Healthy Chocolate Chip Blondies!!!

I really love to bake!!! In the past few years, one of the things I have done to try and create healthier habits for my family is that I limit processed treats in our house. That means I rarely (i said rarely, not never!) buy packaged cookies and other treats. If we want a treat, I usually make something. At least then I know what is going in it!

SO, it’s always fun when I find a healthier recipe I want to try! My family always gets a little scared when I tell them “it’s a new recipe”! Tonight I tried this recipe I found for Chocolate Chip Blondies with Chickpeas! I’ve made chocolate chip cookies before with chickpeas so thought i’d give these a whirl!

Here’s how you make them!

Things you will need…

Ingredients:

* 1 can drained and rinsed ChickPeas

* 3/4 tsp Baking Powder ( i lost some of my measuring utensils, so i had to guess!)

* 1/8 tsp baking soda

* dash of salt

* 3/4 cup brown sugar (substitutions available, but for the first time i thought i better stick to the real deal)

* 2 tsp vanilla extract

* 1/4 cup ground flax or quick oats

* 1/4 cup peanut butter

* 1/2 cup chocolate chips (this was maybe too much though)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add in all ingredients except for chocolate chips in a food processor until smooth. Mix in chocolate chips ( i had to transfer to a small bowl for this). Spread into a greased 8×8 pan and bake for 30 minutes.  The recipe says they may look under baked when you take them out, but they firm up as they cool. Mine looked just fine when I took them out, and definitely were not too hard when we tried them.

The jury is still out on these in our house, but I thought they were a hit! They are definitely worth a try!

Original recipe found here!

Healthy Apple Pie A la mode

I was going to have an apple with a little peanut butter today for my mid morning snack, but it is freezing out and cold apple slices just didn’t sound great.  Warm apple pie sure did sound good though!  That gave me an idea to try something different!  So, I created my OWN Healthy Apple Pie A la mode!  

Now, I usually am the type that just follows recipes.  It is rare for me to make one up on my own, so i’m kind of proud of this one!  It’s really not genius though!  Very simple, only 4 ingredients!

Healthy Apple Pie A la mode

1 mostly peeled and chopped Granny Smith apple

1 tsp coconut oil

Ground Cinnamon

Low-Fat Vanilla Yogurt  (I like StoneyFields brand)

Mix apples with coconut oil and sprinkle with cinnamon.  Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.  Top with desired amount of yogurt and sprinkle with another dash of cinnamon.  (this recipe makes one serving)

The apples come out a nice consistency of apple pie with the coconut oil.  No butter needed!  The granny smith apples are sweet enough, and when baked do not need added sugar. My sweet tooth self will be honest and tell you, this would probably be even better with a scoop of ice-cream instead of the yogurt for the a la mode…. but if you are trying to be healthy, this is a GREAT alternative!  It really was good, and I hope you enjoy it too!

If you are doing 21 Day Fix.. it’s APPROVED, and would make a great dessert! 1 Red, 1 purple, 1 tsp

Pumpkin Muffins

Have I mentioned that I LOVE to bake?  Well, I do!  It has been cold and rainy the past 2 days, and that just screams “Bake Something”!! to me!  I decided to stay away from baking cookies this time since I’ll be making birthday cakes soon.  I decided to whip up the kids favorite (okay and mine too) pumpkin muffins!  A friend gave me a healthy recipe years ago that she got from a Cooking Light magazine.  Here’s a link to see the original recipe..http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/pumpkin-muffins-3

Here is what I do…

In a medium size bowl, I mix together all the dry ingredients (flours, sugars, salt, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and baking powder)

Then in another bowl I add the wet ingredients (milk, eggs, canned pumpkin puree, canola oil, applesauce).  This time around I was out of applesauce so I added in some low fat vanilla yogurt I had on hand.  That worked out perfect too!

Now add the mixed wet ingredients to your dry ingredients.

   

Spray muffin tins and add your batter!

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes (10-12 min for mini muffins)

  

These are wonderful!!!  My kids love them!

Here’s the recipe (with the changes I make)

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons pumpkin-pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup 1 or 2% milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup canola oil (coconut oil would probably work too, but I haven’t tried this yet)
1/4 cup applesauce (or low fat yogurt works too)