Banana Protein Truffles

January 7, 2021

“All that is gold does not glitter; all those who wander are not lost; the old that is strong does not wither; deep roots are not reached by frost.”

— J. R. R. Tolkien

New recipe of the new year and damn, it’s a winner!

I have been on SUCH a snack kick lately, I think that the holidays got the best of me. While balance is basically how I live my life, the past couple of weeks have been more cookies and chocolate, less veggies and hummus, and that is OKAY! That being said, my skin told me to chill a bit with the heaps of nuts, plantain chips and chocolate oranges as did my exhaustion, so I’m listening to both sides of my cravings with this recipe!

As we all know, chocolate anything is my love language, and add in some nut butter? SOLD! Straying away from the overdone protein balls, I wanted to introduce protein TRUFFLES - sounds so fancy doesn’t it?! The texture in these is much softer and less chalky, there’s no protein powder, no almond or coconut flour, nothing that will make you feel as though you need a gallon of water after each bite. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good protein ball, but, I don’t know, they feel very 2018 to me right now, and I’m trying to bring some excitement to 2021!

Mixing (or mash!) in chickpeas to these was a true game changer!! As we know, chickpeas + tahini = hummus (basically), so why not chickpeas + nut butter?! The same smooth texture, the same nonexistent flavor of chickpeas with whatever nut butter you want, some banana, some spice, some chocolate … HELLO to these soft and decadent snacks/desserts/whenever you want them pillows of YUM! I also realized that these can be baked if you want some melted chocolate in there, they can be rolled in crushed peanuts, in unsweetened coconut (seen below), drizzled with chocolate, the list goes on and on! They take about 10 minutes to whip up, if you don’t have a little babe running around, and they aren’t sickeningly sweet, either. The best of every single world!

Will these be a new staple in my snacking diet? Hell yes. Will they become a (hopeful) favorite of Oliver?! You bet! Simple, slightly sweet, packed with protein and healthy fats, unprocessed, homemade snack truffles - what a mouthful. The new year doesn’t exactly mean that things will be back to “normal” any time soon, but it does bring a sense of freshness, in whatever sense you’d like that to mean for yourself, and for me, it’s the excitement of new recipes, new milestones for O, and new oportunities!

ingredients

Banana—1 medium

Chickpeas—1-15.5 oz can

Nut Butter—3 oz, or 1/3 C

Honey—2.5 oz, or ¼ C

Vanilla—1 tsp

Salt—1 tsp

Cinnamon—1 tsp

Oats—3 oz, or ¾ C

Chocolate Chips—4 oz, or ½ C

Coconut—to coat

process

In a food processor or a large bowl, combine the banana, chickpeas, nut butter, honey, vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Blend/mash together.

Add in the oats and chocolate chips, blend until just mixed, making sure that there are still some full pieces of the oats. Great for texture!

Using a small scoop, or your hands, put the scooped truffles onto a baking sheet lined with either parchment paper or a nonstick mat. If using your hands, the size is up to you, but about 2 tablespoons is great!

Once you have finished scooping the truffles, you have a few options: either roll them in coconut, crushed up nuts, a drizzle of chocolate, or you can bake them at 350˚F for about 12 minutes, just enough for the chocolate to melt!

If you are rolling in coconut, etc., afterwards, place in the fridge or freezer to firm up for about 30-60 minutes before storing them in an airtight container in the fridge!

Bon Appétit!

Banana Pumpkin Oat Bars

October 1, 2020

“What did you do as a child that created timelessness that made you forget time? There lies the myth to live by.”

— Joseph Campbell

I figure one pumpkin recipe is a must for the start of each fall, so here you go! A [basically] raw dessert that’s packed full of spice, oats, pumpkin and chocolate—how can one go wrong here?! Ya can’t.

I have been seeing this meme a lot lately about how blogs go on and on in the intro about their personal life when all you want is the damn recipe…this hit hard for me because that’s exactly what I do! Anyways…I’ll try to make these intros short and sweet, but I mean, I also love to spill my thoughts here, so you get what you get!

Back to the excitement of these bars! If you haven’t caught on yet, my entire world changed 8 months ago when little O was born! Do I have less time to do things? Sure. Am I always running after him now and making sure he doesn’t eat the dog food? Of course. Do I love every dang second with this guy? Hell yes! Even though my life is quite different now that I have this wild boy, I didn’t want to just STOP baking. I want him to be that kid whose mom makes the best dessert that his friends get excited about coming over for! Duh. But now I need to do things at DOUBLE SPEED. His naps are becoming less and less as he gets older and his ability to just stay in one spot is nonexistent! Which is why I’m about #quickbaking for us parents!

These bars take 5-10 minutes to throw together, or if you have a baby who is trying to eat all of the dirt in your potted plants, it may take you about 20. From there, throw these babies into the oven for about 25 minutes and BAM! you’ve got the gooiest, perfectly sweet lovely little snacks.

Super allergen friendly if that’s something you’re worried about, too! Gluten free, vegan (if you think honey isn’t vegan, sub that for agave or maple syrup!), nut free! They aren’t over-the-top sweet which is my jam these days, they have the PERFECT flavor of pumpkin, of spices, of chocolate—honestly, they blow all other pumpkin desserts and snacks out of the water!

ingredients

Oats—12 oz, or 4 C

Baking Powder—1 tsp

Cinnamon—2 tsp (heaping)

Nutmeg—1 tsp

Ginger—1 tsp

Cloves—½ tsp

Salt—1 tsp

Pumpkin purée—8.5 oz, or 1 C

Banana, mashed—1 small, or ½ large, about 3.5 oz

Coconut Oil, melted—2.75 oz, or 1/3 C

Honey—4 oz, or 1/3 C

Chocolate Chips—8 oz, or 1 C

process

Preheat your oven to 350˚F

In a large bowl, combine your oats, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger and salt

Mix to combine

Mix in the pumpkin purée and mashed banana

Add the melted oil

Fold in the chocolate chips

Put into an 8” x 8” baking pan

Bake for 22-25 minutes, until the center looks set

Allow to cool either at room temperature or in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes

Cut into squares, I did 16 for this batch

Store in a sealed container in the fridge!

Bon Appétit!

Tahini Caramel Bars

August 2, 2020

“The universe is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to become sharper.”

— Eden Phillpotts

I am welcoming a new love into my life: tahini!

I believe that I only have ONE recipe on here with tahini in it?! How is that possible?! And it’s from almost 4 years ago!! What. The. Heck. Anyways! This tahini caramel is out of this world. Dare I say that I prefer this to just a regular old caramel? I just might…

This exciting mix of being dairy free, baking with whole ingredients that actually taste good, and doing it all with a 6-month-old while also having been unable to really go anywhere since he was born is truly quite an adventure! I can no longer gain inspiration for things by going places, so it’s been far too much screen time and imagination for me to really get ideas for baking, for life, etc., which I both love and then also sort of dislike. I am constantly making lists in my head about places I want our family to travel to once we actually can, telling Oliver how many incredible things we will do once it’s allowed and safe, how fun airplanes are (I also love airports…), all of the food he’s going to get to try! Even just making these lists and going over them with my baby, yes, I have full on adult conversations with him, excites me as I want to truly spoil him with travel and life experiences!

All of this being said, during one of my weekly as-fast-as-possible grocery trips, I picked up some tahini and welcomed it like a long-lost friend. Is it a super unique ingredient? Not so much. Is it an incredible flavor that Oliver will be trying on his foods soon? Absolutely!! He began to try foods with spices on them this week and, let me tell you, cinnamon roasted carrots were a (messy) hit! So, while I sit here every day, or while I’m chasing our quick little 6-month-old around the house, I think of all of the foods Oliver is going to try when we can get out of our few block radius, jump on a plane, get in the car and drive for a few hours, whatever we can do to up his culture. For now, it’s going to start at home, start with this simple jar of tahini!

Thank you for reading my daydream above while I completely just skip over the fact that there’s a recipe below! As we want Oliver to be as enthusiastic about life as possible, having it start with food should be no surprise! This little dude sat with me as I made these, which also means it is fast AF to throw this together!! The shortbread crust? Takes maybe 4 minutes. The caramel? 5 minutes. While that is all setting up and you melt the chocolate: 10-15 minutes. FAST. AF. Aside from the tahini, which is subtle but has a beautiful aftertaste I might add, the star of this is the chocolate. Heck yes, I am talking about the Almond Milk Taza Chocolate (heart eye emoji). IT’S DAIRY FREE YET TASTES LIKE FULL ON MILK CHOCOLATE. What?! How?! It’s incredible. Also with nothing but 6 common ingredients, so dang satisfactory!! I have no words except go get yourself some!

And there we have it. My daily thoughts for you with a quick recipe for some tahini caramel bars attached! Thank you for humoring me, now go scoop up your baby, your dog, yourself, and treat yo’self to some of these incredibly delicious and perfect and smooth bites of heaven!

shortbread ingredients

Almond Flour—9 oz, or 2 C

Salt—1 tsp

Honey—2 TBL

Coconut Oil—3.75 oz, or ½ C

process

In a large bowl, combine almond flour and salt

Melt the honey and coconut oil together

Add this melted mixture to the dry ingredients

Mix until combined, should hold together when pressed

Press into an 8x8” pan, freeze while making the caramel

tahini caramel ingredients

Tahini—3 oz, or ¼ C + 2 TBL

Coconut Sugar—3 oz, or ½ C

Vanilla Extract—2 tsp

Oat Milk—1 oz, or 2 TBL

Cinnamon—½ tsp

process

In a small saucepot, combine the tahini, coconut sugar, vanilla, milk and cinnamon

Allow to simmer for 2-3 minutes

Let cool slightly, and then pour on top of the shortbread

Put back in the freezer for the caramel to firm up

chocolate ingredients

Taza Almond Milk Chocolate—5 oz, or 2 bars

Coconut Oil—1 TBL

process

In a heatproof bowl, combine the chocolate and coconut oil

Melt and mix until homogenous

Pour over the caramel layer, put in the fridge to set

Once set, remove from the pan/dish and cut into desired size and enjoy!

Bon Appétit!

Frozen Berry Slice

July 6, 2020

“Pour yourself into each moment. By immersing ourselves in a song, we become part of the music.”

— Tamara Levitt

Guess what, y’all? It’s SUMMERTIME. And guess what that means?! ICE CREAM! Also, guess what this gal can’t have? Ice cream… You’ve heard me preach about my dairy free life (eye roll!), but I still try to get in a sneaky bite of it if my husband ever brings home a Ben & Jerry’s pint, heavily regretting it later. Anyways—I have made quite the dairy free and vegan ice cream slice for you today! It’s so refreshing. so magical. so necessary!

What is even MORE exciting is the chocolate hazelnut base! I’ve partnered up with Wild Friends Foods to make this kick ass chocolate hazelnut cookie-like raw crust. But who am I kidding, I consume Wild Friends nut butters so often, it’s not like this jar wouldn’t have been in our cupboard anyways! What do I love so dang much about their spreads?! They’re no BS, that’s what. They aren’t loaded with refined sugars and oils, just good old whole ingredients. I mean, take this chocolate hazelnut spread, for example. It has got some hazelnuts, some cocoa, a bit of sugar, and boom. THAT’S IT! It’s so simple, which makes for baking with, and consuming by the spoonful, so dang easy!

Okay, so let me get back to this recipe! I love nothing more in the heat than some fruit, some popsicles, anything that will allow me to cool off from the 90+ degrees and the 100%+ humidity that is Atlanta in the summertime. I’ve been consuming popsicles like NO OTHER for my late-night snack, yet still craving some ice cream, so that’s where this berry slice comes in. It’s got fruit, it’s got chocolate, it’s got that popsicle/ice cream feel—woof, this baby is perfect! It is truly sweetened by the fruit, nothing crazy added, which is alllll that we need these days!

Does this go over my one-nap time limit? Sure! But that’s really inactive time, if you will. At this point, Oliver loves chilling in his highchair, playing with all of the toys, so he’s totally content doing that while I quickly whip this baby up and throw it in the freezer to set! Did I mention that he has started to eat FOOD!!?? This encourages me to make even more things with whole ingredients so he can join me! Sure, we are in the single food per week, all mashed up phase, but soon he can get his own piece of this frozen berry slice!! *Instant smile*

Enough rambling about my FIVE-month-old baby’s eating habits, get yourself started on this thing so you can have a slice by afternoon snack time!!

chocolate hazelnut base ingredients

Coconut Flour—5 oz, or 1 ¼ C

Cocoa Powder—1 oz, or 1/3 C

Shredded Coconut—0.75 oz, or 1/3 C

Coconut Oil—2 TBL

Wild Friends Hazelnut Spread—6 oz, or ½ C + 1 TBL

process

In your food processor or blender, combine all ingredients and pulse until combined

This mixture should be wet enough that it holds together when pinched, otherwise add in a TBL more of the Wild Friends Hazelnut Spread

Press into a tart pan or an 8”x8” baking dish

Set aside in the fridge until ready to use

berry filling ingredients

Cashews, soaked for 4 hours—9.5 oz, or 2 C

Berries—10-11 oz, 2 C

Vanilla Extract—1 tsp

Coconut Oil, melted—2 oz, or ¼ C

Coconut Cream—4 oz, or ½ C

Honey—2 tsp

process

In a blender, combine all ingredients

Blend until becomes homogenous

This is quite thick, so don’t feel as if you need to add more liquid! Just continue to scrape and blend until all combined

Pour this filling evenly into your prepared tart pan

Put in freezer for at least 2 hours prior to serving

Slice and serve with fresh fruit and more Wild Friends Hazelnut Spread (trust me!!)

Note: if you allow this to sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes before serving, the texture is perfect!

Bon Appétit!

Raw Chocolate Coconut Slice

February 1, 2019

“Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.”

— Max Ehrmann

Raw. Vegan. Gluten Free. Chocolate. Slice.

I am like that bad partner who comes and goes as they please, throws a lot of nice stuff your way, then leaves again. I’m hoping that y’all will keep coming back for more, but maybe you won’t. Let’s hope I can shape up and be that girlfriend you love and miss so much!

Okay, now that you know how I’m feeling and that I’m truly working on this relationship, let’s get into it. Happy New Year! 2019! Yeah! Funny thing about me—I have this weird tick when it comes to numbers. Volume on the radio has to be at certain numbers, same with the tv. If I’m running, I can’t just stop my Garmin on any number, there are specific ones I like…so yes, I’ll keep going if I’m not comfortable with the number. Same goes with times of doing things, and here we are at 2019. NINETEEN is not a number I love. Nope, don’t love 1, don’t love 9, certainly am not a fan of 1-9! I like 20, but eh that 19 really is messing with me.

That being said, I think this year is going to be gooooddd. That self care has already started to kick in, mentally and physically I’m stronger, I’m quite a bit less stressed than usual (don’t get me wrong, I am still a stressed out lil lady, but we’re improving!), and I’m even finding my work to be chill sometimes. Like enjoying it. Minus the fact that Atlanta is now cold (eye roll) for the next month, I am oh so content! Did I mention that my rough and tough New England body can’t even handle the chilly mornings that are below 35˚?! I’ve turned soft.

This has turned silly and not even a life update, not even a recipe talk, just a cool ol’ Kitkat ramble!

Okay. This recipe.

I worked on it for a MINUTE. Like, woof, over a month on this bad boy and I love it so much. The whole dairy free life has really sparked creativity in me. Also, just the fact that I now am more in tune with my digestion, I know what to eat and avoid, how to eat certain things to make my tummy less gurgly, too. Listen. To. Your. Body. Yeah, Sarah’s Day reference, get at me!

The base of this raw/vegan/gf slice is dreamy. I would just snack on it alone. OH! Idea! Let’s make it into a granola-type next time. Taking note now.The blend of nuts and seeds with a touch of sweetness from the dates, mmmm yes. And a hint of peppermint, really just calms and soothes you. Oh, and cacao powder. Toasted coconut. Duh. What a lovely match!

Next is the MOOSE. Mousse. You can’t even taste the bananas. Blew my mind when I threw this together! I wanted a creamy, smooth, luxurious mousse, and ya girl has come out on top! It’s so smooth. Like body butter smooth. YUM. And to me, it’s a spoonful of health! Or like…healthier. And sprinkle the top with basically a blizzard of toasted coconut, you got yourself a ZERT!

Here you have it, my first pride and joy of 2019. Tummy ache free, delicious, has the goods, has the seeds, has the cacao, has the oils, has it ALL! It’s also been slowly enjoyed by my roommate and I this week… so I’d say the number 19 isn’t all that bad if it’s going to start like this!

base ingredients

Almonds—5 oz, or ¾ C

Pepitas—2 TBL

Dates—4

Toasted Coconut—1 oz, or 2/3 C

Chia Seeds—1 TBL

Maca powder—1 tsp

Flax Meal—1 TBL

Vanilla Powder—1 tsp

Pink Sea Salt—1 tsp

Cacao Powder—2 TBL

Coconut Oil—1.5 oz, or 3 TBL

Peppermint Extract—¼ tsp

process

Combine all of the ingredients in your blender or food processor and pulse until all ground and combined.

If you are having a tough time, add in a Tablespoon of coconut milk.

Press this into the bottom of a tart pan. You can also use a pie dish, cake pan, whatever you have that works best! The tart pan is nice because you can remove the sides.

Put in the freezer while you prep the mousse.