or swimsuits, for that matter-- I've sworn off taking the kids swimming at the rec center after a mortifying incident a couple months ago when Oliver's swim diaper leaked and they had to shut down the entire pool.
Or, maybe I leave the suitcase there because it makes me think of sunny, warm Florida every time I see it there, gathering dust on the bedroom floor.
There's a chance that half-empty suitcase inspired this pie.

Shortly after we returned home, Owen came home from preschool with this:

In the event that you're not an expert at interpreting abstract preschool art, in the drawing is an airplane (the cross at the bottom) flying from our house (bottom left) to Grandma and Papa's house (to the right), the beach with sand and water (top leftish), and the pool (far right).  Now it's obvious, right?  

This picture really is a good summary of what the kids do (and look forward to) in Florida, but I have some different favorites.  The beach and pool are definitely nice, but I really enjoy the down-time spent with family, the almost daily bike rides to Starbuck's during nap time, and, of course, the Key lime pie.

I've gone on a trip to Florida with my family every winter of my life, and for as long as I can remember, Key lime pie-tasting has been a big part of our trips.  We all have our favorite variations-- my mom likes the traditional crust and I prefer graham cracker-- but, we all like it tart.  The best variation I've had, though, is one Brock and I came across in Key West.  At any number of places along Duval Street, you can buy a piece of frozen key lime pie on a stick that's been coated in dark chocolate.  It's as good as it sounds-- we ate a lot of those on that trip...

In homage to that Key West specialty, as well as the suitcase sitting on my bedroom floor, I bring you my Frozen Key Lime Yogurt Pie.  This version is healthier than most, as it's made with honey and greek yogurt.  It's also much easier to make than most, with no baking or cooking involved.

Now that I've got some Key lime pie in the freezer, maybe I can go unpack that suitcase.

Eh, we'll see...

the veggies (or, non-veggies, as the case may be):

• 1/2 cup margarine (or butter), melted
• 10 whole graham cracker sheets
• 1 1/2 cups plain greek yogurt
• 1/3 cup Key lime juice
• 3/4 cup honey
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

the love:

1. While your margarine is melting, use a food processor to process the graham crackers into fine crumbs.*
2. Add the melted margarine to the crumbs and pulse the food processor until they're combined.
3. Firmly press the buttery crumbs into the bottom of a pie plate and up the sides.  Store the crust in the freezer until you're ready to fill it.
4. Give your processor pitcher a quick rinse, shake out any excess water, and reassemble.  We'll use it to make the filling, too: add the yogurt, juice, honey and vanilla and process until smooth.**
5. Pour the filling into the crust and freeze until solid, about three or four hours.
6. Once the filling is frozen, melt the chocolate in a double boiler or microwave.***
7. Use a small spoon (or pastry bag?) to drizzle chocolate in thin threads onto the pie. Be careful not to get too thick of globs (like some of the thicker spots on my pie), as they're hard to cut through and eat once frozen.****
8. Put the pie in the freezer another 10 minutes or so until the chocolate is solid, or until you're ready slice it and eat it.

notes:

*Low-tech method: crush the crackers in a baggie, then stir together the crumbs and margarine right in the pie plate.

**Low-tech method: whisk filling ingredients together in a bowl.

***I use a bowl that fits tightly over a small saucepan of hot water: heat the water to a simmer first, then remove from heat and place the bowl on top, making sure the water isn't high enough to touch the bowl.  Stir constantly until the chocolate is melted.  In the microwave, heat just a few seconds at a time, stirring between heating.

****When I first made this pie, I melted a full cup of chocolate chips and found that was way too much chocolate.  If, like me, you end up with chocolate left over, scramble to find something to dip in it (graham crackers, pieces of cereal, your husband's toothbrush), then place the random objects on parchment and harden in the fridge after dipping.

(Sorry, Mo.  Chocolate's not good for doggies...)

cherry velvet•cupcakes with cherry cream cheese•frosting

Give Owen something with artificial food coloring in it, and prepare to watch him transform into a maniac.  He gets this checked-out look in his eyes (his pupils may as well be giant rotating spirals...); he gets extremely hyper and loses all sense of self-control (his head may as well be spinning on his shoulders with steam shooting from his ears...).  

This all sounds kind of comical and cartoon-like, but I assure you, it's not funny.  It's like a scary cartoon.  Freaks me out.

Shortly after Halloween, I made the mistake of letting him eat some Smarties in the car.  Not so smart...  "How bad could it get?"  I asked myself.  The answer was, it turned out: pretty bad.  Kicking, yelling, paying no heed to gentle reminders, then firm reminders, then desperate pleas from me until I was in tears.  Not him-- me.

Give Owen a piece of chocolate, and he's fine.  Six pieces of chocolate, even-- he'll maybe get a slight sugar buzz, but it's nothing like the food color trance.

So, needless to say, we avoid artificial food dyes.  Like the plague.

Let's just say I love him too much to put him through that.  And I love the rest of us in the family too much to make us witness or deal with that.  

So, with Valentine's day coming up, how do I tell my guys I love them without putting them through something potentially scarring?  Red velvet cake seems to be all the rage lately and there's something appealing about the red color.  It's so fun and festive-- especially for Valentine's Day.  I'm often tempted by these ruby-red treats (whoopie pies, big cakes, cute little cupcakes-- all so pretty) when I see them at a coffee shop or bakery-- until I read the ingredients list or a recipe for red velvet cake.   Red # 40 (the devil as far as I'm concerned-- who is appropriately dressed in red) is a big star in most of them.  I came across one recipe that called for a full third of a cup of red food coloring!

Thus my latest mission: red velvet without the Red #40 (or any color # anything, for that matter).  My secret ingredient: beets (with a little help from cherries).  This took a bit of research and testing to get the recipe right, but I think I've hit the sweet spot (please excuse the pun).  These are smooth, sweet, cherry-kissed (not beety), and a fun, festive color, to boot.  They are not the radioactive red of some red velvet treats, but I didn't have to sell my soul (or sacrifice anyone's sanity) to achieve it.  These are, lets say, a nice cherry tone.  Top them with pretty, pink cherry cream cheese frosting and something naturally red (I've used raspberries, fruit spread, and craisins on these), and you've got a pretty, festive, delicious treat that says "I love you" more earnestly than any Red #40-laced treat ever could.

the veggies:
-for the cupcakes:

• 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 TBS cocoa powder (natural-- not Dutch process)*
• 1 tsp baking powder**
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 8 ounces cooked beets, plus any juice***
• 1/2 cup black cherry fruit spread (like Smucker's Simply Fruit)****
• 2 TBS lemon juice
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 2 eggs

-for the frosting:

• 1/2 cup cream cheese (half an 8-ounce container)
• 1/2 cup black cherry fruit spread
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar

the love:

-for the cupcakes:

1. Preheat your oven to 350° and prep a twelve-cupcake pan.
2. Sift together the flours, cocoa, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl.
3. In your blender, finely chop the beets and their juice (if any), stopping to scrape the sides of the pitcher as needed.
4. Add the fruit spread, lemon juice, vanilla, brown sugar, canola oil and eggs, and blend until smooth.
5. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry until just combined.
6. Fill your cupcake cups and bake for about twenty minutes, or until cupcakes are firm in the center and/or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Cool completely before frosting.

-for the frosting:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, fruit spread and vanilla and beat with a mixer on high for a minute or two, until light and smooth (except for any cherry chunks).
2. Add the powdered sugar and beat another minute or two 'till smooth (besides cherry chunks).
3. To frost the cupcakes, I like to add a spoonful of frosting to the center of the cupcake then gently push the frosting out towards the edges with the spoon.  This frosting is pretty thin and smooths out easily.
4. Top with naturally red decorations, if desired.  To add a heart: add a dollop of fruit spread slightly higher than the center of the cupcake, then drag a knife through the middle of the dollop, top to bottom, to pull into a heart shape.
5. Store frosted cupcakes in the fridge, but let them sit at room temperature to warm up before serving.  Brock and I think these pair well with red wine...

notes:

* Using non-alkalized cocoa is important because it preserves the low pH of the batter, which helps keep the color bright.

**Double the baking powder at lower elevations.
***For this I just buy a package of peeled, steamed beets, found by the salad stuff in the produce section at the grocery store.  If you're cooking your own you'll need about 6 small, 4 medium, or 2 to 3 large beets.

****Get a 10 ounce jar of fruit spread and you'll use the whole thing between the cupcakes and the frosting.

insane•chocolate cake

While things at my house often feel a little insane (thus is the nature of living with energetic young boys), that is not the namesake of this cake.  The original recipe for this has been around for as long as I can remember, and came to me from my mom.  I think she may have gotten it from her mom.  It was originally called "Crazy Chocolate Cake", but I've done a few things to it that make it even less mentally stable, so to speak.

For instance, some people might think adding whole wheat flour to a cake is a little nuts, but that's just how I do things.

Doubling the chocolate in an already chocolatey recipe might seem a bit crazed, but that's how I like my cake.

Skipping the frosting on a cake may come across as slightly wacko, but I personally think frosting would just ruin this one.

The method of mixing the batter also seems a touch loco, but I'm just being faithful to the original recipe on that count.

In any case, this cake is insanely good-- moist, dense, dark-- and crazy-easy to make...

the (non)veggies:*

• 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups brown sugar, lightly packed
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 TBS apple cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 1 medium banana, mashed
• 2 cups cold water
• powdered sugar, for dusting (optional)

the love:

1. Preheat your oven to 350° and prep a 9-inch bundt pan (or a 9x13-inch cake pan).
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flours, brown sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa.  Smash any large lumps of brown sugar with the back of your mixing spoon.
3. Make three holes in the flour mixture, and put the vanilla, vinegar, and oil each in a separate hole (but don't ask me why).
4. Dump the mashed banana and the water over the top of everything and stir it all together until it's just combined.
5. Pour into your prepared pan and bake for about an hour (or closer to 40 minutes if you're using a flat pan), or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
6. Let the cake cool in the bundt pan for a few minutes before carefully inverting it onto a plate.
7. Dust the cake with powdered sugar once it's cool, or serve with a scoop of ice cream, chopped pecans, a drizzle of dark chocolate syrup, and/or berries...  Go nuts.

tip:

*Of all the things I've done to this recipe, I've never bothered to adjust it for altitude.  Somehow, it still comes out great (I know, crazy).  So, anyway, unlike with most of my baking recipes you probably won't have to re-adjust this one if you live at a lower elevation.

carrot-nut-raisin•breakfast-snack-dessert cookies

I don't get much alone time with Owen these days.  So it was perfect timing today when he woke up early from nap (while Oliver was still sleeping).  I happened to be making cookies, and once they were done we brewed some blueberry tea and had our own personal tea party.  Owen was thrilled.  I'm not sure if it was because he was getting special alone time with his mama, because I was letting him pour his own tea using his own tea set, or because I was letting him eat cookies in the middle of the afternoon.

While eating his treat he said to me "I wish we had a cookie tree in our yard so I could go out and eat cookies whenever I want".  I didn't tell him that even if someone miraculously bred a tree that grew cookies on it there's still no way it would grow in our hardiness zone (but maybe at Nana and Papa's in Florida?).  
In any case, it was a sweet few moments.  Owen got to eat a cookie for snack, and I got some time with my big boy.  I didn't tell him that these cookies are so full of healthy goodness (and vegan, to boot, if you care about that sort of thing) that I would consider letting him eat one whenever he wanted if he asked nicely enough.  Instead, we'll have them again as dessert after dinner.  And if there are any left, I'll probably have one for breakfast with my coffee...

The veggies (etc):

• 3/4 cup margarine, softened (I like Earth Balance)
• 1 cup pure maple syrup
• 2 TBS ground flaxseeds
• 3 TBS water
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1 cup unbleached white flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder*
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 cup grated carrots (about one large carrot)
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

The love:

1. Preheat your oven to 375°, and prep a couple cookie sheets (I line mine with parchment).
2. In a big bowl, beat together margarine and syrup until well incorporated (the mixture will look pretty strange at this point-- almost curdy).
3. Beat in the flaxseeds, water and vanilla.
4. On top of that, add the oats, then flours, baking powder and soda, salt and cinnamon.  Mix the dry ingredients together as best you can before stirring into the wet.**
5. Fold in the carrots, raisins and nuts.
6. Drop the dough onto your cookie sheets (I do about 1/3 cup-size scoops for about 16 really big cookies) a couple inches apart.
7. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until cookies are just a little firm to the touch in the middle, and a little golden on the edges.
8. Cool the cookies on the pan for a couple minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.  Eat them in the afternoon with blueberry tea on a tiny plastic tea set or whenever, really.

Tips:
*This recipe is adapted to the ridiculously high altitude at which we live.  If you live at a more reasonable height above sea level, you might want to double the baking powder and soda.
**I'll give the same disclaimer I gave with my pancake recipe: Most recipes will tell you to mix the dry and wet ingredients separately, then stir them together-- this is to prevent clumping and ensure even mixing.  I'm lazy and don't like getting out and washing an extra bowl, so I do it all in one bowl.  To make up for it I try to mix the dry ingredients together on top of the wet before I really stir it into the the wet stuff.  If this is offensive to you, by all means, get out another bowl.


Where credit is due:

Beyond the Moon Cookbook, by Ginny Callan, has been on my shelf for many, many years.  I especially love her baked goods, which are heartier and healthier than most and often contain whole wheat and honey.  My cookie recipe is a veganized and further-fortified version of one of hers.