Mixed Berry Cake

I've been on a fresh strawberry kick.  Also, a cake kick.  It was only logical to combine them together, right?

I give you…

Mixed Berry Cake.  

It's a dense cake filled with yogurt, honey, and frozen fruit.  (No, I didn't use my beloved fresh strawberries in the cake.  I'd much rather eat those!).  Perfect for breakfast, brunch, or an afternoon snack!

Mixed Berry Cake

• 2 cups spelt flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup yogurt, plain or vanilla
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup frozen mixed berries

Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease an 8in round pan.  In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and cinnamon.  In another bowl, combine honey, egg, vanilla, yogurt, and milk.  Add wet ingredients to dry and mix until a smooth batter forms.  Add frozen fruit and mix to incorporate.  Pour batter into prepared pan and spread into an even layer.  Bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cool completely before slicing.  Recipe makes 8 servings.

"Good Luck" Golden Donuts {The Recipe ReDux}

This months Recipe ReDux theme was good luck food.  I was so out of my element.

At my house, we're not really one for superstitions or traditions (Fun Fact: We had ribs on Thanksgiving).  Because of that, I wasn't really sure what to make that would inspire good luck.  Fortune cookies...?

Luckily, this thing called the internet exists to help educate uneducated souls on the mysteries of the world.  To google I went!

After some research, I decided to make these "Golden" Donuts.  Here's why they're lucky:

• The round shape.  It signififies the year coming to a full circle and new year beginning.
• The golden color.  The color is supposed to be a sign of wealth and riches in the new year

I bet you never knew you could eat a donut for good luck, did ya?  Well, now you do.  Grab 2!

"Good Luck" Golden Donuts

• 1 1/2 cups spelt flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup yogurt
• 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup (maple syrup makes them taste like pancakes!  Always a good thing)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 egg or egg replacement
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350F.  In a large bowl, mix together all dry ingredients.  In another bowl, mix together remaining ingredients.  Add wet to dry and mix until a smooth batter forms.  Scoop batter into a donut pan (any size is fine) and bake in preheated oven for about 7 minutes.  Time will vary depending on size of pan.  Remove from pan while still hot and store in an airtight container.  For a lucky year, eat on New Years ;)

Cookie Cake (Version 3)

I'm so so so so so so so so sorry.

I've been gone for ages.  I won't make excuses, but I'm just really sorry for holding out on y'all.  I've still been baking, but I just haven't gotten around to the whole posting thing.  My sincerest apologies.  Really.

But, because sorry can only get you so far, I also make you a cake... that tastes like a giant cookie.  

Cookie cakes are sort of one of my favorite things in the world, so I give you my third version of this masterpiece.  This version is dense, moist, and packed with melty chocolate chunks (they sell them at Trader Joe's know just fyi).  And it just wouldn't be a Mix it Up recipe without secret ingredients, so I also through in some tofu and beans.  It's amazing.  I swear.

Cookie Cake

• 1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 package tofu
• 1 cup rolled or quick oats
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp peanut buter (or another nut butter of your choice)
• 1/2 tbsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1/2 cup Monk Fruit in the Raw or another sweetener of your choice that measures like sugar
• 1/2 cup chocolate chunks

Preheat oven to 350F.  Combine all ingredients except chocolate chips in the bowl of a food processor. Mix until completely combined with no bean clumps.  Mix in chocolate chips.  Grease a 9inch round pan and scoop dough in.  Spread into an even layer.  Bake in preheated oven for 25-25 minutes, until golden brown and a tooth pick comes out clean.  Slice and serve!

I'll do my absolute best to keep things more frequent in the weeks to come.  However, if I'm unable to make that happen, at least know you can drool over this pie.  Here's one more picture to keep your mouth watering:

Stay tuned for some cookies!

Chocolate Caramel Cake Bites

I've always loved caramel.

Twix bars, caramel apples, caramel dip, caramel sauce.  Pretty much everything containing caramel is guaranteed to be gobbled up in seconds.

Since I made my diet a bit healthier, my caramel consumption has reduced significantly.  There's still the occasional treat, of course, but caramel is far from a staple in my house.

That is, it wasn't until I stumbled into this recipe for Crazy Caramel Sauce.  It's from the blog The Fit Foodies, and guys, it really is crazy.  The recipe replaces butter with nut butter, sugar with maple syrup, and cream with milk for a resulting caramel that tastes, dare I say it, even better than an original caramel sauce!

Click that link and try it!

Anyway, after finally discovering a healthy caramel sauce (that's not made with dates!), I immediatly started brainstorming recipes to use it with.  I had some leftover Chocolate Avocado Frosting in the fridge and both recipes together spurred the creation of these bad boys:

Chocolate Caramel Cake Bites!  They taste even better than they sound.

Chocolate Caramel Cake Bites
Caramel (recipe slightly modified from this recipe):

• 1 tbsp peanut butter
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1/3 cup milk

Cake:

• 1/2 cup oat flour
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla

Frosting:

• One batch Chocolate Avocado Frosting

To Make Caramel:

In a small saucepan (non-stick if possible), whisk together peanut butter and maple syrup until combined. Heat on high, stirring constantly, until mixture has thickened and reduced to about half it's original volume. Lower to low heat and add milk.  Stir constantly until mixture has thickened to a caramel like consistency. Let cool and then transfer to a small container.  Set aside for now.

To Make Cake:

Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease a loaf pan.  Mix together dry ingredients in a medium to large bowl.  Add milk and vanilla and mix until a smooth batter forms.  Pour into loaf pan and spread into an even layer.  Bake in preheated oven for 8-12 minutes, until firm and a toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool.  Once cooled, spread the caramel you just made into a layer on top.  Spread the pre-made Chocolate Avocado Frosting on top of that.  Chill in fridge for at least an hour before slicing into small squares.  Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Revisited Recipe of the Day:

Date Caramel + Chocolate Caramel Cookies

Vanilla Spice Layer Cake

Fancy cakes are my favorite :)

They're pretty, and delicious, and people think you slaved away in your kitchen for hours making them, but, I'm gonna tell you a secret, you don't have to.

Layered cakes and cakes with multiple flavors are actually super easy.  Well, at least my recipes are.  I'm not one to get too complicated.  I just like making people think I worked really hard, when in reality, the recipe was a breeze.

This cake is like that.  Two layers of cinnamon spiced vanilla cake topped with creamy greek yogurt frosting and an onslaught of sprinkles, if you're in that type of mood.  I'm always in that type of mood.

Anyway, while this cake may seem difficult, it's totally the opposite.  The batter comes together quickly with the help of your food processor, and the frosting takes no more than 3 minutes to mix up.  After that all you gotta to is bake, assemble, and eat.  The eating part is extra easy.

Vanilla Spice Layer Cake
Cake:

• 2 cups spelt flour
• 1/4 cup ground flax
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 420 grams (about 4 cups) frozen cauliflower, thawed
• 1 1/3 cup milk
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 2 tsp vanilla

Frosting:

• 2 cups plain (or vanilla) greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease two 8 in circle pans.  In a large bowl, mix together all dry ingredients.  In the bowl of a food processor, combine remaining cake ingredients in the bowl of a food processor.  Process until completely smooth with no cauliflower lumps.  Add wet ingredients to dry and mix until completely incorporated and a batter has formed. Fill prepared pans about 2/3 of the way full with batter.  If you have extra, make a few cupcakes.  Bake cakes for 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Let cool completely.  Meanwhile, combine all frosting ingredients in the bowl of a food processor (Just rinse well from last use).  Blend until all ingredients are incorporated.  Remove one cake from pan and place on a large plate.  Spread a thin layer of frosting on top.  Add other cake on top.  Use remaining frosting to frost on top and all around cake.  Store in fridge until serving time.  When ready to serve, slice into 8-10 slices and enjoy!

Chocolate Pudding Cake

Chocolate + Pudding + Cake = ????

Something that looks like that up there.  And tastes really good.  And is super chocolate-y.  And is good served warm or cold.  And is all around amazing.

There, I taught you a new math fact.

If only school could be like that.  Instead of learning about equations and the history of the United States, we could decide how many cookies equals one piece of cake, and discover how the first cake was created.  But alas, apparently it's more important to learn about other things.

At least I've got this pudding cake to come home to :)

Chocolate Pudding Cake

• 2 cups oat flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot starch/flour
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/3 cu honey
• 1/4 cup yogurt
• 2 cups boiling water
• 2 tbsp cane sugar

Preheat oven to 350F and grease an 8x8 square pan.  Mix together flour, cocoa, baking powder, cornstarch and salt in a large bowl.  Add milk, honey, and yogurt and mix until incorporated.  Mixture will be thin.  Pour into prepared pan.  Pour boiling water on top of batter, and sprinkle sugar on top of that.  DO NOT MIX.  Place in oven immediately and bake 40-45 minutes.  It will still look under baked when you take it out, but that's ok.  Let chill overnight before servings.  Scoop into bowl and serve warm or cold.  Makes 16 smaller servings or 9 big ones.  Store in fridge.

Chocolate Greek Yogurt Cheesecake

We had a bit of a greek yogurt mishap at my house recently.  It's a funny story, really.

So basically I went to the grocery store to pick up Chobani.  No surprise there, right?  Everyone knows I'm a big greek yogurt fan.  But guess what?  There was no chobani!  Cleary, I was no going to leave the store without my beloved greek yogurt, so I grabbed a different brand, Cabot to be exact, and rushed out of the store and headed home.

Everything seemed normal, but it wasn't.  Little did I know, our family was in for a surprise.

Boy, am I being dramatic about this or what?  Sorry about that.  I love me a good story, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to make this just a wee bit exaggerated.  So without further ado, I shall continue.

The big discovery was made one morning when my mom decided she wanted yogurt for breakfast.  She scooped it into her bowl, topped it with berries and a drizzle of honey, and dug in.  Seconds later, her face took on a crazy expression and she was staring down at her yogurt bowl in confusion.  In all honesty, it was quite funny.  Then my mom ran over to the fridge, grabbed the container of Cabot greek yogurt, and shoved it into my face.  What percent fat is this?  She asked urgently.  I turned over the container, and when I found the answer, I realized her shock.  It was 10% fat greek yogurt!  That is way more than what we're used to at my house.  Apparently, my mom has taken one bite and then was overcome by how incredibly rich the greek yogurt was.  There was no way to eat a whole bowl of that stuff with a spoon without entering a yogurt food coma.

So what to do?

Bake with it, of course.  The first order of buisness?  Cheesecake!  I've tried making greek yogurt cheesecake before, but without the addition of tofu, it's never been as creamy as I would like.  I thought using a high fat yogurt would help solve the problem, and I was right.

Using the greek yogurt, I baked up a super creamy Chocolate Cheesecake.  It's so rich, so chocolatey, and so darn delicious.  What a great way to use up unwanted 10% fat greek yogurt.

Chocolate Greek Yogurt Cheesecake

• 2 1/2 cups 10% greek yogurt (I used cabot)
• 3 egg whites (9 tbsp from the carton)
• 1/3 cup special dark cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp honey (you can try to replace some with stevia if you prefer)
• 1/4 cup arrowroot starch
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease a 9in round pan.  Place all ingredients in a large bowl.  Mix until completely incorporated with no cocoa powder clumps.  Scoop into prepared pan and spread into an even layer.  Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, until firm.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Once cooled, chill in fridge for at least 3 hours.  Slice into 12 thin slices (cheesecake is very rich) and serve with whipped cream, fruit, or plain.  Store in fridge.

Revisited Recipe of the Day:

Chocolate Chip Cranberry Biscotti

Chocolate Layer Cake with Peanut Butter Banana Frosting

It's Sunday, tomorrows Monday, and do you know what will make your Monday like a billion times better?  This cake.

Early last week I got back from vacation.  It was a great break from normal life, and I loved lounging around outside without a care in the world.  The only problem was that at the place we were vacationing, it was significantly harder to bake, and even harder than that to take decent pictures.  I did bake one thing during the trip, but by the time we arrived home, I was itching to get back in the kitchen.

Naturally, the first thing I made had to be spectacular.

And what's more spectacular than a gorgeous Chocolate Layer Cake?  Not much, I can tell you that.

I took my Chocolate Beet Cake recipe, and modified it so that it didn't use beets. I added in some banana as well.  Once that was baking I made a quick frosting out of tofu, banana, and peanut butter.  Gah, so good!

If you decide to make this, which you totally should, I can guarantee that you won't be able to tell at all that this cake is healthy.  Nope, it looks and tastes like anything from a bakery, without the butter, without the oil, and without the multiple cups of sugar.

Yay!  How's that for a great start to the day?

Chocolate Layer Cake with Peanut Butter Banana Frosting
For Cake:

• 1 1/4 cup spelt flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup arrowroot starch/flour (or cornstarch)
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt (don't skip)
• 1 3/4 cup applesauce
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 3/4 cup egg whites
• 2/3 cup date paste
• 1/2 cup yogurt
• 1/2 banana, mashed
• 1 tsp vanilla

For Frosting:

• 1 package shelf stable tofu (can buy ar trader joes or online as Mori-nu tofu)
• 2 large bananas
• 2 tbsp salted peanut butter (if you don't use salted, add some salt)
• 1 tsp vanilla

For Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease 2 8-in circle pans, and line a muffin tin with 3-5 cupcake liners.
2. Combine dry ingredients (flour, cocoa, arrowroot, baking powder and soda, cinnamon and salt) in a large bowl.
3. In another bowl, mix together remaining ingredients for cake.  Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until a smooth batter forms.
4. Fill both greased 8-in circle pans a little less than 3/4 full with batter.  Distribute the extra batter betweem prepared cupcake liners for some extra cupcakes
5. Bake in preheated oven for 20-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan comes out clean.  The cupcakes may require a bit less baking time.
6. Remove cakes from oven and let cool in pan completely.

For Frosting + Preparing Cake:

1. Place tofu, bananas, peanut butter, and vanilla in the bowl of a food processor.  Blend until completely smooth, with no banana or tofu clumps remaining.  It may look thin, but thats ok as the frosting will firm up once it's on the cake.
2. Prepare serving dish for cake (keep in mind that the cake must be stored in the fridge).  Once (8-in) cakes have cooled completely, flip one of them onto the prepared serving dish.  Spread a layer of frosting on top.
3. Carefuly flip the other cake out of the pan and on top of the layer of frosting.  Use remaining frosting to cover the outside of the cake.  Again, it may seem thin, but it will firm up in the fridge.
4. Place cake in fridge until serving time.  When it's time to serve, cut into 8-10 pieces and garnish with chocolate chips or chunks.  Extra cupcakes can be eaten with another frosting of choice (I don't reccommend eating them plain, because it won't be quite sweet enough without a frosting)
5. Store leftovers in fridge.

Revisited Recipe of the Day:

Chocolate Beet Layer Cake - another great recipe for chocolate cake!

Oat Flour Blueberry Muffins + Some Info on Oat Flour

I want to take some time to talk about oat flour.  Maybe you've noticed some recipes on this blog using it, and maybe you haven't.  Either way, oat flour is one of my new favorite ingredients.  I was going to dedicate a whole post to it, but instead I decided to just shove everything I want to share into one big post with a recipe for blueberry muffins at the end.  Sound good?  Good.

So for starters, what is oat flour?  It really is as simple as rolled oats ground into a fine flour.  I've read that you can use a blender, food processor, or coffee grinder to make it, but I've really only had success with a coffee grinder.  Sure, a food processor or blender will break down the oats, but if you really want a fine constituency, one that's like other flours, a coffee grinder is the way to go.

Once your oat flour is made you can store it in a container until its time to use.  I usually don't think that far ahead, though, so most of the time I make just as much flour as I need for a certain recipe right before baking said recipe.  Oat flour is easy enough to make that this isn't a huge hassle.

Made with gluten free oats, oat flour can be made completely gluten free, which is great if you don't want to use a bunch of funky flours.  I'm also 90% sure that's it's lower in calories than other flours, bt you'd have to double check on that one.  My favorite part about using it, however, is the taste it lends baked goods.  Oats have this slight sweetness which comes though when you bake with oat flour, especially if the recipe doesn't have any super strong flavors to cover up the oats.  I love the taste and it also means I don't have to use as much sweetener which is always a plus in my book.

Sooo, that's about it.  Hopefully you'll consider using oat flour in some recipes in the future now that you know a bit more about it.  Maybe a delicious oat flour blueberry muffin recipe will help motivate you?  I'm thinking that's a definite yes.

Oat Flour Blueberry Muffins

• 1 1/2 cups oat flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup arrowroot starch/flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (or another mild tasting vinegar)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 egg white
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 350F.  In a large bowl, mix together oat flour, baking powder, salt, and arrowroot.  In another bowl, combine milk and vinegar.  Let sit 5 minutes.  Add vanilla, honey, and egg white to bowl with milk.  Add wet ingredients to dry.  Mix until a smooth batter forms.  Mix in blueberries until incorporated.  Divide batter evenly between 12 greased muffin tin cups.  Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean and muffins are firm.  Store in an airtight container.  Makes 12 muffins.

Note:  These muffins do not rise very much, so they're more like bluberry cakes.  That does not, however, make them any less delicious!

(Sorry for an weird formatting on this post.  I'm travelling right now and am using a different computer than normal)

Mini Chocolate Cakes (For Two)

Frosted with my Chocolate Avocado Frosting

Imagine you're faced with a problem:

You want cake.  As in you really want it.  You're trying to be healthy, though, and you've been doing a really good job.  You're proud of yourself and you're determined not to ruin all your hard work with some stupid craving.

Yet, that craving won't go away.  You think about making a whole cake, maybe a healthier recipe.  That sounds good, but you don't trust yourself with the leftovers.  What's going to stop you from eating three pieces all by yourself?  Now you're getting worried because you don't know what do.  All you want is some cake!

Here is the solution to your imaginary problem (which may not be so imaginary):

Mini Chocolate Cakes that serve only two.  They're super easy, super healthy, and they leave you with absolutely no tempting leftovers.  Perfect!

Let's take a closer look, shall we?

These cute little cakes are completely fat free, but don't have that gummy texture.  They're as light as a cloud thanks to the added cornstarch and buttermilk.  Also, you can easily make to the recipe gluten free by using gluten-free oats to make your oat flour.

Last but not least, the whole entire recipe is only 150 calories (and 5 grams protein).  That means that you totally don't have to share (I didn't).

Next time that cake craving hits, you are so going to be prepared.

Mini Chocolate Cakes for Two

• 3 tbsp oat flour (make your own by grinding oats in a coffe grinder or blender until they're a flour)
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cornstarch or arrowroot
• pinch salt
• 1 tbsp + 1 tsp cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp applesauce
• 3 tbsp buttermilk (to make vegan, use soymilk to make homemade buttermilk)
• 2 tsp honey or agave
• 1/4 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350F.  Mix together dry ingredients in a small bowl.  Add remaining ingredients and mix until a batter forms.  Pour batter into 2 greased muffin tin cups.  Bake for 7-9 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.  Serves 1-2.

Revisited Recipe of the Day:

Chocolate Beet Layer Cake - for when you want a whole cake