Month: January 2019

Nothing beats a good ol’ fashioned brownie but these black bean brownies hit the spot for me when craving chocolate but not wanting to eat something completely void of nutrition.  Eden Brand black beans are perfect for these, they are organic and come in a can not lined with BPA.  Full of folate, fiber, iron, copper, magnesium and more.  In other words, they are healthy.  I add in some organic cocoa powder, organic cane sugar, free range eggs, grass-fed butter, vanilla, a little espresso powder and of course semi sweet chocolate chips.  Easy to whip up and even maybe you’ll be able to sneak some beans into your little ones.

Ingredients:

• 1 15 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 3 large eggs (you know what I’m gonna say, PETE & GERRY’S!)
• 4 tablespoons melted Kerry Gold butter (or butter of choice but Kerry Gold is grass-fed and has extra nutritional value like more vitamin K)
• 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
• few drops of almond extract (optional but helps with masking beans even more)
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder (Dagoba makes an amazing organic, fair trade cocoa powder!)
• 2/3 cup organic cane sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Rinse well!

2 of my favorite ingredients

Always use this for mocha flavored anything!

Eden is one of the only brands that come without BPA in the can. The less chemicals, the better!

Directions:

Grease an 8×8 or 9×9 pan then line with parchment

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a Vitamix, or blender of choice, blend the beans, eggs, melted butter, vanilla, almond extract and espresso powder until well blended but not overly processed.

In a large mixing bowl add the sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and chocolate chips. Whisk to blend well.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk until completely incorporated.

Pour evenly into baking dish, making sure to distribute chips well.   Bake for around 30 minutes, or until set.  Let cool completely and serve.

Enjoy!!!

Tangy.  Sweet.  Tart.

Delicious!

My daughter loves Starbucks lemon loaf so I decided to make a gluten free version at home.  This loaf has a great crumb and is moist and just perfect for along side that cup of tea or coffee.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 3 large eggs (Pete and Gerry’s were used in this particular cake)
• 3/4 cup organic cane sugar
• 1 cup full fat greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup melted butter (Kerry Gold is the best and lends the perfect natural color for this loaf)
• Zest from 2 large, preferably organic, lemons
• Juice from those lemons (add a third if lemons are small)
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups Bobs Red Mill One to One GF flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Glaze:

• 1 1/2 cups confections sugar
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• Zest of one lemon and enough juice from same to make preferred texture of glaze. The more you add, the thinner it will become.
• Optional:  few drops of almond extract

Mix all together and set aside until loaf cools.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and lightly flour a 9X5 loaf pan and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs and yogurt making sure to completely incorporate.

Whisk in melted and slightly cooled butter, vanilla, almond extract, lemon zest and juice.

Toss in the flour, baking powder and salt and, you guessed it, whisk until the batter is uniform.

Pour into your loaf pan, should hit about 2/3 way up the pan, and bake for approximately 50 minutes.  Check at the 45 minute mark, don’t over bake.  Loaf is ready when it bounces back or toothpick comes out clean.  Turn out the loaf after about 10 minutes of cooling and let cool completely on a rack.  Once cooled, add glaze and let set for a bit before serving.

I usually make the same ol’ banana bread or banana muffins with the brown bananas that linger on my counter top.  This time I was inspired to make something different.  I used two of my go-to recipes and combined them to make this hybrid of crumb cake and banana bread.  It’s awesome.  Enjoy.

Cake:

• 3 over-ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup butter, melted (Kerry Gold is the freakin’ best!)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 cups gluten free flour (LOVE Bob’s Red Mill One to One GF flour)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons whole milk

Crumbs:

• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1 cup and 1 tablespoon gluten free flour
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup butter, melted

Glaze:

• 2/3 cup confections sugar
• However many teaspoons milk to reach preferred consistency.  Mine took around 1 tablespoon.
• pinch salt, pinch cinnamon, few drops of almond extract
• Mix together to make glaze

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Grease and lightly flour a 9 inch round cake pan.

Combine all crumb ingredients but the melted butter and mix with fork or hand.  Stir in melted butter with fork until crumbs form, set aside.

In a separate bowl mix together the dry ingredients: flour, walnuts, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.  Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas. Whisk in melted butter and mix well.  Add in sugar, eggs and vanilla and whisk until combined.  Add dry ingredients and mix well.

Add 2 tablespoons of milk and stir until fully incorporated.

Pour into prepared cake pan and evenly top with crumbs, slightly pressing down.

Bake for approximately 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Do not over-bake!  Let cool for about 10 minutes before (carefully) turning out of the pan.  Let cool and top with optional glaze.